Study Calculates Big Value for Companies Using Concur Invoice

Whether business is booming or times are tough, the current landscape is defined by uncertainty.

As any finance leader will tell you, containing costs and controlling cash flow are critical – yet can also be the most challenging aspects of running a business. Manual, paper-based invoice management and finance processes are, unfortunately, still a reality for many smaller to midsize companies – putting them at an even greater disadvantage now when safety requires staff to work remotely.

Even under normal circumstances, finance teams that haven’t yet digitally transformed their processes can struggle with a lack of oversight that can result in money down the drain. Invoices being paid before final receipt of goods, duplicate payments and overpayments, missed payment deadlines, overlooked payment discounts, accounting errors, and an inability to detect waste all add up to lost revenue for your company.

This is why finance leaders and their teams around the globe are replacing outdated, manual vendor invoice management with automated and intelligent digital workflows.

With the right invoice management tools, you have the opportunity to increase efficiency, optimise performance, and empower your finance teams with deep spend insight so they can make strategic decisions that both build resilience and prepare you for future growth.

With this in mind, the experts at IDC interviewed finance professionals at eight organisations across various industries to find out how well the Concur Invoice solution works for them.

The results were impressive.

Companies reported that complete automation of the invoice management process – from invoice capture to payment – was a huge time saver for employees and finance teams alike. Regardless of how an invoice is submitted – by e-mail, fax, paper, or electronically – Concur Invoice extracts the data using advanced optical character recognition and then automatically processes it using intelligent technologies. This, as well as invoice approval, can all be done from anywhere using the mobile app. Not only does this make the whole process faster and more efficient, but it also reduces errors and helps ensure bills get paid on time – improving brand reputation with clients and vendors.

Supplier invoice and payment auditing was another big advantage to using Concur Invoice. Invoice capturing services use intelligent technologies to assist in exception flagging, and behavior pattern identification which can help companies catch overcharges, reduce costly errors, and identify waste and abuse. Concur Invoice also helps maximise on early payment discounts and card rewards and rebates, which can mean significant savings over time.

Finance leaders also are also taking advantage of advanced data analytics and reporting in Concur Invoice, which give them detailed information on millions of transactions, make it possible to track relevant reporting metrics, enable deep spend insights, and help ensure compliance with statutory and internal requirements. A large set of predefined reports, dashboards, and key metrics offer a comprehensive view into spending that increases visibility into working capital and helps improve overall cash flow.

And, because Concur Invoice integrates with the Concur Expense solution as well as with most third-party ERP and accounting systems, it can be deployed and scaled quickly to give companies a more complete view of spending across their business.

It was clear to the researchers at IDC that users are happy with the automated, mobile workflows, and deep data insights made possible with Concur Invoice. But they wanted to take their analysis a step further and determine the average annual value of those benefits in dollars and cents.

Invoicing teams reported:

• 46% improvement in overall productivity
• 75% reduction in processing time per invoice
• 42% reduction in delayed payments
• 33% fewer errors in invoice reporting

Altogether, IDC calculated this as an average business value of US$57,000 per year.

Accounts payable teams reported:

• 45% increase in overall efficiency
• 37% less time spent on data entry
• 13% faster payments to vendors.

Not only were these efficiency gains valued at $86,000 per year, but the overall annual savings on AP-related costs was also $137,000.

Auditing teams reported

• 40% jump in productivity – valued at $105,000 per year
• 18% increase in employees following company spend policy

Overall, digital approvals and mobile access led to a 2.6% boost in end-user productivity – valued at $243,000 per year.

In fact, IDC found that with Concur Invoice, companies saw $662,700 in average annual benefits per organisation – that’s a $3,258 savings per 1,000 invoices. It also calculated that these organizations will achieve a three-year ROI of 634% and break even on their investment in just four months.

Whether it is time to shore up cash or start more effectively investing in the future, your bottom line depends on you taking control of your company’s spending. You can’t afford to wait. Read the full IDC White Paper, sponsored by SAP,  SAP Concur Facilitates Automated Management of Financial Operations, to find out how Concur Invoice can streamline your invoice management processes, help you dramatically reduce costs, and gain greater control and visibility over accounts payable. Then visit us at www.comcur.com.au to get started.