IWA. Imaging & Workflow Automation. Report Price - $895. Featuring. 170 Systems. BancTec. Basware. EMC Corporation. Hyland Software. Imagitek Ltd.

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1 Report Price - $895 TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS REPORT IWA Imaging & Using Imaging Technology to Improve Business Processes Featuring 170 Systems BancTec Basware EMC Corporation Hyland Software Imagitek Ltd. Metafile Information Systems Miria Systems Open Text Perceptive Software ReadSoft Q2 2008

2 Executive Summary Executive Summary The emphasis on corporate cost containment and productivity enhancement during the past decade has prompted AP professionals to seek new ways to automate traditionally paper-based, labor-intensive processes. Further, new compliance regimes have prompted a greater need to document and secure the intrinsic risks associated with the invoice and payment processes. Given these factors, accounts payable departments are turning to maturing automation solutions like purchasing cards, document imaging, approval workflow and electronic procurement to overcome the hassles inherent to paper and people-based processes. Figure 1 ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGIES Imaging is a mature technology with 47 percent of survey participants already using it. is catching up with 27 percent adoption Electronic Procurement Purchasing Cards Imaging & Document Management Approval Source: PayStream Advisors Financial Survey 23% 4% 22% 49% 6% 11% 47% 9% 27% 27% 4% 22% Collections Management 21% 3% 21% Using Deploying Planning Our research indicates that Imaging and (IWA) solutions that streamline the invoice receipt-to-pay cycle and address these new requirements for efficiency and control are rapidly gaining popularity. PayStream has developed the report titled Imaging & : Using Imaging Technology to Improve Business Processes for accounts payable managers, controllers, treasurers, and finance managers who are interested in exploring IWA solutions for the reduction of paper- and people-based processes in the AP area, understanding the business case for the expaned use of IWA and evaluating and selecting an appropriate solution. Beginning with an introduction on how IWA solutions work, the report describes the most common forms that the solutions take, and highlights the benefits that they deliver. It also offers eleven similarly structured vendor solution profiles and provides specific information about individual vendors and the solutions they offer. The report concludes with analytical insights that will help readers compare and contrast vendors and their solutions. Imaging and is one of many reports in our research library that are written for the corporate audience, including: Supplier Electronic Payments: Understanding B2B Payment Electronic Procurement: Options for your Purchasing Processes Web Invoicing & Electronic Payments: Strategic Impact of AP i

3 Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction... 1 The IWA Universe... 2 Different Flavors of IWA... 4 Benefits of IWA... 6 The New AP Paradigm... 7 IWA and SOX Compliance... 9 Solution Profiles Systems BancTec Basware EMC Corporation Case Study: AJC International Hyland Software Case Study: BMHC Imagitek Ltd Case Study: County Government Metafile Information Systems Case Study: Wellborn Cabinet Miria Systems Open Text Perceptive Software ReadSoft Case Study: ReadSoft Selecting a Solution Solution Strength and Company Vision Conclusion About PayStream Advisors, Inc PayStream Advisors, Inc. info@paystreamadvisors.com

4 Introduction Introduction Organizations today are swimming in paper. Removing paper from corporate America has proven to be more challenging than putting men on the moon and no one is more aware of this than accounts payable professionals who constantly deal with paper documents like purchase orders, invoices, goods receipts and other vendor-related communications. This mass of paper, coupled with the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002, has brought accounts payable departments into the limelight for their overreliance on people and paper. In order to overcome these challenges, companies are turning to a set of maturing technologies PayStream Advisors refers to as Imaging & (IWA). Our research indicates that almost half the companies (47 percent) that participated in PayStream s Financial Survey are already using document imaging and approval workflow solutions, while another 9 percent are deploying one. Figure 2 ADOPTION OF IWA SOLUTIONS Our survey revealed that 47 percent of companies are using IWA, with 46 percent using it in the front-end form combined with workflow. Planning 29% No Plans 47% Don t Know 5% Deploying 9% Using 47% Back-End Imaging 35% Front-End Imaging 19% Front-End Imaging with 46% Source: PayStream Advisors Financial Survey Given these results, we felt that this was the ideal time to profile eleven leading providers of IWA solutions. After interviewing each solution provider to learn about its approach to IWA, its solution for automating the invoice receipt-to-pay process, and key customers, we evaluated each one according to a number of product and organization criteria. The result is a series of concise, identically structured vendor and solution profiles that corporate finance, treasury, and accounts payable professionals can use to support their product research efforts and ongoing financial automation initiatives. 1

