Transforming Invoice Processing with End-to-End Automation for a Real Estate Company
Industry: Real Estate
Service: Accounts Payable Automation
Client Background
The client is a leading real estate and infrastructure development company in the USA, managing over 50 projects across major cities. As the business scaled, manual processes within the accounting department began to limit efficiency, visibility, and vendor satisfaction, highlighting the urgent need for automation.
Challenges
- High Manual Effort: The legacy invoice processing relied heavily on manual data entry through spreadsheets, resulting in frequent errors, inefficiencies, and increased administrative workload.
- Fragmented Workflows: Invoices and approvals moved through siloed, disconnected workflows, causing delays of 2 to 4 weeks in processing.
- No Defined SLAs: The absence of structured service level agreements (SLAs) led to unpredictable turnaround times and growing vendor dissatisfaction.
- Limited Monitoring: Without a centralized dashboard or MIS, tracking invoice progress and identifying bottlenecks was nearly impossible for our client.
How Did APS Help?
- Seamless Integration with SAP: Our team integrated smoothly with the client’s SAP system, automating invoice posting, generating credit/debit notes, and ensuring accurate data synchronization.
- Digital Invoice Submission: The APS team deployed a dedicated vendor portal, allowing suppliers to submit invoices electronically and eliminating paper-based submissions.
- Automated Helpdesk Support: APS team set up a centralized helpdesk to streamline communication between the processing team and vendors, leading to quicker dispute resolution.
- Real-time Reporting: A 360-degree dashboard offered real-time tracking of invoices, giving stakeholders the ability to monitor workflows, pinpoint delays, and enhance transparency.
Results Achieved
Within months of implementation, the company transformed its AP operations from fragmented and reactive to streamlined and insight-driven. Here’s what was achieved:
- Reduced invoice processing time by over 85% – The end-to-end automation streamlined workflows, reducing the turnaround time from 2 to 4 weeks to just 3 to 5 days.
- Improved first-pass match rate to 90%, eliminating repetitive data entry and manual validation.
- Achieved 98% on-time payments, strengthening vendor relationships and trust and satisfaction.
- Increased productivity – Straight-through processing (STP) eliminated manual data entry and freed up resources for more strategic and value-added tasks.
- Full visibility of invoice lifecycle– Real-time tracking and a unified dashboard improved visibility of invoice status and workflow progress.
- Ensured SLA adherence with clearly defined metrics now met consistently at 99%.
- Enhanced compliance and audit readiness, with automated audit trails for all transactions.
As a result, the company gained:
- Faster, more accurate invoice processing across all business units.
- Greater transparency and control over AP operations.
- Stronger vendor satisfaction through timely payments and clear communication.
- A scalable and future-ready invoice management system fully aligned with internal compliance policies.
By partnering with APS, the client successfully redefined its AP process, unlocking efficiency, visibility, and confidence across every step of the invoice lifecycle.
Partner with APS for Financial Growth
Opt for our outsourced accounts payable services to streamline your financial workflows.