DESIGN OF ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION & WORKFLOW

SOLUTION FOR INVOICE PROCESSING

Submitted to the University of Madras in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

By

PREETHI B

Register No: 32319013

Under the guidance of

Dr. VANEETA AGGARWAL,

B.E., M.B.A., PhD.,

Assistant Professor,

Department of Management Studies

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS

CHEPAUK-05

APRIL 2021

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 UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this project report on “DESIGN OF ROBOTIC PROCESS

AUTOMATION AND WORKFLOW SOLUTION FOR INVOICE PROCESSING” is the
bonafide work of PREETHI B (32319013), MBA class of 2019- 2021 under my supervisions
for the partial fulfilment of the MBA program and the report is not submitted to any other
Institute/University.

Faculty guide,

Dr. VANEETA AGGARWAL, Dr. J. KHAJA SHERIF

B.E., M.B.A., Ph.D. M.B.A, M.Phil., PhD
Assistant Professor, Professor & Head,
Department of Management Studies, Department of Management Studies,
University of Madras. University of Madras.

Submitted for the Viva Voce Examination held on:

External Examiner

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 UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

STUDENTS’ DECLARATION

PREETHI B
REGISTER NO: 32319013
II YEAR MBA
UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS,
CHAPAUK, CHENNAI – 05

I hereby declare that this internship titled “DESIGN OF ROBOTIC PROCESS

AUTOMATION AND WORKFLOW SOLUTION FOR INVOICE PROCESSING”
submitted to the University of Madras, Chennai in partial fulfilment of my Master of Business
Administration Degree is a record of original work done by me and no part of this project report
has been submitted for the award of any other Degree, Diploma, Fellowship or any other similar
studies.

Date: Signature
Place: Chennai PREETHI B

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. J.KHAJA SHERIF, M.B.A., M.Phil.,
Ph.D., Head of the Department for providing me this opportunity and I would like to thank Dr.
VANEETA AGGARWAL, B.E., M.B.A., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of
Management Studies, University of Madras and all beloved staffs of Department of
Management Studies for instilling confidence in me to carry out this study and extending
valuable guidance and encouragement from time to time, without which it would not have been
possible to undertake and complete the project.

I thank all other Faculties who gave immense guidance in completing the project.

I shall remain indebted by the generous support and coordination by the management of Rapid
Acceleration India Pvt Ltd. I express my deep sense of gratitude to Mr.
RAGHURAMAMURTHY, Founder, Rapid Acceleration India Pvt Ltd., for his constant
encouragement and support to carry out this work in their esteemed organization.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the persons working in the organization and who
helped me out with their abilities.

Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family members who have been a source of
inspiration and support during my project.

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5
 ABSTRACT

The case taken for the study is about the invoice process which is currently carried out manually
consuming human labor and time, thus has impacted the efficiency of the process. As the world
is moving towards digitalization and automation, the clients have expressed their interest in
automating the manual process. The approval & communication flow, the process flow of the
manual process is analyzed and there are many drawbacks including missing processing the
invoice which is the first step, and thus the vendor payment is delayed which has affected the
company’s relationship with the suppliers/vendors. By understanding the current state of the
invoice process, the invoices, and the approval & communication flow we explore the
opportunity of automation in the current state and thus design a future state i.e., solution to
replace the manual process with an automated process with no to minimum human
intervention. The main objective identified in this project is to remove the drawbacks of the
manual process, improve efficiency and automate the invoice process by applying the latest
technology with minimum human intervention. The project aims to design a process
automation and workflow solution to automate the invoice process and thus develop an
application and robot that can process all the invoices the company receives.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE NO.

ABSTRACT vi
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES x
I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Company Profile 1
1.2 Theory on the Study
1.2.1 Invoice Processing – Accounts Payables 5
1.2.2 Workflow Management 9
1.2.3 Robotic Process Automation (RPA) 10
1.2.4 RPA in Invoice Processing 11
1.3 Purpose of the Study 14
II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Review of Literature 15
III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 20
3.2 Research Design & Method 20
3.2.1 Qualitative Research Design 20
3.2.2 Qualitative Research Method 21
3.2.3 Qualitative Data Collection 21
3.2.4 Qualitative Data Analysis 22
IV DATA ANALYSIS & SOLUTION
4.1 Case 24
4.2 Data Collection 24
4.3 Case Analysis
4.3.1 Approval & Communication 25
4.3.2 AS-IS Process 26
4.3.3 Invoice File Analysis 29
4.4 Solution Flow 32

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 4.5 TO-BE Process 34
4.5.1 Phase-I & Phase-II Development 36
4.6 Technology 42
V CONCLUSION
5.1 FINDINGS 44
5.2 RECOMMENDATION 45
5.3 SUMMARY 46
REFERENCES 47
ANNEXURE 49

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 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NAME PAGE NO.

