Current-State Analysis
Draft
Accounts payable's invoice intake, coding, review, and payment process for vendor invoices across all business units. Currently fully manual from intake through payment scheduling.
Confirm Workflow Copilot understood this process correctly before moving on to opportunities.Process steps
Step
- 1. Submit invoiceOwnerAP ClerkDepends on—Pain points—
- 2. Manual data entryOwnerAP ClerkDepends onSubmit invoicePain pointsHigh
- 3. Manager reviewOwnerAP ManagerDepends onManual data entryPain pointsMedium
- 4. Finance approvalDecisionOwnerFinance DirectorDepends onManager reviewPain points—
- 5. Exception handlingOwnerFinance DirectorDepends onFinance approval — If over $5,000 or PO mismatchPain pointsHigh
- 6. Payment schedulingOwnerAP ClerkDepends onFinance approval — If under $5,000 and PO matchedException handlingPain pointsLow
- 7. Vendor confirmationOwnerAP ClerkDepends onPayment schedulingPain points—
Pain points identified
Pain point
- AP clerks manually key every invoice line item, taking 15-20 minutes per invoice and regularly introducing transcription errors.Related stepManual data entryCategoryManual effortSeverityHigh
- The manager review queue regularly backs up 2-3 days during month-end close, delaying every downstream approval.Related stepManager reviewCategoryDelaySeverityMedium
- Escalated invoices sit in a shared inbox with no tracking, so nobody has visibility into how many exceptions are open or how old they are.Related stepException handlingCategoryVisibility gapSeverityHigh
- Duplicate invoices from the same vendor are occasionally paid twice before being caught in month-end reconciliation.Related stepPayment schedulingCategoryError-proneSeverityLow