Common processes that need to be automated include billing, sales orders, accounting reconciliation, data entry, system queries, payroll, the onboarding of employees or suppliers, or the dismissal of staff. A typical example where process automation could be very beneficial is in a service company. Manage, approve, and communicate vendor invoices, division finances, business travel, and other expenses. Robots can automatically enter all of this data into accounting or other applications and obtain it for use elsewhere.
Data transfer between different IT systems (for example, CRM and ERP or accounting), data migration, archiving, customer service, etc. Robots can independently obtain or collect information within one company system and enter it into another. Typically, companies only automate a part of a particular business process and connect the finished product to another process led by a person. In some cases, really smart companies have completely automated certain tasks from start to finish.
An example of the perfect BPA is a customer service chatbot that can receive a query, understand the problem, and put the customer in touch with a solution. You can expect MUCH more from this in the near future. Don't be so surprised that Stampi is an AP automation technology platform and that you're reading an AP blog. As you know, invoice processing doesn't get the recognition it deserves and it seems that people only notice when something goes wrong.
But AP employees know that there's a lot to do to ensure that all legitimate invoices are processed for payment, that the company doesn't overpay, and that you're prepared for an audit. Of course, many of the manual tasks involved in invoice processing, such as tripartite comparison, routing, and coding, can be simplified with computer automation. However, what you might not know is that you can implement automated invoice processing in a single day, not months. Start by creating an invoice processing flowchart and see how easy it is to find and resolve inefficiencies.
Who wouldn't want to automate customer service? While there are important arguments in favor of personal interaction when a customer has a problem, it's also very valuable to proactively resolve that problem with automation through help centers, chatbots, or other artificial intelligence systems. Beyond simply accelerating resolution time with a variety of customer-facing features, customer service automation platforms, such as Zendesk, provide information about your company's overall customer support process, allowing you to find opportunities to increase operational excellence.