1 Rapid Acceleration India Pvt Ltd Overview 01
4.1 Invoice File Analysis Report 31
4.2 Phase-I Development Effort Estimate & Status Tracker 39
4.3 Phase-I Development Test Cases 40

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 LIST OF FIGURES

FIG NAME PAGE NO.

1.1 Manual Invoice Processing Flowchart 08
1.2 Invoice Approval Process 10
1.3 Basic A/P Invoice Processing 13
3 Qualitative Research Methods 22
4.1 Invoice Approval & Communication Flow 26
4.2 AS-IS Invoice Process Flow 28
4.3 Invoice Sample 1 29
4.4 Invoice Sample 2 30
4.5 Invoice Sample 3 30
4.6 Automated Invoice Process 32
4.7 High-Level Invoice Process Steps 33
4.8 High-Level TO-BE Flow 34
4.9 TO-BE Invoice Process Flow 35
4.10 Phase-I Development Invoice Process Flow 37
4.11 Phase-II Development Invoice Process Flow 38

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 COMPANY PROFILE

Rapid Acceleration India Pvt Ltd provides practical AI solutions for digital business
transformation. Intending to democratize AI, RAP has developed products RAPFlow - an AI
orchestration platform for building content intelligence solutions, and RAPBOT - our RPA
solution for end-to-end automation.

Overview

Table 1: Rapid Acceleration India Pvt Ltd Overview

Name Rapid Acceleration India Pvt Ltd

Website http://rapidautomation.ai/
Industry Computer Software
Company size 51-200 employees
Headquarters Irving, Texas
Type Privately Held
Founded 2017
Practical AI, Enterprise Automation, Intelligent Process Automation, AI
Pipeline Orchestration, Content Intelligence, RPA, Workflow Automation,
AI Solutions, Machine Learning, Structured Data Extraction, AutoDL, AutoML,
Specialties and AI Platform

Rapid Acceleration India Private Limited is an unlisted private company. It was incorporated on
22 September 2017 and is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is classified as a private limited
company. The current status of Rapid Acceleration India Private Limited is – Active.

The registered office of Rapid Acceleration India Private Limited is at 96,2nd Floor, Northern
Wing, Ramaniyam Greeta Towers Developed Plots Estate, Perungudi, Chennai, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu.

RAPFlow is a full lifecycle AI orchestration platform with content intelligence capabilities

and RAPBot is a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tool. The company provides Intelligent

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Process Automation (IPA) solutions that leverage both RAP and AI. RAPFlow has an inbuilt
AI engine with computer vision and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities. Using
these capabilities RAPFlow can understand and extract structured data from unstructured
content in any format. It enables automation of processing high volumes of unstructured
content. RAPBot is used for automating rule-based, repetitive tasks and connecting processes
and systems by mimicking human actions. It can automate structured data and some types of
semi-structured data. With RAPFlow and RAPBot you can automate an entire process end-to-
end (hyper automation) with a human-in-the-loop if required. Our no-code/low-code platform
allows you to build an Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) solution in a matter of few weeks
and not months.

The services provided by the company can be categorised into four major functions:

• IT
Many tasks and processes that fall under the purview of the IT department can be
automated by implementing RAPFlow and RAPBot. AI knowledge is not required to
leverage the power of the platform, as it already includes pre-coded/tested modules which
can be just picked up and added to the required flow.

• Customer Service
Leveraging the RAPFlow platform ushers in greater efficiency, speed and lower costs
while delighting customers. Imagine acing customer service with the majority of routine
tasks automated with Intelligent Process Automation, which continues to learn and
improve. Customer service can be run round the clock as AI never sleeps and at a fraction
of the cost by minimizing manual intervention. Customer service employees can focus
efforts on more complex cases without being bogged down by routine requests. No AI
understanding is necessary to leverage the RAPFlow platform for massive savings.

• Finance/Procurement
Several routine tasks and processes under Finance and Procurement can be automated
using the RAPFlow platform and RAPBot. When tasks and processes are highly-data
intensive and repetitive, they are good candidates for automation and can be automated
with minimal effort.

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 • Operations
A plethora of data-intensive and repetitive processes are excellent candidates for AI-
powered automation. The RAPFlow platform with RAPBot for automation can be used
to pull structured data from unstructured content and feed it into other systems through
an automated workflow. A range of document processing tasks can be automated for
massive savings and efficiency and Rule-based automation of workflows with RPA
eliminates manual intervention.

Rapid acceleration partners have delivered successful software solutions in the following
domains:

• BFSI
Insurance, Banking and Financial institutions hold vast arrays of unstructured data. Only
20% is structured data. Financial institutions struggle to bridge the gap between
unstructured and structured data. To process this large amount of unstructured data,
companies often spend in thousands, if not millions annually. Not to forget that it requires
longer man-hours. RAPFlow and RAPBot help turbo-charge process efficiency for
handling unstructured data.

