Manutan Processing 50% More Supplier Invoices with Esker’s Accounts Payable Solution
Derby, UK — January 2, 2020 — Esker, a worldwide leader in AI-driven document process automation solutions and pioneer in cloud computing, today announced that Manutan, Europe’s leading B2B e-commerce company, has chosen Esker to automate its supplier invoicing process. Esker’s Accounts Payable automation solution has enabled Manutan to process twice the amount of invoices, reduce payment delays and disputes, and standardise internal processes.
Recently, Manutan had plans to enrich its e-commerce catalog with one million additional references, which meant a significant increase in annual invoices (from 200,000 to 600,000) — a volume that could no longer be manually processed by the current accounting teams. As a result, the company embarked on a project to automate its accounts payable (AP) process to achieve multiple objectives:
- Respond to higher invoice volumes while maintaining the same staff and performance levels
- Repurpose the accounting team to focus on more strategic, added-value activities
- Position the finance department as a key player in the company’s digital transformation
- Improve supplier relationships by reducing payment times and litigations
Esker’s Accounts Payable automation solution initially went live in France and the Netherlands, and will be implemented in additional subsidiaries by 2022 (Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, UK and Spain). After only a few months of solution use, the first objective has been met: Manutan has increased the percentage of invoices received via email from 30% to 80% and optimised the processing chain from invoice reception to payment.
“Esker’s solution is an invaluable tool for our company’s future ambitions. The digital transformation of our financial processes was a major shift that we didn’t want to mess up and one that required the unfailing support of all the stakeholders,” said Sylvie Luchier, Process Finance Manager at Manutan. “Today, we have total confidence in the solution. Thanks to the solution’s dashboards, approvers can view and validate invoices in just one click.”
Directly integrated into the company’s Microsoft Dynamics™ AX ERP system, Esker’s solution has enabled Manutan to automate the processing of all supplier invoices and achieve numerous benefits, including:
- 50% more productivity in the AP department, with processing capacity per person increased from 32k to 57k annual invoices, 40% of which are touchless
- Increased visibility and traceability at all levels
- Standardised AP invoice processing across the company
- Reduced the number of approvers by half thanks to a validation workflow
- Fewer disputes, with the objective of staying below 4% thanks to a workflow which makes it possible to streamline internal exchanges and be more reactive in dealing with disputes
- Reduced payment periods and ability to negotiate discounts with suppliers
- Repurposed accounting job and improved team performance, with AP staff spending more time on higher-value tasks, such as analysis and dispute handling (two resources were reallocated to entering customer receipts)
“Yesterday, we were manually processing our invoices without any continuity, and today everything is automated and standardised. The benefit is huge in terms of ongoing improvement and one that will help all departments and subsidiaries, as it’s a company-wide solution,” said Cherif Bengourina, Finance and HR IT Manager at Manutan. “We have aligned our best practices on invoice processing between the various subsidiaries, and as KPIs are shared we can now make comparisons on identical bases.”
About Manutan
A family-run business created in 1966, Manutan is Europe’s leading B2B e-commerce company and specializes in the multichannel distribution of products and equipment for businesses and local authorities. Its vast range of select products and services is one of the largest offerings in Europe. This enables the company to meet all of its client’s needs and help them reduce their indirect purchase costs. With 26 subsidiaries established in 17 countries in Europe, the Group has more than 2,200 employees and a turnover of 774 million euros in 2018/2019. Manutan France was awarded Best Workplaces in 2019. Manutan International is listed on Euronext Paris – Compartment B - ISIN: FR0000032302-MAN.
About Esker
Esker is a worldwide leader in cloud-based document process automation software, helping financial and customer service departments digitally transform their order-to-cash (O2C) and purchase-to-pay (P2P) cycles. Used by more than 6,000 companies worldwide, Esker’s solutions incorporate technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to drive increased productivity, enhanced visibility, reduced fraud risk, and improved collaboration with customers, suppliers and internally. Esker operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on Esker and its solutions, visit https://www.esker.co.uk. Follow Esker on LinkedIn at Esker – Northern Europe, or on Twitter at @EskerNEurope and join the conversation on the Esker blog.