How-to Guide to Planning Your Next AP Automation Project

/live_board/v2/downloads?uid=ad3d95e9-aa7b-45d4-8344-071cba1c96ea&redirect=true

How-to guide to planning your next AP automation project How to plan & execute your AP automation project. Actionable steps, templates, best practices, and real-life examples.

Accounts payable horror stories “Our AP team uses manual data entry. We can, so far, manage the number of

documents, but this will change as our business grows and paperwork increases. We’ve been considering automating our document processing for some time.

The decider came when an AP clerk recently passed an invoice that was off by a decimal point. The total was $50,575.42, but the clerk keyed in $5,057,542.00.”

Humans. We make mistakes.

“We implemented OCR technology to automatically process invoices. We were promised reduced manual tasks, no more human errors, and the ability to tackle a higher volume of documents. Time to value in a few months and an ROI that

would please the board. We were over the moon. But, we crash landed.”

Data was captured incorrectly. Templates had to be created for each nonstandard invoices.

“As a finance leader, I’m concerned about the volatility created by macroeconomic trends. I want to lead transformation in my company, remodel our role from traditional, reporting-focused to a strategic partner. To build my dream team, I need to attract top finance talent. But, labor costs and a lack of supply are

blockers. And don’t even talk to me about fraud prevention and cybersecurity. With advances in Gen AI, I’m stumbling into unchartered territory.”

Future-proof your business.

Introduction Accounts payable teams manage every debt or liability owned by a business. Money owed to suppliers for goods and services. Key steps in the AP process include purchase order creation, receipt of goods, invoice processing, approval workflow, payment execution,

reconciliation, and reporting.

An efficient AP process is crucial for financial stability and operational effectiveness. Streamlined, an AP process will reduce administrative costs, reducing late fees and taking

advantage of early payment discounts. Improve cash flow management with accurate tracking of liabilities and cash flow forecasting. Maintain vendor relations with punctual and

accurate payments, leading to a reliable supply chain. Strengthen internal controls to combat fraudulent activity. Drive accurate financial reporting for smart decision making and

budget planning. Ensure compliance and regulatory requirements are met. Financial health is preserved.

Finance leaders face multiple challenges. Digital transformation and adopting technology to modernize operations. Managing geopolitical and economic instability. Navigating complex and constantly changing regulatory environments. Increasing cybersecurity threats. And,

creating a culture of innovation and agility within their teams.

Automation used to be a nice-to-have. Now it’s a necessity to remain competitive, drive efficiency, and be cost effective. To fully understand their businesses, to be able to focus on

strategic growth, finance leaders need real-time data insights and performance metrics. Adopting new technology, such as AI, will help finance teams with forecasting. Enabling

deep analysis and data-driven decision making. Timely processes will ensure there are no cash-flow bottlenecks. With manual tasks eliminated, workflows will speed up and manual

data entry errors reduced.

Choosing the best automation technology is daunting. So many choices. Convincing your board that the cost and time to implement new systems will result in money saved.

The role of the finance team has evolved. It’s time to take your team from back office support. Mobilize the power of data and predictive analytics.

Position your company for success.

Our AP Automation eBook will explain the importance and benefits of automated document processing. How to assess your current AP processes and where you can improve.

Choosing the right vendor for your business needs. Tips, templates, case studies, best practices…

Innovate. Impact. Inspire.

2rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Table of contents Why you’re automating your AP processes…

What’s your current automation story?

Step 1 | How to choose the right technology

Step 2 | How to automate your AP process

Step 3 | How to map your processes for AP automation

Step 4 | How to write an RFP

Step 5 | How to avoid an automation fail

Step 6 | What solid onboarding looks like

What AP automation success looks like

Conclusion

Additional resources

3rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Why you’re automating your AP processes Okay. Before we get started, it’d be good to remind yourself why you’re doing this. Following, are the benefits you can aim for in automating your AP process.

Buckle up. It’s a long list…

Improved data accuracy

Tired, bored, distracted, we’re only human. We make mistakes. Errors, that may be small, will impact a business hard. Order quantities wrong. Delivering products to the wrong address. Mismatched invoice and purchase order. The penalties pile up.

Data transparency

Visible audit trails and accurate data mean you can find strategic insights quickly to drive efficient decision making. Promoting accountability and data security, while enabling your business to show compliance with regulatory bodies.

Increased productivity

Digital automation processes are faster and more accurate. An increase in productivity means shorter turnaround times, happier customers, and increased revenue.

Reduced operational costs

With increased productivity comes improved efficiencies and reduced operational costs. Hiring more employees to cover spikes in demand will be a thing of the past. And wave goodbye to late delivery penalties due to manual data entry errors.

Increased innovation

Because your employees are no longer tied up with manual tasks, they’re able to focus on more innovative and creative projects for your business.

AP AUTOMATION | WHY

4rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Increased employee satisfaction

Introducing automated processes not only frees up your people for more interesting roles, they can also benefit from training on new kit, and collaborate with other teams in your organization to improve workflows.

Attracting new talent

We live in a digital age. Your competitors are automating. Everybody is automating. To appeal to new hires, your business has to be a pioneer of new technology.

Collaboration across the board

By integrating systems across teams in your organization it makes it easier for your employees to work together on process workflows. Common processes across the board ensure your business remains agile.

Flexibility & scalability

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift toward a more digital world. Businesses were forced to be flexible and quickly adapt their roadmaps and adopt advanced technologies to automate manual tasks.

It showed that organizations need to be able to react immediately to challenges like changing consumer preferences and needs. Document processing automation software brings flexibility with regard to your company’s growth. Able to scale up for seasonal spikes in demand at no additional cost.