• Logistics
The last few decades have marked a monumental increase and growth in the logistics
industry. This surge in demand has led to vast amounts of unstructured data growing by
a whopping 60% annually. Extraction of structured data can be automated from
mountains of unstructured content with ease using the RAPFlow Platform. Document-
driven workflows may be accelerated and process capacity can be increased with minimal
manual intervention. Manual resources are free to work on higher-value projects and
innovation while AI takes care of the routine, data-intensive, tedious tasks.

• Healthcare
Healthcare is an industry that has to handle huge volumes of unstructured content such
as unstructured EHR data, billing documents, invoices, medical notes, medical codes,
prescriptions and more. Large hospitals and revenue cycle management companies
continue to rely on expensive, time-consuming manual processes to extract meaningful
information from such documents. The power of RAPFlow and RAPBot are leveraged

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 to automate processing such documents and extracting structured data from mountains
of paperwork.

• Real Estate
Real estate, title and mortgage companies are buried in loads of paperwork at a day to
day operational level. These documents include leases, property valuation details,
surveys, to the regulatory documents and customer information, etc. Such tasks can be
automated to remove friction, errors and delays from data and document processing and
achieve peak operational efficiency.

• Hospitality Management
AI is changing the way how hospitality industry operates and performs. Eliminating
delays leading to faster turnaround time, ensuring timeliness of critical accounting
activities such as accounts receivable & payable tasks, general Ledger entries, bank
reconciliations and reporting with AI-automation. Their AI-enabled, content intelligent
platform, RAPFlow has the capability to improve business processes through intelligent
automation. Using RAPFlow in tandem with RAPBot, an RPA tool, allows for superior
workflow automation.

The RAPFlow Platform is industry-agnostic and it can be leveraged for the automation of
data-intensive and repetitive tasks for any industry. Although every industry faces unique
challenges, it is still possible to train and utilize our next-gen, AI orchestration platform for
document processing, email and omni-channel response, and workflow automation for massive
savings and ROI.

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1.2 THEORY ON THE STUDY

1.2.1 Invoice Processing – Accounts Payables

Invoices: Invoices are a request for payment for services rendered or goods provided.

There are 2 types of Invoices:

1. Purchase Order invoices:

Well-run businesses operate under solid business plans. These plans embrace budgets
that assume predictability of costs. Business leaders know what the business will need to
purchase so as to turn a profit, so the budget for those goods and services. When it’s time to
purchase those goods or services, someone familiar with the purchase submits a purchase
requisition based on the business plan, budget, and price quotes they’ve received from vendors.
Typically, the purchase requisition goes through an approval process. After the purchase
requisition is approved, the business produces a purchase order that can be offered to the vendor
that has been awarded the business. This PO is an official commercial document issued by a
buyer who is promising to pay the seller for a specific product or service that will be delivered
in the future. The seller receives the buyer’s PO and either confirms that the company can fill
the order or tells the buyer the order cannot be completed and the PO is cancelled. If the order
can be filled, the seller begins producing and/or preparing the order for shipment or scheduling
required resources to provide the ordered services. Next, the order is shipped – or service is
provided. The PO number is placed on the packing list or services receipt so the buyer knows
which products have arrived or services have been delivered.
A good PO will include:

• Products or services to be purchased

• Quantity being purchased
• Product or service names, SKUs, or model numbers
• Price per unit
• Delivery date
• Delivery location
• Billing address
• Payment terms, including any early pay discounts

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 The PO purchasing process is well planned out, thorough and structured. So, the PO invoice
and approval process can be too. Once the buyer’s order is shipped or service is provided the
seller invoices for the order using the PO number so that it can easily be matched with the
delivery information. This is called a PO invoice. In reality, a PO is a pre-approved PO invoice.
The purchase, supplier, and amount were approved as part of the PO purchase process leading
up to the purchase order. So, a PO invoice should look almost identical to the PO itself. Because
of this pre-approval process, a PO invoice can typically be processed without further approval.
As long as all the PO invoice details match the information on the purchase order as well as
the receipt of the good there should be no need for further manual review or approval of a PO
invoice. And if a discrepancy between the PO and PO invoice is identified in the matching
process, the invoice will be sent to the buyer for review and action.

2. Non- Purchase Order Invoice

Non-PO purchases are the result of spending outside a regulated procurement process.
This type of invoice is often called an expense invoice. Non-PO payments can also be the result
of contracted products or services. PO purchasing is a business best practice. But POs don’t
make sense for smaller purchases, regular expenses, or legally contracted services. Payment for
goods, supplies, or equipment under a certain dollar limit, for example, make for poor
candidates for PO purchasing. The small amounts involved don’t justify all the effort involved
in the PO process. Business/travel-related expenses and conference fees with proper
substantiation also require a different approach to payments or reimbursements. State, local or
federal taxes, permits, and/or license fees are another category of non-PO expense. As are
refunded. And while it’s useful to think of POs as ‘mini-contracts,’ POs do not become legally
binding until the seller accepts them. A proper contract, on the other hand, is a legal document
from the beginning as soon as both parties sign it. So, while contracted purchases are similar
to PO purchases, contracted invoice processing and approval are handled differently from PO
invoices.