5 IWA Universe The IWA Universe Imaging and (IWA) solutions streamline the invoice receiptto-pay cycle by enabling organizations to convert paper invoices into digital images, store them in a Web-enabled repository for rapid retrieval, and extract data from them to enhance approval processing. IWA solutions may provide document and data capture, workflow, or both in order to create an end-to-end imaging and workflow solution that integrates with enterprise and line of business applications. We define the IWA universe as follows: Invoice Receipt Functionality: The steps required to receive and prepare invoices for capture, including removing staples, repairing tears, photocopying small items onto 8 x 11 paper, initial data entry, and sorting (e.g. by source or cost center). Most solutions also require a separator page to be inserted between invoices as well as between the invoice and its attachments. Some providers go a step further and offer a Web-enabled interface allowing suppliers to upload invoices directly into the system. Document and Data Capture: The process of converting paper invoices and transaction-related documents, such as proofs of receipt, into digital images and index data. Document scanning and data extraction could be centralized or remote based on the organization s needs. Figure 3 IWA UNIVERSE IWA solutions improve the invoice-receipt to payment cycle by streamlining how organizations receive and approve invoices and make payments Reporting & Analysis Invoice Receipt Document & Data Capture Management Vendor Portal Content Management 2

6 Specific steps include scanning, image enhancement, indexing, validation, and data extraction based on bar-codes, optical character recognition (OCR), intelligent character recognition (ICR), or manual data entry. IWA Universe Vendor Portal: The ability for suppliers to submit invoices electronically in different ways. Suppliers can manually enter data in the portal, perform purchase order flips (convert a PO into an invoice), and browse and add documents from accounting systems. Some vendor portals allow organizations to configure validation rules to check invoices at the time of submission for exceptions and missing information. Content Management: Refers to the delivery, storage, management, and disposition of electronic documents and index data. Depending on the complexity of the solution, this may include Enterprise Content Management (ECM) or Business Process Management (BPM) capabilities for managing the transactional content across its entire lifecycle. This stage also addresses the archival and retrieval as well as backup and recovery options offered as part of IWA solutions. Management: The routing of tasks based on individuals roles and access rights according to pre-defined business rules. Ability to track and manage approval processing at the individual invoice and aggregate levels. Common features include automatic notifications to users when specific actions are required, reminder messages, and escalation procedures based on approval hierarchies. Reporting & Analysis: Analyzing key invoice receipt-to-pay metrics and the ability to monitor individual users actions for quality control and load balancing Typical reporting and analysis tools include the generation of standard and ad hoc reports detailing invoices pending approval, unpaid invoices past due and average invoice processing time. Some solutions offer robust reporting capabilities bundled with the IWA solution, while others only allow for download of transactional data to third party reporting tools. 3

7 Flavors of IWA Different Flavors of IWA All IWA solutions share the goal of improving organizations management of their invoice receipt-to-pay processes. However, not every solution follows the same approach or provides similar functionality at each step of the process. Therefore, accounts payable professionals should understand the major forms that IWA can take. Back-End Document Capture and Archival The simplest use of IWA is for back-end imaging and archival. Operators batch and scan paper documents at the end of the invoice receipt-to-pay process. AP staff then indexes the invoices manually by using a split-screen view to key information from invoice images into electronic forms. Once indexing is complete, the document images are stored in an electronic repository for retrieval based on the searchable fields created. Historically, AP departments have used IWA solutions in this manner to eliminate physical storage requirements, facilitate document retrieval for discrepancy resolution and audits, and improve responsiveness to supplier inquiries. However, since scanning and indexing occur after approval processing, the invoice receipt-topay cycle continues to follow its current manual, paper-intensive course. Front-End Document and Data Capture Going one step further, AP departments can deploy an IWA solution at the front end of the invoice receipt-to-pay cycle. In this scenario, paper invoices are scanned remotely or at a central processing facility upon receipt. Once invoices have been scanned and images enhanced to optimize recognition, data is extracted from the documents using image recognition technologies like OCR and ICR. Front-end document and data capture represents a quantum leap over back-end imaging because it sets up genuine improvements to the invoice receipt-topay cycle. Validation rules ensure that the data extracted is valid and accurate by directing the solution to compare specific fields against the information held in the appropriate back-end system (e.g. purchase order numbers against the purchasing system). The final step is for an AP staff member to examine and validate the recognition results. Many solutions display the invoice image and the data that the OCR engine has extracted side-by-side on a computer screen. If there is a failed validation or low confidence character recognition, then that field is highlighted for acceptance or correction by the staff member. When this is complete, the information is uploaded to the ERP or accounting system. Used for front-end document and data capture, IWA solutions provide greater benefits than back-end imaging. Scanning invoices at their point of receipt either in the field or at a central location removes paper from the process and ensures that critical transaction-related documents are committed to secure storage immediately. Performing document and data capture at the beginning of the invoice receipt-to-pay cycle also minimizes the time required to enter invoices into queues for processing and payment. 4