Increased compliance and data security

No more lost documents, security breaches, or poor compliance. You’ll be able to identify suspicious activity and reduce the risk of fraud. Real-time alerts mean you can address security threats immediately.

Retain internal business process knowledge

Sam left the company last week, and now we don’t know how this process works.

A digital workflow automation solution ensures that critical business process knowledge is not lost when a team member leaves your company.

5rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Improved customer experience

Streamline your processes with digital automation and your business will be equipped to deliver a personalized service. Faster payments. Punctual deliveries.

Give your managers a break

Managers bogged down with manual approval processes is not a good use of their time. Employing automated approval workflows frees up managers so they can spend more time on strategic business operations.

6rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/blog/invoice-approval-workflows/

If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it

“We’re coping. Just. We’re in two minds as to whether AP automation is for us. Will it mean redundancies? How much will it cost? How would I convince the board? But, my team is struggling with manual data entry. Accuracy is not the best. Productivity and efficiency are low.”

“The direct and indirect costs of manual, paper-based invoice processing amounts to $2.7 trillion for global businesses.” 2018 Goldman Sachs report

My current solution doesn’t live up to the promise

“100% accuracy and automation end to end.”

“That’s what the vendor said. Regrettably, it’s not the case. We’ve got an expensive bit of kit that doesn’t meet our automation needs. We got burned.”

Don’t believe the hype!

I think I know what OCR is, but…

“I’m not fully confident I understand my options or what I need.”

“We’ve decided to invest in an automated document processing solution. We know that many businesses use OCR. It’s been around for decades and it revolutionized data capture. So I’m assuming it ticks all the boxes - efficiency, productivity, accuracy - but I’m just not sure.” Optical character recognition = intelligent document processing? No. Keep reading.

AP AUTOMATION | WHY

What is your current automation story?

7rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/blog/do-companies-still-use-manual-data-entry/ https://knowen-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/file/3460/Global%2BTechnology_%2BB2B_%2BHow%2Bthe%2Bnext%2Bpayments%2Bfrontier%2Bwill%2Bunleash%2Bsmall%2Bbusiness%2B.pdf

When it comes to automation, OCR is still top of mind. But what is it exactly and will it be the right solution for your organization? In this section we'll review the benefits of OCR vs intelligent document processing.

Nope. OCR is not what you’re looking for.

It’s an abacus vs calculator situation. Both have a function they perform well. Adding, subtracting. But, worlds apart.

Optical character recognition brought so much to the table. Automating data entry by scanning documents and converting into machine-readable text. Wowzer! Hours saved. Employees relieved of time-consuming, tedious manual tasks.

But, there was a catch.

Documents in different formats, lousy source material, etc. OCR vs IDP. Sure OCR is what you’re looking for?

OCR isn’t the bad guy

Optical character recognition is a technology that scans a printed document and converts it into a machine-readable file. While you can’t edit or search the text, a software like Adobe Acrobat that uses OCR technology, can convert the image into a text document with its contents stored as text data.

OCR isn’t the bad guy. It does exactly what it was designed to do. Businesses have benefited. But, it has its limits. And these are becoming more apparent as we realize the full power of artificial intelligence.

OCR can’t cope with unstructured data. It doesn’t understand the context of the scanned text. This means end-to-end document automation isn’t possible. And, to be brutally honest, if it’s not end to end, you can’t claim to have automated your accounts payable process.

If your business invested in OCR, it’s time to ask yourself if it’s meeting your needs. If you’re looking for a document processing solution that learns from user feedback, improves over time, and scales with your growth, OCR is not the way to go.

That said…

AP AUTOMATION | HOW

Step 1 | How to choose the right technology

8rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/blog/what-is-ocr-technology/ https://rossum.ai/intelligent-document-processing/ https://rossum.ai/intelligent-document-processing/

When OCR is the right choice

Don’t get me wrong. OCR does exactly what it claims to do. Capturing data from images, text, and other sources and converting it into a machine-readable format. Using complex algorithms to analyze and identify characters in an image. Map them to their matching symbols. Then convert the scanned document into editable and searchable PDFs.

The advantages of OCR include…

• Accuracy – OCR scanners are accurate and produce high-quality images • Speed – the scanning is fast, with large volumes of text processed quickly • Cost – it’s cheaper than employing a team to manually input data • Efficiency – OCR has transformed business operations

But…

Character matching is a simplistic form of automation. With matching often missing the mark. Introduce semi-structured or unstructured data and you’ll hit a brick wall.

• Structured data has a standardized format for access by software and humans. Typically tabular, with rows and columns that clearly define data attributes.

• Semi-structured data is a form of structured data, but doesn’t conform to a rigid schema or data model. It can contain elements that are difficult to categorize or classify. But, it contains tags and metadata to separate semantic elements and determine hierarchies of records and fields.

• Unstructured data doesn’t have a predefined structure, i.e., it doesn’t sit in a row-column database. Text heavy, it’s found in emails, images, audio files, social media posts, web pages, video files, PDFs, and more. Why is unstructured data important? It contains trends and insights that enable business-critical decisions, financial projects, and customer engagement.

OCR vs IDP?

With OCR as the starting point, intelligent document processing uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to process and extract data from multiple types of documents. It can work with complex data, including semi-structured and unstructured data.

An IDP solution uses natural language processing – NLP – to extract relevant data from the document. The data is validated against predefined business rules and uploaded to a database or ERP system.