Contracted purchases might include:

• Building leases
• Facility maintenance and cleaning
• Utilities (e.g., water, sewer, electricity, etc.)

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• Consulting services
• Legal services (attorney fees)
• Advertising expenditures
• Trade show expenses

Contract expenses must be matched against the terms of the contract rather than a PO. This
necessitates more involved non-PO invoice procedures and approval process. Unlike a PO
invoice, a non-PO invoice will not be pre-approved in a purchase order. Therefore, non-PO
invoices need to go through an invoice approval process within the buying organization before
being paid. Typically, the AP team will apply the appropriate accounting codes to non-PO
invoices and identify the invoice approver(s) based on the information on the invoice to the
best of their knowledge. This can be a complex process. And if done manually, this process is
fraught with the potential for errors. Internal approval hierarchies can be based on location,
invoice amount, invoice type, cost center, or any other criteria. Based on these criteria they will
need to go through multiple approval steps in the internal hierarchy. Once all the necessary
approvals have been obtained, the invoice comes back to accounts payable for final booking
and payment.

Invoice Processing is an Accounts payables process in the finance department in an

organization. As humans, we’re all prone to make mistakes from time to time. Using a manual
invoice process to address all of your invoices leads to the potential for issues, even if you have
the most responsible and highly detail-oriented finance staff. That’s why your method for
processing invoices in accounts payable can make or break your business.

Invoice processing is the entire process your company’s accounts payable team uses to handle
supplier invoices. It starts when the company receives an invoice and finishes when payment has
been made and recorded in the general ledger. Invoice can be paper invoices, PDF, or other
electronic means. The invoice must either be scanned or manually entered into the ERP system or
accounting software. From there, the invoice amounts must be coded for the correct accounts, cost
centers, or projects. Then, the invoice has to be sent to the responsible person or budget owner for
review and approval. The multi-step approval workflows take time but can be automated for faster
and more efficient processing.

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 Fig 1.1: Manual Invoice Processing Flowchart

Source: Rob Biedron (2015). What is Invoice Processing? Planergy. https://planergy.com/blog/invoice-

processing-why-it-matters/

If the company is not already using ERP to streamline all the business processes into a single
database, it can dramatically improve efficiency and productivity by adding invoice processing to
the list of modules the business needs to include in their ERP implementation. If the company is
using accounting software, a standalone Procure-to-Pay solution can manage the procurement and
invoice processing needs efficiently. If the company is already using an ERP system to manage
most of the business operations, the best options for automating the processing of invoices will
seamlessly integrate with the accounting system or ERP.

Reporting is the next necessary part of business operations, and if the company doesn't have the
right systems in place, it spends lots of money in man-hours while the team manually collects all
the information, they need to produce accurate reports. This means spending hours coming through
supplier invoice data, invoice numbers, order receipts to make sure it received the items on the
invoice, and so on. With the right invoice processing procedures in place, all the necessary
information is stored in a central database and organized in such a way that reports can be
automatically generated in a few clicks, in less than a few minutes. The finance department can
then rest assured their cash flow is accurate, and any cash flow projections are based on the latest

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information available. The right invoice processing method has the potential to make a massive
difference in the business. Not only should the company see enhanced operations because
accounting doesn’t have to manually chase invoices to approve and pay them, but also see more
profit in its pocket since everything is automated and costs go down.

1.2.2 Workflow Management

Processes form the core of business operations. Automating business process workflows
aligns business operations closer to business goals. Workflows are a sequence of tasks that are
executed with a goal in mind. Business processes may be broken down into a sequential path
of tasks (workflows) that are executed to achieve business goals. All the problems faced by a
manual workflow system are eliminated by automating processes. A workflow management
system is a software platform that automates processes efficiently. Streamlined workflows
improve key performance metrics and productivity of the business.

Workflow automation organizes and prioritizes a sequence of operations based on specific

conditions and rules. Workflow management practices aim at analyzing processes and mapping
out tasks to detect bottlenecks, delays, and design a more efficient and streamlined process.
Several discrete workflow software tools are combined into a single application that automates
human and machine-driven tasks in a pre-defined linear path. Workflow management systems
also help in connecting humans and systems seamlessly.

Apart from the advantage of saving time and effort by automating process workflows, using
workflow tools for your business has many advantages. Here are the advantages of automating
process workflows:

• Improves compliance of processes for audit trails

• Improves process productivity and efficiency
• Streamlines and speeds up internal processes
• Mitigates the risk of fraudulent practices and improper approval of a request
• Reduces the paperwork and the associated costs significantly
• Reduces human bias and errors
• Ensures efficient tracking of requests

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 • Help identify process bottlenecks and rectify them

The workflow management system eliminates all the issues that you would face in an
organization while bringing about a drastic improvement in performance and efficiency. You
can motivate your employees while streamlining tasks and paving the way for the growth of
your organization. When your employees can work comfortably using workflow management
software, it improves accountability and reduces errors. It’s the stepping stone to successfully
building brand value and a strong customer base.