8 Flavors of IWA Front-End Document and Data Capture With In their most advanced form, IWA solutions combine front-end document and data capture with workflow capabilities to streamline and automate invoice receipt and approval processing. solutions enable AP departments to define how different types of invoices are processed. Simple invoices, such as utility bills, can be matched against the contract price, approved, and posted to the accounting system for payment automatically. Purchase order invoices can be matched against the purchase order and receipt documents and routed to the person or people who must approve them. All tasks are routed based on pre-defined business rules, and user roles and access rights can be set to match the organization s existing approval hierarchy. Approvers are typically notified via when invoices require their review and approval. Users click on the hyperlink contained in the messages and log onto the system to view, code, and approve the invoices online. In the event that an approver does not act within a specified period of time, reminder notifications can be sent or the task can roll up to the next person in the approval chain. Similarly, most workflow solutions provide options to automatically forward tasks to backups when primary approvers are out sick or on vacation. Multiple approvers can be designated for invoices that exceed certain dollar thresholds or must be coded to multiple accounts. -enabled IWA solutions automate more of the invoice receipt-to-pay cycle than standalone document and data capture solutions. They also deliver auditing, reporting, and management benefits that document and data capture solutions alone cannot provide. solutions track every action taken by every user on every invoice, providing a complete audit trail for every user and transaction. Users can respond more quickly and effectively to supplier inquiries, while supervisors gain the ability to track the status of individual invoices, view the work of individual approvers, or monitor the entire approval process. Senior managers will appreciate the ability of a workflow solution to ensure their organizations compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley. 5

9 Benefits of IWA Benefits of Imaging & Organizations that have started the process of migrating toward AP automation are achieving a range of benefits depending on the extent of their automation initiatives. While the benefits vary significantly with the type of solution implemented, companies can expect to achieve significant relief in the following areas: Processing Efficiency. Back-end imaging and archival solutions accelerate transaction research, discrepancy resolution, and response times to supplier inquiries by allowing AP staff to retrieve invoices from an electronic repository rather than a paper filing cabinet or archive. As a front-end application, IWA solutions contribute further to processing efficiency by enabling invoices to enter processing queues more quickly and providing invoice images that can be used to accelerate approval. Maximum efficiency is achieved when imaging and workflow are used together, as review and approval tasks can be routed automatically to individuals distributed across the organization based on clearly defined and highly customizable business rules. Lower Costs. IWA solutions drive down document storage costs by substituting electronic repositories for filing cabinets and effectively eliminating the need for long-term storage space. As the cost of electronic storage continues to fall, these savings will become more pronounced. Second, IWA solutions enable an accounts payable operation to trim its full-time equivalent (FTE) requirements. While never a pleasant topic, these savings can be substantial. Alternatively, organizations can reassign AP staff to more value added activities. Third, IWA solutions provide a tool to eliminate late payment penalties and capture a higher percentage of prompt payment discounts. Enhanced Visibility and Control. IWA solutions provide secure storage for invoices and support corporate policies and statutory requirements for document retention and disposal. Anytime access to invoice images facilitates reporting and analysis by eliminating the need for physical documents. In a front-end role, IWA solutions improve the speed and accuracy of decision-making by allowing users to access accurate, up-to-date information from any location using a Web browser. Regulatory Compliance. Another major benefit of IWA solutions lies in the functionality that they offer in the area of compliance management enabling organizations to adhere to regulatory requirements and control the costs of compliance initiatives. Companies that have dealt with compliance on a departmental, or project-based, approach are now realizing the benefits of centralizing, organizing, managing and storing all of the information related to a wide array of compliance initiatives. 6

10 New Paradigm The New AP Paradigm Many innovative financial managers are now recognizing accounts payable automation as an area offering significant potential for not only generating bottomline improvements but also greater ability to monitor and manage spend, strengthen working capital positions, and build stronger trading relationships. Our research suggests that these forces have sharply increased organizations interest in automation solutions, which streamline and optimize AP operations to deliver both operational and strategic benefits. Increasingly organizations are recognizing that the transition from manual and expensive paper-based processes to more efficient and cost-effective straightthrough-processing can be achieved through multiple small steps rather than a big bang initiative. And the first step toward this goal lies in removing paper from the source. There is little doubt that the market is moving in this direction as companies realize that in order to achieve strategic goals working capital improvement and spend management they must first streamline their invoice processing in order to accelerate the accurate approval and payment of invoices. Different Stages of AP Figure 4 outlines the various stages of automation that an organization can experience in its quest to transition from mere tactical benefits to more strategic objectives. Until recently, automation efforts in the accounts payable area were focused on invoice and document management and the operational benefits that technology delivers. PayStream defines this as the first stage of automation where organizations are focused on centralizing their invoice management processes and leveraging Stages of AP Figure 4 DIFFERENT STAGES OF AP AUTOMATION Organizations are recognizing AP automation as an area offering tremendous potential for achieving tactical and strategic objectives. Level of 1 - Centralized - Scan Invoices - Manual Indexing - Manual Approval 2 - OCR & Key From Image - Online Matching - Approval - Automated Reports 3 - Outsourced Data Capture - PO Flip - Automated Matching - Online Dispute Resolution 4-100% Electronic Invoices - Supplier Self Service - Supplier OnBoarding - Integrated Purchase-to-Pay Processing Cost Per Invoice