Automated data extraction is a cinch, and it can understand data in context. IDP can achieve accuracy levels of up to 99%. So if your business passes a high volume of complex documents, and needs them processed fast, accuracy remains high. An IDP solution like Rossum is easy to implement and integrate with your existing systems.

9rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

IDP to remain competitive

AI is the future. Embrace it and it’ll be your teammate. Ignore it and your business will lose its competitive edge.

While OCR is great, it has serious limitations. Adopting intelligent document processing gives you the advantages of OCR, alongside the benefits of artificial intelligence…

Unmatched productivity and accuracy

• Faster data entry, verification, and validation • Minimized error rates • Maximum scalability and agility • Talent retention as people released from boring, repetitive tasks

Protection against document-based risk

• Fraud and anomaly detection • Transaction matching • Streamlined approval workflows • Compliance monitoring

Improved relationships with business partners

• Minimized delays • Fast issue resolution • Document status visibility • Seamless collaboration with internal and external stakeholders

Strategic insights to drive business transformation

• Real-time transaction visibility • Operational insights • Strategic insights • Opportunities for optimization and consolidation

10rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/blog/invoice-approval-workflows/

Making the move to IDP

Let’s recap…

• Understanding the technology is the first step in choosing the one that fits your business needs

• OCR technology does what it was designed to do but lacks the flexibility and accuracy of AI

• Intelligent document processing solutions built on OCR technology can handle high volumes of complex documents

Intelligent document processing is takes the advantages of OCR, addressing its limitations, and improving.

OCR converts text into a machine-readable format. Then, using AI, machine learning, and deep learning, it captures, classifies, and extracts data.

You’ve got yourself an automated document processing workflow… end to end.

11rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

First up, which processes can be automated? Multiple emails have to be sent to vendors or other teams? Automate. Sticky approval process? Automate.

Rossum’s transactional document automation platform is uniquely placed to tackle documents that log every transaction you make. Let’s take a look at the manual accounts payable process and how/what can be automated.

Manual accounts payable workflow

From the original invoice to payment, every step of the manual AP workflow can be automated…

• Invoice data capture Data from the invoice is captured – vendor name, invoice number, goods purchased, quantity, cost per item, money due, payment terms.

• Verification Data entered into ERP system, then matched with the purchase order. 3-way matching is necessary if delivery receipts are included.

• Approvals Invoice is passed through the approval process, with each person validating before payment can be made. Any discrepancy in the invoice – quantity received doesn’t match quantity ordered – means the accounts receivable has to back track to the vendor or receiving department.

• Payment Payment is made by AP team.

• Payment recorded Payment is recorded in the accounting system.

• Reporting Reports are created for budgeting planning, covering invoices paid during a specific period, items bought, vendors, etc.

Each step in the AP process involves multiple people. If an errors occur at any stage, the step has to be taken again.

The chance of manual data entry errors is high. It’s a slow and painful process.

AP AUTOMATION | HOW

Step 2 | How to automate your AP process

12rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/transactional-document-automation/ https://rossum.ai/blog/what-is-data-capture/ https://rossum.ai/blog/invoice-approval-workflows/

Meeting payment due dates is critical if you want to keep suppliers happy and avoid late payment penalties.

The accounts payable process can be automated and streamlined to ensure accuracy, consistency, and efficiency at every step in the process. A lack of automation makes it impossible to create a frictionless AP workflow.

Automating the AP workflow

Automating accounts payable processes – invoice data capture, 3-way matching, approvals – saves time and money. Operations are centralized and everyone has universal access to documents. Benefits include…

• Reduced processing time and error rates • Strengthened vendor relationships • Heightened fraud management • Integration with other business systems such as CRM and ERP • Automatic notifications for discrepancies and payments due • Automated reports and analytics to help with strategical decision making, audits, and taxation

Example of accounting automation.

13rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/blog/invoice-processing-automation-guide/ https://rossum.ai/accounting-automation/

Ever have a cracking idea but no clue as to how to start the ball rolling?

A company with perfectly streamlined business processes is as scarce as hen’s teeth.

There’s always inefficiency. Always. If you’re looking to automate your AP workflows, you must evaluate your processes. Find the sticking points. You need to perform workflow process mapping.

A process map helps you understand what can be automated in your workflow, so you can reach your goal of automating your AP process end to end. Start up or established business, process mapping is the first step in streamlining your business operations, increasing efficiency, and reducing risk.

What is workflow process mapping?

You need a plan. Process mapping will give you a visual representation of the workflow. Highlighting pain points and areas that need improvement.

Process mapping will also help with team brainstorms, decision making, project planning, and onboarding. The entire process is represented in a map, flowchart, workflow diagram…

Each step – objectives, resources, stakeholders, etc. – is a break down of a complex process. This end-to-end vision will show who’s responsible for each step, the resources needed to complete a step, and the end goal.

Workflow mapping represents the real world. While you may think you know your processes inside out – a couple of your team involved, and four to five steps – mapping your workflow could reveal that there are 30 steps and 10 people involved.

For instance, if you’re considering automating your AP processes and need to convince your team, mapping your workflow will demonstrate how slow a process is, or how many errors are occurring due to human error. That’s time lost and money down the drain.

Workflow mapping isn’t restricted to after a process kicks off. It will also help you find the most efficient approach. Creating a document to support your standard operating procedures – SOPs. Instructions to guide your team on how to perform a task accurately, such as one that has to conform to regulatory standards. Workflow maps also support the ISO 9000 quality standard.

14rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

AP AUTOMATION | HOW

Step 3 | How to map your processes for AP automation

Types of workflow process maps

There are several different workflow maps, depending on your business needs…

SIPOC diagram

A SIPOC diagram – suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers – identifies the key players and elements in a process. The first step to drawing up a detailed process map.

