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Page 1: Legal Solution: vendor invoice processing Approval ... · Legal Solution:vendor invoice processing ... • A streamlined electronic workflow to move invoices ... Image-In™ Queue

Legal Solution: vendor invoice processing

Every day, law firms like yours are tasked with ensuringthe delivery of accurate client billing, while maximizingbillable hours. The time that is spent on processing theinvoices and related client expenses takes significanttime away from other higher-valued tasks, such as directclient interaction.

Today, a very manual and paper-intensive process existswithin law firms in order to process invoices and attributethem correctly to the respective clients and matter, butwith the right solution this process can be simplified.

Automating the Capture, Delivery,Approval and Accessibility of Invoices

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Invoice Processing —A Time Consuming and Tedious TaskCatching Clients’ Attention

No matter the size of a law firm, it is nearly impossiblefor any firm to manually manage all their invoices anddisbursements without error or lost productivity. Thetime and steps it takes for a law firm to process aninvoice from the point it arrives at the firm and movedthrough the firm, eventually ending up at the accountingdepartment can be a very time consuming processwith many challenges along the way, including:

• Increased risk of losing critical documents whenthey’re in transit to and from the accountingdepartment to the appropriate approving attorneys

• Errors when manually re-keying information intothe firm’s financial system

• Transparency due to the lack of information accessibleto attorneys when a client calls looking for invoicejustification

• Creating and filing multiple copies of an invoice innumerous locations

• Expensive and time-consuming efforts to retrievepaper documents from dispersed files or search forlost documents

Vendor Invoice Processing

The ChallengeEvery day, law firms receive invoices fromoutside vendors — some on behalf of theirclients, while others are directly attributable tothe firm. Each invoice must be received,approved, assigned to the correct client andmatter (where appropriate) and eventually paidby the finance department, while billed backto the appropriate client. The challenges a firmfaces in managing this process quickly andeffectively, without error, and with completeclient transparency along the way is daunting.

The SolutionAutomating the process of vendor invoicehandling with document capture and archivesolutions that integrate with financialpackages of law firms, and enables stream-lined processing of vendor invoices, resultsin quicker time to revenue, reduction oferrors, immediate information accessibilityand full transparency throughout the firm.

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Invoice Capture and ApprovalWhen invoices for services arrive at a law firm, theyfollow one of two paths. They either go directly tothe attorney who is responsible for ordering the service,or they are directed to the firm's accountingdepartment. Independent of the path taken, eachinvoice requires specific information attributed toit before it can be processed, including client billing and matter codes, and the signature of theapproving attorney.

Without an electronic capture process, the possibilityof documents being lost or misplaced is significantlyincreased by the need to manually route them aroundthe office. This risk is enhanced even more by theneed to route documents to and from the accountingdepartment and appropriate attorneys, especiallywhen more than one approval is required for anygiven document.

Retrieval and ArchivingToday, archiving invoices means filing paper documents. In order to make these accessible to everyone who may need them in the future, multiple copies are made and filed into numerouslocations. While this part of the process appearssimple, the expenses associated with makingand filing multiple copies of the same paper document can escalate quickly. This is also expensiveand time-consuming when having to retrieve paperdocuments from these files or search for lostdocuments.

VoucheringWhen entering the invoice information into theaccounting system for payment and obtaining avoucher number, the accounting system administratortypically re-enters (manually) the informationpreviously obtained from the attorney into the financialsystem such as Elite® or ADERANT®. This is arepetitive and time consuming task that can introduceerrors into the process. As a result of error, thereimbursement may be delayed or even worse,eliminated.