11 New Paradigm document scanning to compress the time it takes for invoices to enter the approval workflow. While these tactics do deliver tangible benefits vis-à-vis cost containment and acceleration of invoice approval most organizations are moving beyond this stage and realizing that AP automation does not end here. A significant number of companies are currently in the second and third stages of automation where they are leveraging electronic means to receive invoices as well as employing advanced OCR technologies to extract invoice information from paper invoices. Furthermore, these organizations are utilizing automated matching and approval and collaborative online dispute resolution functionalities offered by innovative vendors in this space. Another trend PayStream has identified in the accounts payable automation space is outsourcing certain AP tasks. Given the low-value of certain tasks performed by accounts payable staff document scanning, data extraction and data entry for example these activities are becoming popular candidates for outsourcing, allowing AP employees to focus on more mission-critical tasks like invoice approval, dispute resolution and discount capture. Accounts payable automation solutions have been available through business process outsourcers for a while now, but they are recently gaining popularity as organizations comprehend the benefits of leveraging the technology and process expertise of an outsourced service provider to perform non-core activities. Finally a few savvy organizations have moved to the fourth stage of automation, where they are have eliminated paper to a significant extent and are primarily receiving invoices via electronic means. Given that a significant barrier still hindering adoption of electronic invoicing is changing supplier behavior, this is one area where automation vendors are delivering tremendous value by offering robust supplier onboarding and enablement services. Solution providers work closely with buyers to segment vendors and also develop campaigns , direct mail and telephone to migrate the identified vendors from paper to electronic. These innovative buyer organizations have also considerably reduced the number of invoices flowing through the approval workflow process and are relying heavily on straight-through-processing (STP) or to manage clean invoices invoices that do not have any errors or those that meet certain pre-determined criteria. This enables organizations to direct valuable AP resources toward managing exceptions and accelerating dispute resolution with suppliers. While there is no doubt that a significant benefit companies derive while they move from the first stage to the fourth stage of automation is lower processing costs, the greatest value for organizations lies in the more strategic benefits automation delivers namely, increased supply chain visibility, improved working capital requirements and better trading partner relationships. 8

12 SOX Compliance Taking the Sting out of SOX Compliance Over the last few years, accounting scandals have rocked the nation making Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and Adelphia household names synonymous with corporate greed. These scandals, that laid the foundation for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, have brought corporate governance, risk and regulatory compliance issues to the forefront of an organization s initiatives. Additionally, Sarbanes-Oxley revolutionized the way organizations dealt with compliance issues. While the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is essential to keep organizations in line, this assurance does not come cheap. Much of an organization s cost of compliance lies in the auditing of internal controls. For many organizations, this process involves the manual retrieval of documents from file cabinets like invoices, packing slips, credit memos, and human resources documentation possibly from multiple sites. The cost and effort involved in this process is not insignificant. As organizations are realizing that Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is an ongoing rigid process and that everything they do going forward will be subject to close scrutiny, they are turning to technology and automation to alleviate some of the pain associated with compliance efforts. They are understanding that technology can facilitate the compliance process and reduce its cost by providing comprehensive audit trials and by simplifying the auditing of internal controls. Figure 5 IMPACT OF SOX ON INTEREST IN AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES More than half the respondents to PayStream s Financial Survey stated that SOX compliance has increased their interest in automation technologies 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 43% Greatly Increased 12% Slightly Increased 39% No Effect 5% Slightly Decreased 2% Greatly Decreased Recognizing the key role of technology in organizations long-term strategy for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance initiatives, IWA vendors are now offering functionality specifically geared toward compliance as part of their solutions. All of the IWA vendors profiled in this report offer reporting tools and other functionality that aid accounts payable departments in this time consuming and critical process,. But some of the vendors go a step further and offer natively developed and integrated Sarbanes-Oxley compliance modules. Section 404 of the Act mandates the documentation and auditing of every key process and control within an organization, which can result in tens of thousands of documents each year. Technology solutions can streamline the compliance process by providing a repository for the documentation and by allowing organizations 9

13 SOX Compliance to easily and securely share information with internal as well as external parties. Further, a major benefit of technology lies in the comprehensive audit trails delivered of all the documents entering the system as well as workflow tasks performed, offering an additional layer of accountability. Though the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is here to stay and organizations will have to comply with it year after year, the compliance process does not necessarily have to be an ongoing hassle. The good news is that organizations can take the first steps by adopting the technology options discussed. In our opinion, these tools, at organizations disposal today, can save time, money and credibility in the near future. 10