Marketing SIPOC diagram showing the process behind creating and launching a landing page.

High-level map

A high-level overview of a process shown in a few steps. This type of process or workflow map is ideal if you’re presenting to the board, who doesn’t need to see all the tiny details.

Relationship map

Similar to a high-level map, the relationship map identifies process participants.

Detailed map

Clue’s in the name…

This map contains all the details of all the steps, including subprocesses. It shows decision points and inputs/outputs of each step. This comprehensive map is the best for highlighting inefficiencies.

15rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Swimlane map

A swimlane map divides a process into lanes for each responsibility, with each person designated a role in the process, and the interaction between.

For large processes, whether company-wide or per team, a swimlane map is best for training teams about their roles in a process. Encouraging accountability and finding inefficiencies.

Value stream map

A value stream map is employed in lean management – optimizing processes by reducing time spent on non-value-added tasks – to show the progress of a process.

While a value stream map is more complicated than other process maps, the detail it provides – waste, inefficiencies, opportunities for improvement – will ensure that when delivering a product, quality standards are met.

Workflow process mapping best practices

Customize your workflow maps to suit your requirements, but consider the following best practices…

Workflow map planning

• Establish the start and end of the process Example: Receipt of invoice to updating account records and archive

• Determine the objective of the process Example: Invoice process - to ensure businesses are paid for the goods and services they provide. Tracks payments and invoices.

Creating your workflow map

• Include details of every step Example: Receipt of invoice, entering data into system, 3-way matching, approvals, payment, reporting, archiving…

• Include every team member/team Example: AP team, billing clerk, approver, archiver, etc.

• Use process mapping symbols for universal understanding Example: For clarity and understanding, use rectangle with wavy base = document/report, cylinder = database, circles = on/off-page refs, D-shape = delay…

16rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Reviewing your workflow map

• Collect feedback from everyone in the process Example: Chat with your AP clerk about the most common mistakes they encounter.

• Map your current workflow honestly, not through rose-tinted spectacles Example: Yes, your accountants do spend 2 hours and 43 minutes every day updating incorrectly entered data.

5 steps to creating your workflow map

While there’s plenty of workflow management software on the market, a pack of Post-it notes and a wall will be more than enough to kick off and give you a basis for opening discussions with a future automation vendor.

Step 1 | Identify a problem or process to map

Try to map every single process in your business and you’ll be overwhelmed. Look at areas of your company that are underperforming. Failing to achieve goals. Missing payment due dates. Having to pay late delivery penalties.

17rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Example of a simple accounts payable process map. Step 2 | Determine your objectives - the goal is to…

• Identify people responsible for each process • Understand which events occur at each step in the process • Show each step clearly • Look for bottlenecks or stumbling blocks • Identify areas to improve

Chat with your AP team and other stakeholders who play a role in the process to accurately cover all the steps and decide the level of detail needed.

Activities listed, now it’s time to arrange them in the correct order, until the entire process is shown from start to finish.

Step 3 | Visualize, but keep it simple

Don’t panic if you’ve a wall covered with Post-it notes or a scrappy Miro board. You’ll be adding/removing steps, changing the order, swapping out the colors, stopping for multiple coffee breaks.

Choose colors for different steps, pain points, roles, etc. Don’t be tempted to add connectors until you’re 100% sure you’ve mapped your process accurately.

Once you’re satisfied, you can create a digital version of your map in PowerPoint, Excel, etc.

Step 4 | Use swimlanes to show roles

A swimlane diagram will help you understand a complex process and the workflow. Creating a clear visual of how the different teams, individuals, and roles work together to reach the objective.

Swimlane process map example.

18rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Listing responsibilities can make it easier to find issues in your process, whether a problem is down to a step, team, or person. Is it the entire process that’s failing? Or, is it a person in the wrong role?

Step 5 | Collect feedback

You can’t create an accurate process map on your own. Include everyone involved. Your team and other teams involved in the workflow. It could be that you’re using the wrong tools. Or that you’re not using any tools and you should automate the entire process workflow.

Automate your workflows for greater efficiency

Workflows mapped, it’s time to optimize…

19rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Where are we at? You’ve identified the best technology for your specific business needs. Processes you want to automate have been chosen and you’ve mapped your workflows. Next, it’s time to choose your vendor. To get past the sales speak and down to the nitty gritty? You need to issue a request for proposal.

How to write an RFP for an IDP solution

A comprehensive RFP helps you choose the right vendor, ensure competitive pricing, and avoid risk. It’s important to understand the process and best practices to avoid wasting time. Or worse, choosing the wrong vendor and ending up with a shipwreck of a solution.

We’ve years of expertise in developing, implementing, and refining business processes. We’ve seen a ton of RFPs and we’d like to share what we’ve learnt and how to write a request for proposal.

A document created by a business looking for a product or service, issued to multiple vendors. A question and answer document to help you make unbiased, informed, and confident decisions. They have a fixed deadline set by the buying party. Once all the proposals are received, a vendor is chosen that meets the needs and budget of the buying party.

When to issue an RFP

Usually part of a company’s procurement process, an RFP is issued when you’re launching a complex project and looking to spend money on a solution with more technical expertise or a specialized approach for a business requirement that your company can’t achieve on its own. For instance…

• Your document processing is done manually but you want to automate. • Looking to replace an existing solution that you’re unhappy with. You splashed the cash after a

vendor sold you on 100% accuracy, only to realize they were bending the truth. • Originally invested in an OCR solution which did a great job. But, as your company has grown,

you’re receiving more varied documents and your legacy OCR can’t cope.