Once an invoice has obtained a voucher number,copies are made, one of which is manually attachedto the vendor invoice of the firm's bill that will begoing to the client, containing those charges. Whilea firm employee can use the accounting system toobtain the payment status of vendor invoices, withoutan electronic image of an actual invoice, a copy ofthe original invoice must be retrieved manually. Allof these steps require an extensive amount of manualwork when trying to track down a single invoice.

omtool | legal

Vendor Invoice Processing Today — Areas to Address

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Vendor Invoice Processing

Omtool Vendor InvoiceProcessing (VIP) Suite

For years, Omtool has been established as the legalindustry standard to handle all the paper while providing Omtool AccuRoute® document captureplatform to law firms of all sizes, worldwide. WithAccuRoute, law firms are able to convert hard copydocuments into virtually any electronic format andmove it through electronic invoice processing seamlessly. The VIP Suite built upon the OmtoolAccuRoute solution delivers:

• Vendor invoice document capture at the point ofprocessing (by attorney or accounting department)

• Invoice-specific collection of information (clientand matter billing codes, date, billing category,etc.) to process along with the captured image anddeliver electronically

• A streamlined electronic workflow to move invoicesand related information quickly through approvalcycles and into standard financial systems (such asElite and ADERANT, among many others)

• Image archiving while also maintaining a connectionto the billing system for easy and immediate clientmatter retrieval for the life of the client

From the mail room to financial system integration,the process of managing invoices is now more effective, efficient, and streamlined, with the adoptionof the VIP Suite for invoice processing anddisbursement. Omtool’s line of invoice processingproducts will make managing invoices easy from thepoint of receipt through to the financial system currently implemented in your firm.

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omtool | legal

AccuRoute is Omtool’s enterprise-class documentprocess automation platform for the deployment ofsolutions to capture, process, deliver, and archivecritical business documents. The AccuRoute captureand processing software uniquely delivers flexible,distributed document capture with a highly scalableinfrastructure, extensive capabilities, configurationflexibility, and the ease of use necessary to implement simple or complex solutions, involvinghundreds or millions of documents per month, out-of-the-box.

At the heart of AccuRoute is the ability to capture,process, and deliver documents that originate inpaper (and often electronic format). Paper documentsare “captured” (scanned) from any networked scanner,scan-enabled digital printer, copier, fax, or MFP andprepared for processing by the AccuRoute Server.

The AccuRoute Server converts documents to avariety of formats, collects and provides document-related metadata, validates information, compressesthe documents, and then delivers the documents tothe destinations required. During the conversionprocess, documents may be OCR’d and/or convertedto any variety of formats including PDF, text-searchablePDF, DOC, JPG, RTF, TIF, TXT, XLS, among manyothers.

Metadata collection can be implemented withAccuRoute through a number of options including:

• Profiling documentsusing native documentmanagement systemsprofile screens

• Extracting data frombarcodes

• Printing/Scanning withprompts to capture newinformation at MFPpanel when scanning

• Validating collected dataagainst pre-definedvalues

When the processing is complete, AccuRoute willdeliver the document image and its related informationto the destinations desired, simultaneously. While theimage need only be captured once, AccuRouteenables multiple processing tasks and delivery to anynumber of destinations all based on the single scan.The delivery to destinations includes:

• Scan-to-Self — email, network folder, or web folder

• Scan-to-Distribute — email, fax, printer, and/ordistribution list

• Scan-to-Store — enterprise content management(ECM) including document management, recordsmanagement, and traditional enterprise contentmanagement systems, repository, archive,network folder

• Scan-to Line-of-Business Application

Throughout the document lifecycle, AccuRoute isautomating the document processes and providesthe platform enterprise-class delivery able to scalefrom single department or small business use tolarge, multi-location corporate deployments.

In the case of vendor invoice processing andspecifically for financial system integration, convertinvoices to PDF and route images to Image-In Queuefor processing along with related client, billing, andinvoice-specific data captured electronically.

AccuRoute - The Distributed Document Process Automation Platform

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Achieve Seamless Invoice Processingwith AccuRoute Solutions

Image-In™ Queue — Managing the ApprovalCycle Invoice by InvoiceImage-In Queue is the electronic document deliverycomponent of the Omtool VIP Suite that is thecentral dispatching point for invoices and requiredapprovals. Instead of manually delivering an invoiceto an attorney for approval and then returning toaccounting to obtain a voucher number, Image-InQueue can automate the approval process. Aftercapturing invoices with AccuRoute, Image-In-Queueautomatically identifies documents that have not metall the criteria required for their defined process, andprovides the capabilities to manage queues of thesedocuments through until completion.