Fig 1.2: Invoice Approval Process

Source: Kate Eby (2017). Invoice Approval Process. Smartsheet. https://www.smartsheet.com/approval-process-

workflow

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1.2.3 Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA can be impactful, providing touchless business process automation to back-office jobs,
reducing manual effort, increase speed of the process, cost, and human error while offering high
ROI to businesses. RPA has become a new trend in all industries.

RPA – Robotic process automation, is a software bot that can automate any task or process that
is

• Rule-based, allowing decision flows to alter dynamically.

• Consistent, where the same step is performed repeatedly.
• Template driven, with data entered into specific fields in a repetitive manner.
Robotic Process Automation Software Bots can interact with any application or System the
same way any human does- except that RPA Bots can operate around the clock, nonstop, much
faster, and with 100% reliability and precision.
Robotic Process Automation Bots have the same digital skillset as people—and then some.
Think of RPA Bots as a Digital Workforce that can interact with any system or application. For
example, Bots can copy-paste, scrape web data, make calculations, open and move files, parse
emails, log into programs, connect to APIs, and extract unstructured data. And because Bots can
adapt to any interface or workflow, there’s no need to change business systems, applications, or
existing processes to automate.
RPA Bots create a step-change in employee productivity by accelerating workflows and
enabling more work to get done by executing processes independently and simultaneously. With
100% accuracy, there is no rework and near-perfect compliance. Automating with RPA is enabling
industries such as finance, healthcare, and life sciences to leverage the reliability of Bots to achieve
strict compliance standards. RPA in accounting is enabling new levels of speed and precision in
order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes. For an average employee, RPA helps in regaining
40% of their time each day that was wasted on manual digital administrative tasks. In industries
like healthcare, the value of automating is amplified by the critical importance of error-free,
compliant process execution of patient outcomes. RPA is application-agnostic so you will never
need to upgrade or replace existing systems for RPA to work. Bots enable enterprises to live the
dream of eliminating technology siloes by seamlessly connecting across all software tools
regardless of function and department, in both front and back office. The result of these is
achieving never-before-seen enterprise-wide efficiencies and collaboration that taps into the true
value of the human capital investment.

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1.2.4 RPA in Invoice Processing

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a tailor-made solution for paper-intensive/Manual

tasks like invoice processing. The software scans the invoice regardless of the format and then
converts the same into an image or a text-searchable document. RPA can also capture different
ranges on an invoice so that it captures the right data and keys it into the ERP system/financial
system.

Invoice automation involves the following steps:

• Monitoring for new invoices: RPA Bots will be able to constantly monitor emails
pertaining to new invoices or an exclusive folder created by the employee where invoices are
usually saved. As soon as the Bots detect a new invoice, they begin to extract information from
the document regardless of the format.

• Invoice capture and evaluation: By leveraging intelligent optical character

recognition (OCR) and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, software robots can
scan information from the invoices. The invoices are evaluated to match certain order records
and criteria such as:

a. Verifying invoice against purchase orders

b. Cross-checking for duplicity
c. Based on the pre-defined discrepancy limits, the Bots decide whether to process the
invoice or send feedback to the employee
d. Verifying the invoice against VAT rules
e. Keep Tracker of invoice data

In order to create a record in the internal systems, the invoices are added to a general ledger
account for future use.

• Email notification: In case of discrepancies, the Bots trigger an email to the concerned
employee to work on the corrections. After successfully processing an invoice, the Bots pushes
notifications to the vendor or the employee based on predefined rules. Reports can also be sent
via emails.

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 • Automatic Payments: RPA triggers an email to the supplier to confirm the receipt of
the payment and also sends out notifications to employees if the payment nears the deadline to
avoid late payment and penalties.

Before automation, the manual invoice processing workflow goes something like this:

• Analyze the invoices and understand relevant data from each of them

• Keying the data into the ERP system so that payments and system records would be complete.

• In rare circumstances, the team might find discrepancies to some extent and consult the supplier
to resolve the issue.

RPA’s software Bots can automate everything right from downloading invoices and data input to
error reconciliation and feedbacks in case of discrepancies.

Fig 1.3: Basic A/P Invoice Processing

Source: Oracle White Paper (2015). Process Automation for Accounts Payable.
https://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/bpm/ap-process-automation-wp-2284450.pdf Page 2.

Benefits of RPA in Invoice Automation

• Reduced expenses on invoice processing

• Employees can focus on activities with higher value addition
• 100% error-free invoice creation
• Avoid penalties and late payments.