Chances are, the financial outlay is big. An RFP will help you make like-for-like comparisons between vendors, as they’ll all be answering the same questions.

20rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Grab your free RFP template with suggested questions to ask your chosen intelligent document processing vendors.

Step 4 | How to write an RFP AP AUTOMATION | HOW

https://rossum.ai/rfp-template-for-idp/

What to include in your RFP process

The more information you share with the vendors, the better they’ll meet your needs. Eliminating a barrage of questions during the process. Explain your current situation, problem you want to solve, timeline, budget, etc. Be clear, specific, precise. Or you’ll receive proposals that are wide of the mark from unqualified vendors.

Define your plan with stakeholders

Issuing an RFP is about addressing a problem in your business. Efficiency. It’s important that you collaborate with those that’ll be impacted by the change in operations. Define the challenges they face. The tools that’ll solve the issue. And, what success will look like. For example…

• Challenge = manual document processing is slow, error-ridden, and tedious • Tools = an AI document processing automation solution • Success = AP document processing automated end to end

You’ll need alignment from all the teams that’ll be impacted by the purchase. Teams to include when writing an RFP for automating your accounts payable process…

• Operations • Shared services • Finance • IT • Procurement • Leadership

Choose your vendors

Before you put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, draw up a list of vendors you want to issue your request for proposal to. It requires some homework on your side. Choose them according to your needs. For instance…

• If you receive multiple formats of documents, having to create a new template each time would be time-consuming and resource heavy. You’re looking for 100% template-free.

• If your company has seasonal peaks during which the volume of documents received increases, a platform that scales and is flexible should be a key requirement.

• Documents from all around the world? The platform should be language agnostic, and able to easily deal with all kinds of document and tax formats.

Read customer reviews. Product reviews. Sign up for a free demo or free trial.

21rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/ https://rossum.ai/form/demo/ https://rossum.ai/form/trial/

Company overview

Share background information about your business. A boilerplate explaining who you are, why you exist, your mission. When your business was founded and by whom.

• Elevator pitch • Value proposition • Target audience • What your platform offers • Short and long-term goals

Keep it short, as any vendor worthy of your money will do their own research.

Statement of work

This is a description of your project. The AP processes you’re looking to automate. Also called a scope of work, your SOW describes why you’re issuing an RFP and your end goal.

Be as detailed as necessary to ensure you receive all the information you need to make the right decision. For instance, are you looking to automate your AP processes end to end? Which documents do you process – invoices, purchase orders, bills of lading?

If you don’t provide enough details, prospective vendors won’t understand the scope of your request and will submit proposals that you’ll immediately have to trash.

Your statement of work should include…

• Why you’re issuing an RFP – full automation, part automation • Current state of your document processing – 100% manual, unhappy with current

automation solution, looking to scale • Your timeline for wanting to see results • The date when you’ll select the winning vendor

Evaluation and scoring criteria

When you write your RFP, include the people who’ll evaluate the vendor responses and how. If you decide to use weighted scoring, be transparent about the score for each question. This will help vendors understand your priorities.

Project scope and budget

There are two schools of thought about including your budget in an RFP. If you don’t include it, there’s a chance all the vendor submissions will be way beyond what you’re looking to spend.

22rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Questions you should answer in your RFP…

• Do I want fixed or variable pricing, depending on usage? • What is my company prepared to pay? • Payment terms? Contract renewals and/or extensions of project? • SaaS – pay-as you-go – solution, or long-term? • Cloud-native or on prem? • What/how many data sources do I need to analyze? • What are my use cases? How many documents? What documents? • What level of automation do I want?

Timeline of your RFP

Provide a clear project timeline. Dates and times when you want to receive the vendor proposals. Also, how long your review period will be, and the date and time you’ll announce your choice.

How the RFP should be submitted

Clear details as to how vendors should submit their proposals…

• Format – hard copy, Microsoft Word, Google Doc, PDF, etc. • Submit by – hand delivery, email, snail mail, shared Google Doc, etc.

RFP best practices

Now you know what to include, there are some best practices to follow so your RFP will gather all the information you need. And, vendors will be able to respond to your RFP comprehensively.

Your RFP may be the first time a vendor has come across your business. Make sure it gives a good impression. Demonstrates your commitment to building honest and valuable partnerships.

Yes, you’re quizzing the vendors, but it’s not a test to trip them up. If a vendor doesn’t see the value of a response, understand the request, or foresees future issues, you’ll struggle to get your RFP answered.

Clear instructions

If all the vendor submissions follow the same rules, it’s easier to compare like-for-like.

For the vendor, it’s the difference between a good RFP and a bad RFP. They’ll know that they’re not competing with other vendors over which typeface looks best.

The Times Roman vs Arial debate is real.

23rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

If you want vendors to stick to left aligned text, a specific typeface, a rigid character count, make it clear.

If you want a comprehensive response to your RFP, you must give a reasonable timeline…

• Avoid a submission date that clashes with a public holiday • An impossible RFP schedule may put some vendors off • A rush job will result in a substandard response

These things seem obvious, but can easily be ignored or forgotten.

Be upfront with your vendors

Tell them how you’ll evaluate their proposals. How long the selection process will take. Tell them if they’ve won the contract, or if they’ve lost.

If they’ve lost, they deserve to hear why. Be nice. Share constructive feedback.

Respond to questions – yes vs no

Some RFPs are strict about communication. Once the process has started, no more. If you’re approaching a large number of vendors, it makes sense. Otherwise, utter chaos.