14 Pay tream A D V I S O R S Advisory Services Why PayStream? PayStream s ideas helped reveal fresh options. But, it was their intimate advisory service that ultimately led to the proper vendor selection. Intimate market knowledge In-depth vendor analysis Risk management Fast, smart decisions Who is PayStream? PayStream Advisors delivers unbiased, third-party market trend information, assessments of financial automation technology and innovative ideas to business leaders in accounts payable, accounts receivable, consumer billing, finance and treasury. PayStream s Advisory Service helps companies plan and select solutions in emerging automation areas. 84% of technology projects are unsuccessful. A vast majority of IT projects come in over budget, take much longer than expected, and don t meet customer expectations. Don t put yourself at risk by choosing a vendor alone. Tap into the expert advice of PayStream Advisors. We ll guide you through the selection process to ensure every possible step is taken to make your project successful. Would you design a house without an architect? An automation plan needs an air-tight design. PayStream Advisors will help you: 1. Determine your business case 2. Build a team consensus 3. Design a blue print for your success 4. Define specific requirements to meet your expectations 5. Ensure you make the right decision for your organization To get started today contact sales at (888) PayStream Advisors, Inc. info@paystreamadvisors.com

15 Solution Profile Founded: 1990 Company Size: 150 Employees Headquarters: Bedford, MA Other Offices: London, Paris 2006 Revenues: <$30 million Customers: Systems 170 Systems has been delivering solutions that enable customers to automate endto-end financial processes since Its 170 MarkView Financial Suite includes applications for accounts payable, expenses and other processes. The solution incorporates imaging, e-invoicing, OCR, workflow and management reporting as part of a complete financial automation solution. Today, the company serves more than 200 clients in over 40 countries worldwide with its 170 MarkView solution. 170 Systems experience in the AP space is significant, with 90 percent of its installations being AP/invoice-management-based. 170 Systems MarkView solution is aimed at finance professionals in medium- to large-sized organizations across any vertical and any industry in which significant volumes of invoices are processed regularly. Such industries include aerospace & defense, communications, electronics, education, energy, financial services, high technology manufacturing, publishing, retail, and others. The 170 MarkView Financial Suite is designed to tightly integrate with Oracle, PeopleSoft Financials and SAP. Further, 170 Systems is an Oracle Certified Advantage Partner and an SAP Certified Software Partner. 170 Systems markets its solution via a direct sales force that is structured geographically. Key partners for the company include CapGemini, Accenture and Xansa. A shortlist of customers for 170 Systems includes British Telecom, Reuters, Reader s Digest, Orange Business Services (formerly Equant), and Juniper Networks. AP Customers: 190 End Users: 250,000+ Industries: Aerospace & Defence, Commmunications, Electronics, Education, Energy, Financial Services, High Tech, Manufacturing, Publishing and Retail 170 Systems MarkView Financial Suite Invoice Receipt The 170 MarkView Financial Suite accelerates the acceptance of invoices and other transaction-related documents through the online capture of all formats of invoices and documents, as well as the creation of consistent processes for all invoices, regardless of their original format or source. The solution also provides business users with intuitive access to all of the information needed for review, discrepancy resolution, and approval of invoices. Invoices can be captured and indexed centrally or in a distributed manner and Web, , EDI, electronic and fax invoices can be automatically imported into the solution. Document and Data Capture Paper invoices are fed into 170 MarkView Scan, a robust, high-volume front-end imaging scanning solution. Because of tight ERP integration, these scanned invoices can be indexed into the ERP or financial system in a single step or automatically using intelligent Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The capture, rendering, and intelligent pre-processing of electronic invoices are supported through feeds such as EDI, XML, and electronic invoice delivery services. The 170 MarkView Financial Suite does not require indexing; invoice images are stored with the ERP transaction record. The document attachment process is streamlined by removing all the steps typically associated with creating links between the scanned images and the ERP record. As mentioned above, a key component of the 170 MarkView Financial Suite is the OCR or recognition engine. The 170 MarkView Financial Suite works with a number 12