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1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the case study is to analyse the case from different perspectives and
explore the various approaches to solve the case. From the case study, we determine the best
strategy to process the invoices, and how the approach will eliminate the drawbacks of the
manual invoice processing. The analysis phase helps us to visualize the current process, the
data involved, the actors, actions and establish the future state. The best approach is determined
by understanding similar studies from various literature papers. The concepts applied are deep
dived so the application of them will bring positive impact on the users. The real time process
is understood, analysed, the need and requirements of the users are captured and solution is
drawn by applying the concepts.

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 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Invoice Process and Workflow Automation

PayStream Advisors (2013), discusses the need for automation solutions, workflow
automation and e-invoicing, benefits of approval workflows. It details components of the Invoice
automation universe, Paper invoice receipt, document and data capture, electronic invoicing,
content management, matching and workflow, reporting, and analysis. According to PayStream’s
2013 Electronic Invoice Adoption survey, the use of electronic invoicing increased by 3 percent,
and workflow automation increased by 2 percent, from 2011 to 2012. Interestingly, survey
respondents ranked electronic invoicing via portal or network (31 percent) and automated
workflow (25 percent) as their top AP automation goals for the coming year. For accounts
payable departments, invoice processing can be expensive and time-consuming if dealing with
manual processes and paper documents. The adoption of electronic invoicing and automated
invoice workflow can help lower costs and speed up processing. Additional benefits include
increased control and visibility into spend, on-time payments, increased capture of discounts, and
added efficiency in the AP department to focus on more strategic issues that help drive business.

Juuso Neuvonen (2015), approached invoice processing through workflow automation

from business process management. The manual process currently in place is analyzed and an
opportunity for automation is identified. The As-Is flow i.e. the actual process of the invoice is
created from which To-Be process flow is designed. From the To-Be Processed, workflow
solution is designed to Automate the purchase Invoice Process. A standard invoice process is
established and business rules to process invoices are framed. The invoices received are in Email,
Image, E-invoice and are non-structured. Integration of multiple applications is done by
workflow solution and thus the invoices are processed. Invoice processing has a lot of potential
for automation because of its labor-intensive and repetitive nature. The current process is
explored through interviews and workshop meetings to create a holistic understanding of the
process then requirements for process streamlining were then researched focusing on vendors
and their voices, which helped to identify the critical factors for successful invoice automation.
The review and approval flow and process are analyzed and understood. From this journal it was

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found that the invoice processing was ineffective both time and cost-wise at the beginning and it
required a lot of manual labor to carry out all the tasks. After testing the developed process, it
was estimated that over half of the invoices could be automated within a year after systems were
implemented. Processing times could be reduced remarkably, which would then result in savings
up to 40% in annual processing costs. Due to the advancement of technology, the process
improvement is a continuous one and the quality of the process is improved and will continue to
improve.

Scott Pezza (May 2011), conducted a study on invoicing, workflow, and how process
automation can enhance operational performance. Paper Invoices and Manual processing
continue to hamper accounts payable operations, keeping suppliers/vendors in dark and falling
to give finance the visibility it needs to actively manage the organizations’ cash position. The
study was conducted during March and April 2011, profiles 130 enterprises. The end goal and
the target of their automation efforts are to drive savings through discount capture, penalty
avoidance, lower labor costs – all while improving the speed with which they can access
payables-related information. Nearly 60% of the invoices are paper invoices and a one-size-fits-
all approach can’t be taken for a paper invoice. It discusses the standardization that should be
brought into AP invoice processing and its approval process and how suppliers raise invoices. It
identifies industries average the steps to success i.e. enable the automated machine of invoices
to purchase orders, Integrate AP with contract management, Maintain a centralized, searchable
archive for invoices. It also identifies the laggard steps like standardize your invoice receipt and
approval process, centralize important IR&W processes and quantify the benefits of AP
automation to secure executive support. The Best-in-Class steps to success are to pursue
comprehensive AP automation, Integrate AP with your back-end ERP or Financial System and
develop or implement performance dashboards.

Fu-Ren Lin, Meng-Chyn Yang, and Yu-Hua Pai (2000), compare various BPR strategies
and methodologies, and one common feature is to capture existing processes and represent new
processes adequately. The generic structure possesses two main features suitable for business
process modeling: one is that it can represent a business process in various concerns and multiple
layers of abstraction, and the other is that it lowers the barriers between process representation
and model analysis by embedding verification and validation with the model. By understanding

26
 six perspectives of BPR, its components, representation, main features, and modeling procedure
it is found that the generic structure contains ten components agent, event, resources, activity,
relation, behavior, entity, information, organizational and functional aspects of the company. An
activity denotes what a process does and an agent represents who performs which actions and to
whom the actions are rendered. The information denotes messages an agent receives or sends in
activities, and entities denote objects being processed. Behavior demonstrates how an agent
executes actions, and events indicate when actions are executed. Agents are linked according to
the relation between each other to form organizations and utilize resources for the target
processes. The paper applies this concept to develop a business process for Order processing.
The process is continuously improved by following the business process life cycle i.e. planning,
analysis, design and modeling, implementation and monitoring, and control of business process
steps.