But, if you’ve accidentally contradicted yourself in your RFP, it’s not going to work if you won’t allow vendors to ask questions. If you do answer a vendor’s question, will you share your response with the others? Just to be fair.

It’s your call. If you’re going to answer questions, do it without compromising the process.

If you want good answers…

Ask vague questions, you’ll get vague answers.

“Is your IDP solution easy to use?”

Good luck with that one.

“Can my team use your IDP solution with minimal training and how soon will they see results?”

One-word answers are encouraged. They eliminate sales speak from the vendor. They’re fast. And comparisons with other vendors is more efficient.

Build an RFP library for the future

All RFPs are not all the same, but there are a lot of sections and questions that will be duplicated. Or need a minor tweak.

24rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Your evaluation process will remain the same. Company overview and terms & conditions too.

For future RFPs, you can speed up the process with a library of common content, a template, and a checklist of what needs to be included.

Be ready with questions

Issuing a comprehensive RFP is one thing. A big thing. But a demo and live discussion with the vendor will be invaluable. Here are some questions to ask…

• How long does it take to train the AI for my use case? • Can you show me how your platform works without training? For instance, if I share one of my

documents with you now. • How long does the onboarding process take until we have an MVP? • How many people from my team will need to be involved in my automation project - during and

after onboarding? • What’s the time to value once the automation solution is implemented? • What accuracy levels can I expect?

BTW - Take a spin around our platform in our interactive demo. It might inspire more questions.

Customize your RFP template

Now you know how to write an RFP, you can download our free RFP template and use it as a guide. Customize it to your business, so you’re not asking irrelevant questions. Our template is designed to give you something to build on, so rewrite questions in your brand voice.

Once you receive the proposals from your chosen vendors, evaluate what worked. Any RFP data you collect will only improve your future RFPs.

The RFP process evolves over time. Questions become irrelevant. New questions arise. Evaluate and optimize regularly.

25rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/interactive-demo/ https://rossum.ai/rfp-template-for-idp/

RFP issued. Proposals received. Evaluation in progress. Ensuring you have an easy onboarding is critical to the ongoing success of your AP automation project. Clunky, complicated, and laborious implementation will demotivate you and your team. Here are the pitfalls to avoid.

But… it’s not inevitable and can be avoided…

Unrealistic expectations | Lack of clear objectives

Many organizations have invested a hefty sum in new IDP or OCR solutions. Only to realize they don’t live up to expectations. They don’t streamline AP operations. You must have a clear understanding of which processes you want to improve, and what can be achieved to avoid a botched implementation.

Realistic KPIs

Accuracy rate is one of the top metrics IDP vendors will try to sell you on.

There are out of the box accuracy levels they can guarantee for certain document types. But, it’s vital you understand that there is an accuracy floor level that you’ll get when you buy the software. And a ceiling you can achieve once the platform is set up to fit your specific processes and documents.

Avoid like the plague vendors that promise 100% accuracy off the bat.

Set clear objectives when it comes to the metrics you want to achieve across your document automation journey - processing time, error rates, throughput volumes, etc.

No champion to lead the project | Lack of leadership

If you’ve ever tried herding cats, you’ll know where this is going.

Trying to lead an IDP project without a champion will result in chaos and failure. Without someone at the helm, waving the flag and rallying the troops, the project will lose momentum and direction. Plus, having that champion as the go-to person for the project – liaising with vendors, having the full picture of the situation, and building relationships – is essential for keeping things on track, getting the best deal, and ensuring everyone’s on the same page.

And let’s not forget the importance of getting C-level on board – without their buy-in and (budgetary) support, the project will quickly lose steam and veer off course.

26rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

AP AUTOMATION | HOW

Step 5 | How to avoid an automation fail

Bad change management | Lack of adoption

Your shiny new IDP system is all set to revolutionize your document processing. But nobody wants to use it.

Sound familiar?

Bad change management and lack of adoption can quickly turn your game-changing automation solution into an expensive paperweight.

Enter Rossum! We’ve built an ergonomic user interface that’s super intuitive. So much so, non techies love it. Plus, our AI technology means AP clerks can see the system learning from their input, gaining trust in the automation project as they work.

Bad change management – guiding people through the transition, addressing their concerns, and showing them the ropes – will hit you with resistance and low adoption rates. Always take the time to discuss with your chosen vendor what onboarding and training will look like.

Buying the wrong solution | Lack of research

Many vendors position themselves as IDP or OCR solutions, specializing in different industries, document types, and functionalities.

For instance, we specialize in transactional documents such as invoices, purchase orders, bills of lading, certificates of analysis, packing lists, and more. Documents that are dealt with by finance teams across industries.

27rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

“We are enthusiastic about Rossum’s performance and its capability to quickly learn and adapt to the wide range of Tonnage Certificates used by shipping agencies! This has been instrumental in building the team’s trust and confidence in this AI automation initiative.”

Arthur Philippa, Lead RPA Developer, Port of Rotterdam Authority

“It was becoming impossible to process the volume and complexity of invoices manually, if we wanted to continue growing sustainably as a business we needed an intelligent document automation solution. Experiences with other automation providers had left us very disappointed, we felt that Rossum offered us the AI visibility and control to help us continue to scale our operations efficiently.”

Marco Favaretti, Financial Controller, Adyen

https://rossum.ai/customer-stories/port-of-rotterdam/ https://rossum.ai/customer-stories/adyen/

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options and promises, and choose the wrong solution. Without thoroughly evaluating your needs and researching the available options, you’ll inevitably be disappointed.

When considering different IDP solutions, here are some key questions to ask yourself…

• What types of documents do we have to process, and are there any industry-specific requirements we must consider?

