The Accounts Payable industry continues to evolve rapidly, with more and more companies realizing the benefits of AP automation. Since “time is money,” the two biggest attractions to accounts payable automation go hand in hand: time savings and money savings. By automating accounts payable processes and procedures, companies are saving valuable clerical hours and virtually eliminating the potential for errors. AP automation streamlines business processes top to bottom and can vastly improve a company’s productivity and potential for growth. Without the burden of constant manual processing and filing tasks, AP staff can focus their time, energy, and talents on planning for the future.
Jeff Haller, Co-Founder, CEO, and CRO of DataServ recently explained how AP automation has become more important with the global trend of remote work. As he points out, not all automation solutions are created equally, but industry leaders like DataServ can provide a complete and fully integrated AP solution that enables clients to remotely standardize processes, eliminate data entry, increase accuracy, and decrease costs.
Tell us a little about yourself and how your company started.
I worked as a developer in several industries, including consulting, IT, and telecom, before founding DataServ in 1994. DataServ was created to change the way software is delivered. When I started in the industry, off the shelf and custom software were your only options. The problem was, neither solution worked on its own. I saw the majority of traditional software solutions fail and the industry just wasn’t delivering what companies needed. I knew there had to be a better way. When I created DataServ, I took the best of both and developed an Accounts Payable Software as a Service (SaaS) solution. We were the first SaaS provider of document and process automation.
DataServ has been around for over 27 years, so you’ve seen quite an evolution in technology. What has changed? What remains the same?
A lot has changed
Automated invoice processing software has advanced to the point where we can now extract invoice data, populate the information into an accounts payable system, and process the invoice with minimal human interaction. DataServ has been on the cutting edge of automated invoice processing the whole way. Over the years, we developed AutoVouchTM using the latest Artificial Intelligence technology to eliminate human interaction with the invoices. It works with 2, 3 or even 4-way matching. We can tailor it to each client’s exception process, adjustable tolerance levels for price and quantity variance, and much more.
But our clients’ pain points remain the same.
The two biggest pain points we find are manual approval routing and data entry because they require so much manpower and time. Staff become overwhelmed and burnt out by the monotonous, yet tedious tasks. On top of that, they become increasingly frustrated with chasing down invoices. All the while, your company is missing out on the higher value work your team could be doing. Not to mention, these manual tasks are regularly pinpointed as the cause of many AP errors.
There are a couple pain points surrounding the lack of visibility and the messiness of paper invoices. Paper invoices are stored in filing cabinets or storage units, and once an invoice is pulled, it runs the risk of being lost either completely or long enough to cause problems. Further, with paper invoices, there is no audit trail or digital record of who has handled documents, where they are in the process, and if/why they were transferred to an ERP system. Ask any member of the AP team if they enjoy being responsible for finding and providing all this information to auditors when the time comes, and you will hear their discontent.
How has the demand for AP Automation changed over the years?
Until the 1990’s, paper invoices were printed by vendors and hand delivered or mailed to the customer. Needless to say, this caused many complications. Invoices could sit on desks or in drawers for days or weeks, never to land with the appropriate person. This resulted in lost invoices, missed payments, and damaged vendor relationships.
In the 1990’s, affordable computers and software led to a widespread tech adoption and new possibilities for business processes. With the advancements in software, AP departments moved towards automation and became more focused on reducing the cost and labor necessary to manage their operations. Still, the AP process was largely paper based at this point. Advanced AP organizations attempted to standardize the process – attaching routing sheets to invoices, standardizing check runs, and establishing controls over the process. When I founded DataServ in 1994, the environment was ripe for an AP solution that blended off the shelf and custom software to move away from the manual processing of paper invoices.
In the 2000’s, cloud technology and Software as a Service (SaaS) was exploding in popularity. Using the SaaS model, organizations could maintain strict controls while invoice processing, approval workflows, and even payments could now be managed by a third-party service. With an alternative to paper invoices, companies began to make the transition to automated AP processes.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses who still relied on manual AP processes realized they needed to expedite payments, manage cash flow more effectively, and they needed their remote workforce to be able to access and process all AP documents from home. Businesses with manual AP processes struggle with limited visibility and control over their invoices, unrecorded liabilities, and cash flow. Thankfully, modern SaaS automation services offer features like custom analytics dashboards that provide up-to-the-minute visibility. AP automation now relies heavily on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to more effectively, quickly, and accurately automate invoice processing as the technology continually learns from the data. By utilizing AI, SaaS providers can now offer automatic coding, increased accuracy in recognizing data captured through Optical Character Recognition (OCR), approval workflow prediction and the ability to flag duplicate invoices.
Tell us more about DataServ. What are the key features and capabilities? How does it compare to other AP Automation software on the market?
DataServ provides a proprietary document intake solution. Our Digital Mailroom accepts documents on behalf of our clients, in any format (pdf, jpg, etc.); from any source (email, postal service, EDI, etc). This highly automated process, powered by SaaS-based OCR technology, and coupled with human validation allows us to return over 99% clean data to our customers and their ERPs within 24 hours.
