Originally published in KEEP UP TO DATE on ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Reprinted with permission

Imaging: For highest payoffs,
managing the workflow matters

• Lessons from the big guys can help any firm get more done

Companies considering imaging to streamline accounts payable processing need to look past the technology itself to the way it’s implemented.

That’s the insight Carol Brown, A/P maven at Fleet Financial, shared with attendees at the Enhancing Accounts Payable conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Recently.

Fleet initially spent more time getting hardware and software quotes than it did on related workflow issues, Brown says. That deferred payoffs for several months. "We were disappointed when we flipped the switch," she admitted. Advice from the trenches:

• Take an exception-driven approach to workflow. Otherwise everything slows to a crawl waiting for decisions.
• Set aside hard-to-handle items for batch processing later. Examples include items that are impact-printed (e.g., dot-matrix output) and multipage invoices, which call for a document separator.
• Make sure training takes place as close as possible to the start date. Otherwise operators will forget what they learned.

Light at the end of the tunnel: Integrating imaging with workflow eventually helped Fleet drop from 33 FTEs to 20, despite 20% growth in invoice volume and just over 100% gain in lines of distribution per invoice

"Imaging: For highest payoffs, managing the workflow matters" ©1998 Progessive Business Publications. For subscriptions ($299 for 23 issues) call 800-220-5000

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