Invoice Process and Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Can Tansel Kaya, Mete Turkyilmaz, Burcu Birol, (April 2019), analyses the
implementation and improvement areas of Robotic Process Automation in Enterprise Resource
Planning and Material Resource Planning within the scope of Financial Account System. It
discusses the technologies behind RPA, Autonomics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence,
Cognitive computing, and the benefits of RPA cost reduction, higher efficiency, advanced
analytics, performance, and quality improvement. Account System contains mundane and
repetitive activities which would be automated by implementing RPA, which reduces significant
labor, time, and cost which would be invested in more significant activities. On the general
accounting side, transaction and invoice-to-PO (purchase order) matching can be processed by
RPA. For the journal entries, central journal entry management to control creation, review, and
approval of journals are done with electronic certification and supporting documents. Moreover,
automation of pre-posting validation is performed to catch entry or logic errors, ensure accuracy,
and eliminate general ledger and sub-ledger rejections. Crucial roles such as accounts receivables
and account payables will be treated critically as the RPA system will automatically enter data,
some accounting staff will be still being employed for monitoring paperwork. As, RPA can be
used in every step of accounting flow, in operational accounting, billing and collection will be
able to be followed and progressed by robots. Account reconciliations can be performed
efficiently by using automation. Accounts payables and accounts receivables will be reconciled

27
by robots both in one-way or two-way transactions with customers and vendors. RPA can be
used to perform budgeting activities.

Dey, S. and Das, A. (2019), examined how robotic process automation (RPA) can be
deployed as a technology solution in business processes and services as a transformation lever
beyond traditional business process management and outsourcing. RPA is a new breed of
software that allows for enterprise-wide automation of repetitive business processes, with the
promise of potential FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) savings, better service quality, and improved
service delivery. This paper investigates the perspectives between two distinct groups of
stakeholders, the RPA user community and the RPA product community, involved in RPA
design, development, deployment, and value creation. When it comes to drivers of RPA, the
product, and user community are in alignment on factors like standardized processes, limited
impact to current infra and core applications, improved business process cycle time, and reduced
error rate. The User community's essential expectations from RPA are optimization of business
processes, reducing process errors during execution, and reducing repetitive manual work. These
reflect on the critical business operations challenges that organizations typically encounter and
RPA is expected to address these. User Community attaches the FTE reduction with RPA i.e. IT
Operations in leading organizations are making use of RPA software Bots at one-third of the cost
of an FTE. These Bots can operate 24/7 without break increasing the operational agility and using
RPA leads to greater process compliance as the software robots follow the standard operating
procedure without fail most of the time. But Product Community explains that FTE reduction is
one of the many advantages RPA provides as RPA can create value-added activities in the
process. The Implementation challenges anticipated by the User community is the threat of
process change, if any, is perceived as the biggest roadblock. Hence Product community needs
to ensure that RPA implementations are light-touch with minimal impact on processes. It is
understood that BPM and RPA are complementary and not competitive.

Madakam, S.; Holmukhe, R. M.; Jaiswal D. K, details on Robotic Process Automation

which is the future, these systems log into applications, move files and folders, copy and paste
data, fill in forms, extract structured and semi-structured data from documents, scrape browsers,
what not many more. The study finally discovered that Robots and Robotic Process Automation
technologies are becoming compulsory as a part to do business operations in organizations across

28
the globe. Robotic Process Automation can bring immediate value to the core business processes
including employee payroll, employee status changes, new hire recruitment, and onboarding,
accounts receivable and payable, invoice processing, inventory management, report creation,
software installations, data migration, and vendor onboarding, etc. to name a few applications.
Besides, Robotic Process Automation has abundant applications including healthcare and
pharmaceuticals, financial services, outsourcing, retail, telecom, energy and utilities, real estate
and FMCG, and many more sectors. To put in the right place of RPA in business operations, their
many allied technologies are working at the background level, artificial intelligence, machine
learning, deep learning, data analytics, HR analytics, virtual reality (second life), home
automation, blockchain technologies, 4D printing and many more.

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 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The term ‘Research’ refers to the systematic method of consisting for enunciating the problem,
collecting the facts or data. Analyzing the facts or data and reaching a certain conclusion either in
the form of solutions toward the consent problems or in certain generalizations for some theoretical
formulation.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN & METHOD

Research design is the framework of research methods and techniques chosen by a researcher.
The design allows researchers to hone in on research methods that are suitable for the subject
matter and set up their studies for success. There are three main types of research design: Data
collection, measurement, and analysis. The type of research problem an organization is facing will
determine the research design and not vice-versa. The design phase of a study determines which
tools to use and how they are used.