16 Solution Profile of OCR vendors including Kofax and TiS. These solutions provide the capability to handle structured, semi-structured, and non-structured documents. The accuracy levels for recognition and capture typically range between 80 and 90 percent. Vendor Portal E-invoicing and supplier networks are supported by 170 MarkView. Validation of invoices submitted over the supplier network and checking for exceptions is a standard part of the workflow. Suppliers are notified of exceptions and forced to correct them through the exception handling workflow, which can be done automatically through , a Web interface, or fax. Electronic and paper invoices are converted into a common format for approval processing, with approvers only needing to be familiar with a single paradigm and a single software interface for invoice approvals, rather than different ones for different invoice formats. They are presented with the real-time ERP information needed for review, and their actions are captured by the ERP real-time. Content Storage and Management The solution delivers comprehensive ECM capabilities that enable organizations to manage transactional content across its entire lifecycle. Storage and archival functionality for captured images and data is provided as part of the 170 MarkView Financial Suite. The search and retrieval capabilities are robust due to the tight integration that the MarkView solution has with the ERP, enabling the solution to leverage all the search and retrieval capabilities available inside the clients ERP and accounting systems. Management 170 MarkView Financial Suite s workflow capabilities are extensive, fully productized and designed to accommodate any organization s approval or exception-handling processes. While productized, they are easily configured. Administrators maintain users within the ERP system and access rights are synchronized with 170 MarkView. No heavy reconfiguration of an existing organizational model is needed when implementing the 170 MarkView Financial Suite, as the solution is flexible enough to work with existing organizational model, role hierarchy, and business rules. Tasks are routed via to internal approvers and reviewers within the 170 MarkView Financial Suite. Upon logging into the system, users are presented with a list of tasks pending review and approval and a few simple clicks of the mouse allow users to access the invoice image and complete information. Users can then enter distribution line coding information via a special form, which allows line of business users to enter invoice line items and associated distributions from a list of values read from Oracle/SAP in real-time without the need to access the ERP application. The distributions are checked against the ERP cross-validation rules and saved against the ERP record. We really liked the fact that 170 Systems delivers line-of-business managers an intuitive, browser-based interface to the approval process that does not require training in the ERP interface. Automatic escalation, reminder, and back-up chain features are included in the standard package. A process monitoring feature is offered, as well, which gives finance managers visibility into the status of the invoices in-process. Reporting and Analysis 170 MarkView Insight, part of the 170 MarkView Financial Suite, includes a business activity monitor that provides finance managers with essential operational information. Many processes are tracked by 170 MarkView Insight, including 13

17 Solution Profile compliance and controls, financial accounting, and areas requiring attention such as unprocessed financial liabilities, workflow bottlenecks, employee productivity and more. Standard reports included in 170 MarkView Insight are user throughput by queue, time to complete workflow, and others. User actions can be monitored in real time, and documents can be queried in 170 MarkView. Access to these reports is granted to users with the appropriate privileges, with the potential to see the full audit trail for any document. 170 MarkView also is able to help organizations comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, with its latest version including a number of built-in checkpoints and controls to protect against potential conflicts and fraud. Implementation 170 Systems differentiates its solution by selling it as a complete application that requires no customization, only configuration when implemented, and a high level of ongoing support and upgrade protection. This results in a fast implementation that typically takes between 30 and 90 days from design to going live. The implementation process usually involves process design, in which the business process requirements are finalized based on the customer s workflow needs. This is followed by system installation and, once the customer deems the system ready, the system goes live. 170 Systems pricing model includes the cost of the software license, and service fees that are based upon progress payments. The standard maintenance costs are on average 19 percent of the software costs. Customers using the 170 MarkView Financial Suite typically realize a positive ROI within a period of 7-8 months of the installation. Outlook With a long history in the AP automation market, the 170 MarkView Financial Suite is an all-in-one solution that enables organizations to automate their invoice and payment management processes and eliminate paper. This gives managers the ability to focus on activities that can increase value and visibility, while reducing costs typically associated with manual approval processing. 170 Systems will continue to focus on streamlining financial business processes by extending the automation of the back office outside of the organization to include suppliers and customers. The latest release of 170 MarkView has new features that aid organizations in SOX compliance efforts, as well as providing compatibility with the latest releases of the Oracle and SAP ERPs. The vendor portal capabilities are also a benefit that can help organizations reduce costs as organizations strive to reduce the number of paper invoices they receive. As such, 170 Systems is a key competitor in the AP automation market, and will continue to be so in the future. Organizations looking for an end-to-end imaging and workflow automation solution should add 170 Systems offering to their short-list. 14

