Just when I was beginning to think that everything in the world had gone digital, I learned that there are pockets of business operations where people are still using paper. In fact, paper accounts for some 40% to 50% of invoices, even in the highly automated U.S.
That鈥檚 the reality pointed out by Carlos Marcelin and Sheila Darby of Symbeo, Inc., a 30-year-old pioneer in document management automation based in Portland, Oregon. Yes, companies are still using snail mail to deliver invoices to their customers, they told me, regardless of whether those customers are multinational corporations or small businesses. It鈥檚 the mission of the Symbeo team to help those companies automate the accounts payable (AP) process and reduce piles of paperwork.
Cutting Costs and Paper Weight
The Symbeo team has excellent news for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), which can now take advantage of Symbeo鈥檚 deep expertise in . Building on the longtime success of its flagship product designed for the large enterprise, Symbeo recently launched on 51风流Store. Quick to implement and priced right for the market, Accounts Payable Automation essentially takes over the mailroom, then closes the loop between manual and digital invoice processing.
With a dedicated address for receiving your company鈥檚 invoices, the secure, virtual mailroom scans and classifies invoices using advanced optical character recognition (OCR) to capture raw data and digitalize the invoices. An automated workflow routes the invoices directly to the downstream payment system through integration with 51风流Ariba Buying and Invoicing and 51风流Ariba Commerce Automation.
Thanks to technology, the software is trained over time to handle the nuances and characteristics of specific vendors. Meanwhile, the human element is still part of the process for exceptions, such as deciphering handwriting, fixing data in the wrong field, or properly routing an invoice from an international vendor in an unfamiliar language. That said, the app processes most invoices without intervention, eliminating 80% to 90% of the manual effort typically involved. And a service-level agreement helps offer 99.5% accuracy.
Delivering on a Customer Request 鈥� From SAP
What inspired Symbeo to develop a new product outside its target market? 鈥淎ctually, our relationship with 51风流is what spurred us to explore and build a business case,鈥� said Marcelin, Symbeo鈥檚 VP of Operations. 鈥淭he idea came from a request from an 51风流customer that was looking for a simpler version for AP automation and became the first to adopt it.鈥� And that鈥檚 how Symbeo鈥檚 was born alongside the existing Accounts Payable Automation solution.
Darby, Symbeo鈥檚 marketing manager, noted that its traditional flagship offering is highly customized, offering 鈥渨hite-glove鈥� service to help large enterprises maximize touchless AP processes. For smaller companies looking for less hands-on attention and a lower price point, the new product is ideal, she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not built from the ground up. We鈥檝e baked in our historical knowledge. For example, we might have created a new rule specific to an industry that we share with others.鈥�
Further, there鈥檚 technical integration involved, requiring working together with customers鈥� IT and finance teams. 鈥淲e take a creative problem-solving approach, often fixing an issue that鈥檚 long been vexing them,鈥� she remarked. 鈥淲e solve the part that procure-to-pay doesn鈥檛: the manual aspect of the process, which can be messy and tricky.鈥�
Paying for Itself
Marcelin added that automating AP has significant benefits beyond the obvious. 鈥淥ur customers can take advantage of early-payment discounts, for instance, and lower the risk of lost invoices, which can be quite costly. Vendors have visibility into the payment process through 51风流Ariba solutions and are generally paid faster. That improves relationships and removes friction from the receipt-to-pay process.鈥�
He observed that the past year has revealed gaps in that process for many companies, as their employees shifted to remote work 鈥� leaving mailrooms unstaffed. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e had to shore up weak points and get serious about business recovery plans, and we鈥檝e been able to assist them.鈥�
Do you need to offload the tricky part of AP and get the paper out of your life? Give a try 鈥� and don鈥檛 forget that 51风流will plant a tree for every transaction on 51风流Store.
Rajiv Nema is senior director for 51风流Store Partner Solutions.