• How much automation do we need, and how seamlessly does the solution integrate with our existing workflows?

• Does the vendor specialize in industries or document types that align with our requirements? • Is the solution scalable and flexible enough to accommodate our future growth and changing

requirements? • Can the vendor provide examples of successful implementations and satisfied customers to

demonstrate the reliability and effectiveness of the solution? • Is there a free trial available where I can test the platform, preferably with out own documents?

Answer these questions to ensure you choose an IDP solution that meets your organization’s needs and sets you up for success.

Regulatory requirement fail | Lack of compliance

A common reason for the failure of IDP projects is the lack of compliance with regulatory requirements. In industries such as finance, there are stringent regulations governing the handling, processing, and storage of sensitive documents and data. Non-compliance will lead to severe consequences, including fines, legal liabilities, and reputational damage.

Unfortunately, some IDP solutions don’t adequately address compliance requirements, leaving organizations vulnerable to breaches.

It is essential that you choose an IDP solution that prioritizes compliance and offers features such as data encryption, access controls, audit trails, and certifications like GDPR or HIPAA compliance.

And it’s not just about the tech – your processes and workflows need to play by the rules too. Make sure everything lines up with regulatory standards to safeguard your sensitive information.

No team of experts | Lack of resources

If your company doesn’t involve the necessary internal resources – especially people - the implementation of an intelligent document processing solution will quickly hit the wall.

If you don’t include the necessary expertise and workforce to drive the implementation forward, crucial tasks like data preparation, system configuration, and user training will be neglected. This will lead to delays, errors, and… failure.

Kicking off you IDP implementation project, ensure you’ve clearly identified the people who’ll be involved. Assigning specific responsibilities to each person.

Next step? Onboarding…

28rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/form/trial/ https://rossum.ai/intelligent-document-processing/security-and-trust/

The onboarding process should be comprehensive, adaptable, and easy peasy.

IDP vendors differ in their onboarding approach. It would be wise for your team to familiarize itself with the resources provided by your vendor. Preferably before you hand over the cash.

What follows are examples of what you’d have access to with Rossum. From project kick-off to go-live, we’ll work with your people to train and support them throughout your accounts payable automation journey. Ensuring your processes are automated end to end.

Following an initial meeting in which we’ll discuss your unique use cases - project vision - we’ll show you how our IDP solution will work for your business. Sharing best practices, testing your processes, and always a phone call away to answer any questions. Forever.

We’ll give you full transparency, onboarding resources, and a dedicated account manager. Cloud-native, you won’t have to give our team access to your coffee machine.

Rossum’s onboarding resources

Online material

• Help Center - Repository of articles and guides - Day-to-day usage of Rossum

• API Reference - Documentation of Rossum’s API endpoints - Set up extensions

• Documentation for developers - Repository of articles and guides - Integrate Rossum into other systems - Set up extensions

Offline material

• Admin user enablement - Navigate the Rossum platform - Keep track of your billing information - Use the statistics dashboard

29rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

AP AUTOMATION | HOW

Step 6 | What solid onboarding looks like

https://rossum.ai/help/ https://elis.rossum.ai/api/docs/#getting-started https://developers.rossum.ai/

• Technical user enablement - Set up document ingestion - Set up Rossum’s out of the box extensions

• End user enablement - Navigate the Rossum platform - Efficiently process documents in Rossum

Onboarding schedule example

Here’s is an example of an onboarding schedule for a new Rossum customer. The time to value can vary depending on whether the client has already set up their own free trial, as well as the level of the complexity of their use case.

30rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/form/trial/

From commercial businesses to Fortune 500, our customers have one thing in common. The value they get from our transactional document automation platform.

How Wolt accelerated Accounts Payable AI automation and reduced error rates by 44%

• Industry | Grocery retail • Use cases | Accounts payable • Documents | Invoices

Maximized return on automation

Automation rates increased by 12.5% within 2 days of the A/B test (which simulated starting from scratch), with 58.8% of invoices now touchless, releasing the AP team from low-value manual tasks to focus on more complex and strategic work. After Rossum’s AI achieved a high initial threshold, accuracy levels are now 93.7% for headers and 93.6% for line items. Based on our estimations it took Rossum Aurora only 6 business days to reach this performance level.

Read the Wolt case study

31rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

AP AUTOMATION | REAL-WORD EXAMPLES

What AP automation success looks like

“We wanted to automate the AP process and needed a solution that was flexible enough to process over a hundred thousand invoices per year in a wide variety of structures. We felt that Rossum was able to do that.”

Vishal Karkala, Product Lead Supply Chain & Inventory.

https://rossum.ai/customer-stories/wolt/

How FINN speeds up its document processing times by 71% with Rossum

• Industry | Automotive • Use cases | Accounts payable • Documents | Invoices

Fast time to value

FINN significantly reduced error rates and reached over 90% accuracy within the first six weeks of using Rossum, with the initial MVP setup in no-code only taking two days to complete. This dramatic improvement also meant that FINN didn’t need to hire more people due to capacity requirements.

Read the FINN case study

How Adyen achieved 92.6% accuracy after only 20 documents

• Industry | Finance • Use cases | Accounts payable • Documents | Invoices

“At FINN, we believe in the ‘automate everything’ mindset in order to build processes that are truly scalable. Rossum helps us to overcome the challenge of processing a vast diversity of documents which are generated throughout the entire lifecycle of a car with their superior OCR technology, a user-friendly UI, easy integration into our no-code landscape and very responsive support. We believe that Rossum is the right partner for us to help us building the most popular car subscription platform.”