18 Solution Profile Founded: 1972 Company Size: 2700 employees Headquarters: Dallas, Texas Ownership: Privately Held Customers: 5,000+ AP Customers: 350+ BancTec BancTec helps clients worldwide simplify the task of managing their information, by providing a wide range of solutions for automating complex, high-volume and dataintensive business processes. Since its inception, BancTec has focused heavily in delivering solutions and services in the areas of document and content processing, payment processing, business process outsourcing and infrastructure service management. BancTec offers imaging and workflow services as a core offering with delivery as in-house customer implementation or as business process outsourcing. BancTec is the value added reseller (VAR) in the United States for Contempus.Invoice from Contempus (previously Component Software). BancTec markets this solution under the name of BancTec AP Master. AP Master is marketed both through direct and indirect sales in the United States and Canada. Contempus.Invoice, introduced in 1998, is at the heart of Contempus Enterprise Purchase to Payment Software (Contempus P2P), which also includes the bolt-on modules, Contempus.Purchase and Contempus.Supplier. The solution is primarily targeted at mid range to high end companies and agencies that process a high volume of invoices. Contempus.Invoice has been integrated with over 70 different ERP and procurement solutions including SAP, Oracle, J. D. Edwards, PeopleSoft, Lawson and Microsoft Dynamix, to name a few. Additionally Contempus.Invoice is certified for SAP NetWeaver. AP Master (Contempus.Invoice) is entirely Web-based, developed on the.net architecture and can be implemented in modules based on client needs. The system is extremely scalable accommodating customers with as little as 20 users managing 18,000 invoices per year to major corporations supporting multiple ERPs with thousands of users and millions of invoices. Contempus.Invoice has a large customer base in Europe supporting over 350 clients with users in 32 countries. European customers include DSGi (formerly Dixons), Kuwait Petroleum, Yum Brands, Essilor, Penske, and Scandinavian Airline Systems. End Users: 250,000+ Industries Served: Manufacturing, Oil And Gas, Healthcare, Retail, Financial Services, Construction, Aerospace, International Government, Public Sector, Consumer And Industrial Products and Utilities BancTec AP Master Invoice Receipt The solution supports the acquisition of invoices in multiple formats into the organization, including paper, EDI, XML and PO flip invoices as well as ad-hoc invoices created by suppliers on the vendor portal. BancTec AP Master includes its own image archive and workflow components. For document scanning and data extraction, the solution is compatible with the industry s leading capture solutions from ReadSoft, Kofax, Captiva, Brainware and others. Additionally BancTec manufactures and markets a third generation capture product, sold under the name of ecap. Paper invoices are scanned and data is captured using state-of-the-art OCR technology. AP Master supports a range of scanners from desktop scanners for casual use to commercial, high-end scanners such as the BancTec IntelliScan XDS. After data extraction, categorization of invoices is primarily done based on whether they have an underlying purchase order or not. These invoices are then filtered into the appropriate queue based on content. PO invoices are passed through an intelligent matching engine for workflow determination. The system supports a two, three, or four-way match of invoices. Invoices that meet the match criteria are passed 15

19 Solution Profile directly to the ERP for payment, while invoices that fail the match process are routed via the workflow engine to end users based on configurable business rules. Non PO invoices can be filtered by content and routed directly to the appropriate end user for coding and additional handling. Document and Data Capture In the production environment, invoices are turned into multi-page, TIFF images, which then go through a set of validation rules and template-building processes for identification. At this point, the invoices are passed through multiple OCR engines where data is extracted from them using template-based recognition techniques. The ecap data capture sub-system is designed to capture header and line-item detail from invoices. It uses an inline, on-the fly profiling technique to register new invoices and builds a database of dissimilar-looking invoices, allowing clients to start using the system in production from day one. ecap then uses data from the clients AP and financial systems to validate the captured invoice data. Invoices are then released into the workflow process for routing and/or matching. As a part of the release, the TIFF images can be automatically converted to PDF documents depending on customer preference. For clients operating in nonproduction, low volume environments, users and suppliers with proper privileges can scan documents into the system adding them to current transactions via a wizard. Vendor Portal AP Master can be integrated with an optional module, Contempus.Supplier, a Webbased information portal for receipt, processing and recording of supplier invoices. Using the portal, suppliers can directly enter invoices into the system, communicate more efficiently with the buyer organization and follow the status of invoices through the entire processing lifecycle. The solution comes bundled with a configuration console that can be used to develop business rules and logic for the validation of invoices at the time of submission. The business rules can easily be developed by analysts, without the need for programming or IT support. Invoices that fail to meet the validation criteria are flagged as exceptions and suppliers are notified via . The contains a hyperlink, which the supplier can use to log into the Contempus. Supplier portal to correct the exceptions. Content Storage and Management AP Master leverages a robust document repository provided as part of the Contempus suite. The document repository Contempus.Archive delivers full enterprise content management capabilities and can be upgraded with a separate Web-based user interface for customers wanting to manage and store other kinds of documents and related transactional content. The Contempus repository also comes bundled with a feature-rich query engine that facilitates search and retrieval of all document data and metrics via a simple drop down menu. All queries can be saved as favorites for future reuse. Management The AP Master solution has a configurable workflow system for approval and inquiry and supports both structured workflows and ad-hoc workflows. Structured workflows based on business-specific variables like dollar thresholds, departments and account codes can be built into the system. Business users can also create ad-hoc workflows in the configuration console without the need for any programming. Approvers are notified by when they have invoices to approve and reminder settings can be configured to alert approvers of their action items. The solution supports strong escalation procedures, automatically routing invoices to an 16

