GNS Contains Payment Costs with Invoice to Pay

Success Story
  • 1 invoice to pay process across 4 continents 
  • 24x7 digital invoice capture  
  • 100% visibility into invoices and payments 

Company – World leading supplier of shielded transport and storage casks for spent fuel  

Revenue – 200 million Euros (2021)

Employees – 700 

Headquarters – Essen, Germany 

Business Need

When GNS, the world-leading supplier of casks for spent fuel, wanted to contain its payment costs, it turned to Serrala. GNS wanted to achieve these objectives:

  • A company-wide view of payments across the four continents
  • Optimize the cost and timing of vendor payments 
  • Increase the speed and accuracy of accounts payable invoice processing 
  • Early visibility into any pending payments
  • Increase accuracy of cash flow planning and forecasting

Solution

The company implemented an invoice-to-pay solution using both FS² AccountsPayable and FS² Payments to streamline its outbound payment processing from start to finish. 

 

Automated Payment Processing with Increased Security and Compliance 

GNS started its process transformation by implementing the SAP-embedded FS² Payments solution. Automating the payment approval processes would be relatively straightforward, making it a logical place to start. It was able to quickly demonstrate the value of the Serrala solution by achieving the following:  

  • Faster Payment Approvals: Payments are now automatically routed for approval to the right individual in the organization. The finance and accounts payable teams are directly connected through the Serrala solutions, so payment approvers are notified as soon as an invoice is considered OK to pay.  
  • Accurate & Efficient Manual Payments: When manual payments must be made, the process is now much easier and more reliable. GNS can simply enter the creditor number in FS² Payments to pull the payment data directly from the system, reducing the risk of errors and increasing payment efficiency.  
  • Increased Security and Compliance: Personnel payments can now be processed separately from vendor payments, which increases the security of all payments and protects the privacy of their personnel. GNS can set up separate authorization hierarchies for HR and AP payments and only authorized individuals can view the corresponding payment details. 

 

Touchless Accounts Payable with Complete Visibility and Control  

The Serrala FS² AccountsPayable solution was implemented next. So far, the company has been able to achieve the following:  

  • Digital Invoice Capture: GNS can now capture vendor invoices digitally, which drastically reduces the manual effort required to scan and enter them into the system. Using Serrala SmartEye technology, invoice information is captured on a 24x7 basis and transmitted to the SAP system in real time. Each vendor has a digital fingerprint, which ensures that invoices received in PDF, DOC, XLS, XML, or other digital formats can be captured quickly and accurately. The invoice information, therefore, is immediately visible to the AP team.  
  • Automated Invoice Processing: Invoice processing is automated wherever possible using a combination of configurable business rules and robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning technology. Invoices with a 3-way match can be automatically processed without being touched by AP, while other invoices are intelligently routed across the organization for further approvals or exception handling.  
  • Company-wide View of Invoices: A central info center provides GNS with visibility into the status of all invoices, from initial capture until they are sent for payment. AP analysts can filter, sort, and search for invoices and easily drill down to view the invoice details, purchase orders, or vendor communications, which enables them to take quick action to ensure timely processing.  

Management enjoys having all AP information compressed in the info center and according to Jennifer Schurai it creates „a beautiful interface between accounts payable and finance department, where payment transactions take place.“ 

Results

GNS is happy with the solution as it provides a complete end-to-end view of outbound payments. It has been able to optimize payment processing across the full invoice-to-pay cycle, reducing costs, increasing security, and ensuring compliance across the four continents it serves.  

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