Fabian Brossok, Product Manager, Finance products

“Rossum Aurora achieved a 92.6% accuracy rate after processing only 20 documents. To see the AI learning and instantly getting smarter gives us confidence we can truly deploy AI to automate processes and scale sustainably.”

Marco Favaretti, Financial Controller, Adyen

32rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/customer-stories/finn/

Unmatched speed of learning

Rossum deployed the next-generation AI to Adyen’s invoices in the Netherlands, Brazil, and the US. Then compared the results with the previous generation of Rossum’s AI in an A/B test.

While the previous generation AI performed excellently, Rossum Aurora pushed the accuracy levels even higher. The next-generation AI produced higher data quality by reducing errors by an average of 20.5%, improving extraction accuracy to 93.4% on average.

Read the Adyen case study

How Master Trust Bank of Japan reduced manual workload by 75%

• Industry | Finance • Use case | Accounts payable • Documents | Multiple, sensitive financial documents

Training Rossum to “read” Japanese

Rossum combined an open-source Japanese OCR module with our own proprietary OCR technology, and injected this compatibility layer into its AI engine. The AI engine used its current knowledge and applied it to Japanese documents. Once the compatibility layer was built it took only 1-2 days to train the AI, with time to value seven weeks from project launch.

Read the Master Trust Bank of Japan case study

“With Rossum, we saw impact early on: from reducing overhead costs to increasing the speed of commercial transactions and significantly reducing the risk of exposure. The solution has a positive influence on both internal users and our clients.”

Ryo Kawaguchi, Manager at Master Trust Bank of Japan

33rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/customer-stories/adyen/ https://rossum.ai/customer-stories/master-trust-bank-of-japan/ https://rossum.ai/aurora-advanced-ai/

Rundown of key points

Automating your AP processes is a no brainer. Cost savings, error reduction, efficiency through the roof. To kick off your automation journey, it’s important to look at your current operation. Identify areas for improvement, the roles people play, and what you want to achieve.

Choosing the right technology and the best vendor is make or break. Your RFP will help you find the solution that meets your specific needs. Addresses your challenges and hits your targets.

Understanding what solid onboarding looks like will enable a seamless implementation that’s both comprehensive and structured.

Recognizing what success looks like - faster processing, increased accuracy, detailed financial reporting - means you can measure the positive impact on your business and demonstrate a healthy return on automation.

The future of AP automation

AP automation is here. Driven by artificial intelligence, it’s transforming invoice processing and financial decision making. Bringing unmatched productivity and accuracy. Increased efficiency. Strategic insights. Forecasting capabilities. Enhanced fraud detection. Employee and customer satisfaction. Businesses that adopt AI-driven automation will gain the competitive advantage. With administrative manual tasks taken care of by automation, the AP team can focus on data analysis, strategical planning, and flagging new opportunities.

In a world where every second counts, automating your AP processes is the difference between thriving as a growing concern or running at a loss.

Conclusion AP AUTOMATION | CONCLUSION

33rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Intelligent document processing definition glossary

“OK. What is intelligent document processing? RPA, OCR? ML, DL, DMS, ERP, HITL? WTF?!! Understanding the technology is hard enough. Introducing a new language is plain cruel. This is your go-to guide for every single intelligent document processing definition I can think of. Don’t give me TL;DR. Bookmark it. Pin it to your wall. It’ll help you understand the language of IDP.”

How Rossum works

“Billions of business transactions happen every day. Generating high volumes of complex documents in multiple formats. If you’re trying to tackle this document chaos manually, you’ll suffer errors, low productivity, and inefficiency. It’ll only end badly, as your business is hit with a loss of trust and an impact on your revenue. Sign up for a free trial of our platform to see how Rossum works towards automating your document processing end to end.”

How to identify fake invoices

“If Facebook and Google can get hit with invoice fraud, so can you. In March 2019, a fraudster pleaded guilty to billing over $123M from the tech giants over a three-year period, with fake invoices. THREE YEARS without being noticed! Okay, now I’ve scared the pants off you, I’m going to offer assistance… and a belt. This post is going to show you how to identify fake invoices, types of fraud to watch out for, and how to prevent.”

Cost of doing nothing | eBook

It’s tempting to stick with what you know. You have a system that’s working. It’s not 100% reliable, but it gets the job done.

Data errors in your AP department can lead to huge financial losses. Inaccurately processed invoices, overpayments, duplicate payments, late payment penalties, missed early payment bonuses…

Our Cost Of Doing Nothing eBook looks at the damage to your business of sticking with manual document processing, including team burn out, increased employee churn, reduced revenue, productivity downtime.

RFP template for intelligent document processing

RFP template that provides a comprehensive list of questions to ask when issuing a request for proposal to IDP vendors.

34rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

Additional resources AP AUTOMATION | RESOURCES

https://rossum.ai/blog/intelligent-document-processing-definition-glossary/ https://rossum.ai/blog/how-rossum-works/ https://rossum.ai/blog/how-to-identify-fake-invoices/ https://rossum.ai/ebook/cost-of-doing-nothing/ https://rossum.ai/rfp-template-for-idp/

End-to-end automation with AI-powered document processing

www.rossum.ai contact us

Book a demo

rossum@rossum.ai www.rossum.ai

https://rossum.ai/form/demo/ https://rossum.ai/ https://rossum.ai/form/trial/ https://www.facebook.com/RossumAi https://www.linkedin.com/company/17912335/admin/feed/posts/ https://x.com/RossumAi

How-to Guide to Planning Your Next AP Automation Project

Item Type: pdf