With docAlpha, Barnwell is Able to Elevate AP/AR to Accommodate Expansion Plans & Facilitate Accurate Data Availability to Webdocs

“...we totally add more volume now and it’s a lot more organized. We used to have stacks of paper on the table; they are just gone now. We’ve cut down on AP document processing times from 10 to 4 minutes!”

The Challenge

Barnwell was having a hard time keeping up with their manual AP/AR workload that almost doubled overnight, thanks to rapid growth in business and the takeover of a new company. Especially with AP, it was getting tedious having to get a PO for every type of tire that they sourced from their distributors and reconciling invoices.

The Solution

They decided to revisit the way they were doing AP and consulted their trusted advisors at VAI, who promptly directed them to HelpSystems. HelpSystems’ Webdocs for AP offers seamless document management — ensuring straight-through processing of AP/AR source documents and automatic transaction creation in ERPs.

Transitioning from Manual Data Entry & Process Implementation

But there was still the manual side of things in terms of data capture and data entry into Webdocs. In case of bulk ordering on both the AP and AR sides, things got out of control as invoices came in different formats including email, fax, ftps, etc. and had to be manually sorted and typed into Webdocs before they could be further processed.

Apart from solving their document processing challenges, Barnwell also needed an efficient way to ensure accurate data entry of invoices into Webdocs, which became even more essential due to limited personnel under the COVID-19 restrictions.

This is where Artsyl’s docAlpha transformation platform for document-based processes comes into play and is most effective. docAlpha’s tight integration with Webdocs ensures that data from all incoming invoices are scanned, classified, extracted, validated, and approved before they could be entered into Webdocs for further processing.

The Results

Barnwell today benefits from a fully automated AP/AR system that processes both PO and non-PO invoices. docAlpha’s multichannel capture feature ensures all incoming invoices, be it through email, fax, ftps, etc. are captured, sorted, validated, and routed for approvals before being fed into Webdocs for complete document management.

Daniel Beyer, CIO at Barnwell, has been with the company for more than 16 years now. Having dealt with manual invoicing for so long, he could see first-hand the benefits of transitioning to an automated document-based process: “...we totally add more volume now and it’s a lot more organized. We used to have stacks of paper on the table; they are just gone now. So that has alleviated probably a good hour a day of filing!”

The docAlpha-Webdocs integration eliminated the need for manual intervention from capture to final entry of approved data into Webdocs, with user assistance necessitated only in case of any exceptions.

The solution proved most beneficial during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Barnwell had to let go of a number of staff. As Dan points out: “...the entire office was gone, so I did AP by myself for a good month in March/April.”

After the implementation, Dan shared a few additional benefits of automating the AP/AR system through docAlpha and Webdocs:

1. Accurate document capture & processing, spending 4 minutes/document
2. Easy recalling of invoices on both AP and AR sides
3. Easy integration with VAI S2K

Now that docAlpha and Webdocs take on the bulk of the workload in AP/AR, Barnwell employees have a lot of time to rectify instances like “billing for the wrong item number” and so on, improving efficiencies and lowering costs at the operational level. Encouraged by the natural streamlining of operations in AP/AR, they decided to apply the docAlpha-Webdocs integration to their HR department as well.

The ability to mobilize operations even during the pandemic has been immensely gratifying, as Dan points out, before signing off: “the pricing for HelpSystems & Artsyl, compared to some of the competitors, was extremely fair...with the way the economy is going and people working from home now, you can’t stick with the old ways anymore, unless you just planned to meet people in the office everyday”. So, if you’re facing a sudden cash crunch, “why wouldn’t you want to” invest in this solution?

Artsyl Technologies, Inc.

Artsyl’s Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) platform is designed to drive document-based content and process automation. The Artsyl IPA employs digital transformation technologies to facilitate straight-through processing of mission critical tasks at enterprise level, lowering operating costs and accelerating business outcomes. Artsyl also offers a suite of Action Solutions, built on its IPA platform, which provide intelligence-specific workflows to implement document-based processes in diverse domains and ensure easy data availability to ERPs and line of business systems.