20 Solution Profile approver s supervisor or back to the AP department, if action is not taken in specified time periods. A great addition to the user interface is the substitution feature. This allows AP or the individual user to select an alternative approver for workflow routing. An audit trail also captures the substitute signature as an alternative approving for the original user. User access rights are configurable to provide access to specific functions under user groups or different roles, called security groups. The security groups control users access to invoices and functions for invoice processing and management. Tables of authorization can be developed in the system or imported from the client s existing ERP, or human resource systems. Reporting and Analysis A set of standard system reports provide important information on the flow of invoices through the system in any given month. The reports are run on the server in a scheduled job that is updated daily. All system reports are stored in the database, making it easy to track and compare month-to-month and year-by-year changes. In addition to the standard reports, the solution also provides a report generation utility which enables users to create their own invoice reports. The system comes preconfigured with a couple of example reports that can be used as templates for generating customized reports. Implementation The average AP Master implementation can be completed in 45 to 60 days and has the following major phases kick-off meeting, statement of work development, requirements verification, training, user acceptance testing and production ramp up. Main factors impacting the implementation schedule are changes needed to the core application, number of ERP applications that need to be integrated and advanced workflow rules that need to be developed. Training is delivered with the solution and is based on client needs. Pricing for the hosted application is per invoice with no annual maintenance. The licensed solution is priced per user with a 20 percent annual maintenance contract. Outlook AP Master, powered by the Contempus technology, is a comprehensive and robust accounts payable automation solution. And the fact that Contempus.Invoice is a part of the broader Contempus.P2P solution and is modular in nature makes it easy for BancTec s clients to implement as much or as little of the solution as their needs and automation readiness dictate. Further, Contempus is constantly looking at expanding and enhancing its solutions based on identified needs around the AP and P2P segment. Next releases of the product will offer more functionality and higher ease of use within the areas of electronic invoicing, management reporting and advanced procurement. Another fact worthy of note is that Contempus is always seeking feedback from customers and taking their input when it comes to product direction and added functionality. We believe that a company evaluating AP automation options should keep in mind the robustness of the AP Master (Contempus) solution and note that this is validated by the 250,000 users and over 3 million annual invoices the solution supports. 17

21 Solution Profile Founded: 1985 Company Size: 670 employees Global Headquarters: Espoo, Finland US Headquarters: Stamford, CT 2007 Revenues: $121 million Customers: 1,200+ AP Customers: 1,000 End Users: 650,000 Industries Served: Financial services, Manufacturing, Education, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, High Tech, Publishing, Telecom, Airlines, Services and Retail Basware Basware has been delivering solutions packaged for the AP space since 1997 with Basware Invoice (IA). A comprehensive invoice automation solution, IA provides traditional imaging, information capture, workflow, purchase order and invoice matching functionality, and document archiving. Additionally, it also supports features that automate the receiving and contract matching process, recurring payments and automated discrepancy coding to facilitate straight-throughprocessing to the extent possible, so that users only have to deal with exceptions. As such, it complements the company s other main product line, focused on the buyer side of the financial value chain including procurement, spend capture and management, RFX and contract lifecycle management. Requiring no programming, Basware Invoice is a fully configurable solution that significantly reduces implementation time and expense. With IA, the entire AP processing cycle is automated from invoice receipt to approval and archival. One of the strong points of the Basware solution is the way it handles the needs of large companies with multiple business units. The solution provides strong functionality to manage complex company hierarchies to assign rights and processes to users based on enterprise policies and practices. The system also offers robust security through user roles and user groups that can be defined by the customer. The company targets medium-sized, large, and global enterprises directly and through its 50 or so partners and value added resellers, while small enterprises are mostly served by Basware ASP partners. Large Basware customers are processing multiple millions of invoices annually and supporting 15,000 to 20,000 users on the IA solution. Key Basware partners include Xerox, Canon, Kofax, Unisys, and Fuji Xerox. Major customers of the IA solution include PwC, American Eagle Outfitters, Heineken, IKEA, Astra Zeneca, ING, Global industries, Children s Memorial Hospital of Chicago, Panasonic, and Toyota. Basware Invoice (IA) Invoice Receipt By supporting both electronic and paper invoices, Basware Invoice is able to accelerate the acceptance of invoices and other transaction-related documents. The solution supports many formats, including paper and electronic invoices like XML (multiple standards supported), HTML forms, EDI feeds and PDF. Once the invoice is in the system, it can be automatically matched and/or routed to the appropriate parties for review and approval. Based on an organization s needs, Basware Invoice provides for both distributed and centralized capture of invoices. Invoices can be captured by Webbased form entry; invoices in s and faxed invoices can also be automatically imported as electronic invoices. Additionally, later this year, Basware s Supplier Portal will allow invoices to be submitted electronically through a Web portal. Document and Data Capture The imaging and capture component of Invoice includes an invoice scanning and capture application, although scanning performed by an external provider is also supported. Basware Invoice can deliver line level data and impressive recognition rates right out of the box. This solution uses a combination of different technical approaches, including free-form recognition with 18