By developing AutoVouch for our clients, DataServ offers truly touchless invoice processing. Many of our competitors say they provide touchless invoice processing when they are actually only digitizing them. A lot happens after data entry. Their clients then have to validate the data and enter any missing data points, match to POs, track down approvals, and the list goes on. But AutoVouch uses the digitized invoice data plus your PO and receiving data, rules, and tolerances to eliminate the need for human interaction. Outside of exceptions, your AP process is automated from Intake to ERP.
Another unique feature is the easy access Analytics tab in our platform. Designated users have access to standard dashboards including Aging, AutoVouch Analysis, and Vendor Not Found. They can also filter existing dashboards and create their own. Our clients have virtually unlimited options for segmenting data to help drive continuous improvement and make better decisions quickly. These metrics and charts can then easily be shared right from the platform.
With our mobile approval feature, approvers don’t have to learn the whole AP system or be tied to a computer. Approvers don’t have the time or energy for a big learning curve and in more recent years are often working remotely from a hand-held device. With mobile approval, they have quick access to all the invoice information at their fingertips.
Our Direct Ship Automation feature combines our expertise in Accounts Payable with Accounts Receivable. Because DataServ receives our client’s AP invoices and captures the associated data in our Digital Mailroom, we can send a data file to the client’s ERP to feed the “receipts” portion of the system which allows their ERP to automatically create an AR invoice and send it out ASAP. This prevents errors, maintains consistency, and speeds up their transactions.
Beyond features, what are 5 things DataServ clients love most about DataServ?
First, our clients love that we believe in a bite-sized approach to automation. AP automation does not need to be all-or-nothing. We recommend that our clients take the transformation process one process or division of the company. This approach allows you to enter into the full solution at your own pace.
Our clients also appreciate our decades of experience. As the first to offer SaaS based AP solutions, we have credibility. We take a consultative approach so that we can give our clients what they want and need.
We offer ongoing user-support and training. We believe that training and documentation is the foundation for the success of our solution. Our team works closely with you to not only train your team, but also to provide comprehensive training documentation. Our ongoing training means less downtime and errors during inevitable staff changes.
All of our clients love being able to work from anywhere because of our mobile approval feature. Now you and the buyers in your organization can approve most invoices anytime, anywhere. Approvers can view invoice details, an image of the original invoice, and any discussion items. Our sleek display makes it easy for one-click approvals and rejections, saving time.
We consistently hear from clients who are so pleased with the increased speed & accuracy they get through DataServ. Documents processed through DataServ’s Digital Mailroom are available in the system within 24 hours of receipt, and with over 99% pre-ERP data accuracy.
What industries see the most value with DataServ? Why do you think you’re such a good fit in these sectors?
DataServ has unique capabilities and deep expertise that ultimately creates efficiency for AP teams in Manufacturing, Distribution, and Construction. Organizations in this industry have an inordinate number of vendors all sending invoices differently, products that vary in unit of measurement, and locations all over the place. DataServ turns this chaos into unparalleled simplicity.
It starts with document intake. We increase automated matching potential by normalizing different units of measure. Plus, our OCR technology can recognize and adapt to the noise that can impede automation, like extra spaces, dashes, etc. on documents.
Our AutoVouch solution is built to distinguish between different PO types (Services, MRO, Inventory) and can change how quantities and pricing are matched.
We also have the unique capability to bring together vendor invoice, purchase order, and receipt data. This is huge for Manufacturing, Distribution, and Construction companies. They often struggle with decentralization. DataServ’s Direct Ship Automation sends AP invoice data directly to your ERP to feed the “receipts” portion of the system, triggering AR invoice creation.
Let’s jump to the future. How do you expect AP Automation to evolve and how will DataServ adapt to the upcoming changes?
We are certainly seeing an increased rate of adoption of AP automation solutions. Obviously, this is great news for DataServ. AP automation is now likely to be part of the larger strategic plan of any company who still relies on manual data entry and approvals. The pandemic really gave companies who had put AP automation on the backburner the last push they needed to begin the transformation from paper-based processes to digital. There has also been a trend towards transparency and analytics. Business leaders know that financial data that can be accessed easily and provides up to the minute cash flow information is a game changer. Our dashboards offer a snapshot of where you are from a health perspective and metric perspective, and with instant access to views of your accounts payable health, you can identify gaps and create a roadmap to make process improvements.
We also predict a growing need for fast deployment and customization. More and more organizations approach us, seeking a solution they can begin using ASAP, but also need flexibility to accommodate their processes. It makes sense, they want to see ROI and cannot halt their team for weeks to learn a new system and new processes. DataServ is happy to oblige with our quick start implementation and 80/20 tailoring. 80% of our solution will be industry standard for quick deployment, and 20% is tailored to the specific needs of their company. We have many predictions that are more accurately described as ambitions. Keep your eye on DataServ as we plan to disrupt the AP SaaS world in the future.
How can organizations reach out if they are interested in automating their Accounts Payable processes?
The easiest way is to go to https://www.dataserv.com/contact and we will connect to get to know their business objectives and share a short, personalized demo. In the meantime, we encourage those interested to visit our website to learn more about the amazing features mentioned earlier. You can dig into each solution a little deeper, and check out our resource section for videos, case studies, and more.
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