Image-In Queue minimizes lost or misdirected documents by routing them through one centrallocation. There's no need to make multiple copiesor manually deliver documents. Image-In Queuecan simply send the selected documents to allauthorized recipients — automatically. It can deliverthe appropriate scanned images to the approvingattorneys and again to accounting for processinguntil complete. What's more, there are no hardcopies to file — you can keep them all in one central,image-centric electronic archive.

AccuRoute Web Client — Viewing andApproving Invoices, ElectronicallyWhether at the office or working remotely, attorneyscan review and approve their invoices through theAccuRoute Web Client which provides a clear viewinto the invoice approval process. This "viewer"provides constant and immediate access to currentand archived images should you need them in thefuture for reference.

ObjectArchive™ — Image Archive forElectronic InvoicesThis high-performance file system stores the invoices,documents, forms, images, and other client billingdocuments that have been captured electronically.With ObjectArchive, you have immediate access tothe documents, invoices, and records you need,where and when they are required. Invoice imagesmay be viewed through the AccuRoute Web Client orthrough a direct link from the firm's financial system.

Vendor Invoice Processing

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omtool | legal

The Benefits of Implementing Omtool Suite for Vendor Invoice Processing

Reduce Manual InterventionWhen the invoice processing anddisbursement management cycle iscaptured electronically, the need forcopying and the physical movement ofpaper within a firm is diminished. Inaddition, since these documents are nolonger manually routed, they are lesslikely to be lost.

Improve Time to Revenue byDecreasing Billing CyclesElectronically streamlining documentsand approval cycles greatly improvesinvoice turn around and time. As a result,this greatly decreases the time it takes tocomplete a client specific billing packageat the end of a billing cycle, in turn greatlyincreasing a firm's time to revenue.

Increase Productivity ThroughReduced Data-Entry TimeAs invoice specific information (date,client and matter codes, billing category,etc.) is entered upon receipt, it can betransmitted with the invoice imageelectronically to avoid repeated data entryof the same information in the financialsystem.

Remove Physical BarriersWhen processing an invoice for a clientwhile the attorney is out of the office, oreven, located in another office the invoicingprocesses can continue regardless of thelocation barriers. Attorney can review,edit, and approve invoices using any In-ternet connection, including their mobiledevice.

Increase Document AccessibilityAnytime during or after the invoiceprocessing is complete, accessibility tothat electronic invoice image is alwaysavailable. This greatly reduces theamount of time spent searching forspecific invoices in volumes of paperfiles, and, in some circumstances,reduces expensive off-site retrieval costs.

Support Green InitiativeEnabling the creation and movement ofelectronic documents throughout theinvoice and disbursement managementprocess, a firm reduces its overheadand requirements of physical paper,which in turn supports the firm's "green"initiatives.

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For more than 20 years, Omtool has helped some the world’s

largest corporations and leading law firms cost-effectively

manage their document-intensive process-automation challenges.

Continually refining its technology innovations, Omtool offers

a platform with an architecture that incorporates our extensive

experience in high-volume document processing to address

“all the paper.”

Today, AccuRoute provides the infrastructure for automating

document processes in well over 300 law firms worldwide,

including more than half of the top 100 law firms in the

U.S. Our solutions are now the standard for firms of all sizes

looking for enterprise-wide automation of their paper-centric

processes. With our extensive experience automating

processes involving millions of documents per month,

multi-function device vendors, software and service

providers, and law firms trust Omtool to handle all their

paper-document process automation needs.

Find out more about how Omtool can help your legal team.

Visit www.omtool.com or call 800.886.7845.

www.omtool.com

The Leader in Legal Document Process Automation

Corporate HeadquartersOmtool, Ltd.6 Riverside DriveAndover, MA 01810

t. 978. 327.5700f. 978.659.1300sales 800.886.7845

European HeadquartersBuilding 3, Chiswick Park566 Chiswick High RoadChiswick, W4 5YA UK

t. +44 0 208.849.8470f. +44 0 208.849.8471email: [email protected]

Omtool, AccuRoute and the Company logo are trademarks of the Company. Trade names and trademarks of other companies appearing in this document are property of their respective owners.

www.omtool.com


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