The research design chosen for this search is ‘Qualitative Research’. The research is about
understanding the existing process, the difficulties in the process, and suggesting the best solution
to overcome the limitations.

3.2.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or
audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights
into a problem or generate new ideas for research. Qualitative research is the opposite of
quantitative research, which involves collecting and analyzing numerical data for statistical
analysis. Qualitative Research is more subjective than objective, unlike quantitative research.
Qualitative research is defined as a market research method that focuses on obtaining data through
open-ended and conversational communication. This method is not only about “what” people think
but also “why” they think so. Qualitative research is used to understand how people experience
the world. While there are many approaches to qualitative research, they tend to be flexible and
focus on retaining rich meaning when interpreting data.

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3.2.2 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHOD

Qualitative research methods are designed in a manner that helps reveal the behavior and
perception of a target audience concerning a particular topic. There are different types of
qualitative research methods like an in-depth interview, focus groups, ethnographic research,
content analysis, case study research that are usually used. The results of qualitative methods are
more descriptive and the inferences can be drawn quite easily from the data that is obtained.

Case study research: The case study method has evolved over the past few years and
developed into a valuable qualitative research method. As the name suggests it is used for
explaining an organization or an entity. This type of research method is used within several
areas like education, social sciences, process improvement, and similar. This method may look
difficult to operate, however, it is one of the simplest ways of researching as it involves a deep
dive and thorough understanding of the data collection methods and inferring the data.

The case study method, qualitative research design follows the steps:

1. Understand the demonstrated Case

2. Identify the concerns

3. Collect all relevant data

4. Analyze the data

5. Discuss the solution

3.2.3 QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION

Each of the research approaches involves using one or more data collection methods. These are
some of the most common qualitative data collection methods:

• Observations: recording what you have seen, heard, or encountered in detailed field
notes.
• Interviews: personally, asking people questions in one-on-one conversations.
• Focus groups: asking questions and generating discussion among a group of people.
• Surveys: distributing questionnaires with open-ended questions.

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 • Secondary research: collecting existing data in the form of texts, images, audio, or
video recordings.

In this research, observation, interviews, focus groups, and secondary research data are
used.

Fig 3: Qualitative Research Methods

Source: QuestionPro. Qualitative Research Methods. https://www.questionpro.com/blog/qualitative-research-

methods/

3.2.4 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS

• CONTENT ANALYSIS:

Researchers use content analysis to find out about the purposes, messages, and effects of
communication content. They can also make inferences about the producers and audience of
the texts they analyze. Content analysis can be used to quantify the occurrence of certain words,
phrases, subjects, or concepts in a set of historical or contemporary texts.

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 • DISCOURSE ANALYSIS:

Discourse analysis is a research method for studying written or spoken language in relation
to its social context. It aims to understand how language is used in real-life situations.
Conducting discourse analysis means examining how language functions and how meaning is
created in different social contexts. It can be applied to any instance of written or oral language,
as well as non-verbal aspects of communication such as tone and gestures. Unlike linguistic
approaches that focus only on the rules of language use, discourse analysis emphasizes the
contextual meaning of language. It focuses on the social aspects of communication and the
ways people use language to achieve specific effects (e.g. to build trust, to create doubt, to
evoke emotions, or to manage conflict).

• THEMATIC ANALYSIS:

It is a method of analyzing qualitative data. It is usually applied to a set of texts, such as

interview transcripts. The researcher closely examines the data to identify common themes –
topics, ideas, and patterns of meaning that come up repeatedly. Thematic analysis is a good
approach to research where you’re trying to find out something about people’s views, opinions,
knowledge, experiences, or values from a set of qualitative data – for example, interview
transcripts, social media profiles, or survey responses

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 CHAPTER IV

DATA ANALYSIS & SOLUTION

4.1 CASE

The Finance BPO company (Client) is processing Account Payables i.e. Invoices for
more than 60 hospitality companies. Estimating nearly 300 invoices per day which increases
at the end of the month. The client receives invoices via email, processes them, and uploads
the processed invoices which are then reviewed in the financial system, then the finance
department of the hospitality companies will make the payments to the vendors/suppliers.

The hospitality company receives invoices of varied formats and templates. The invoices
received are in pdf (searchable, non-searchable), images, scanned files, and handwritten
format. The template varies with respect to each vendor/supplier. The situation is limited to
only Non-PO i.e. nonpurchase order invoices.

The client is looking to automate the process with minimal human intervention and thus
eliminating the drawbacks of manual invoice processing.

4.2 DATA COLLECTION

The process walkthrough session i.e. the current end-to-end process carried out to
process the invoices is explained by the client. The process walkthrough sessions are recording
for future reference. By this session, we get a detailed understanding of the whole invoice
process, business rules and logic applied to complete the process, workflows involved, actors
involved, process execution time, exceptions, when the process is carried out, data involved in
the process, the systems included, etc. It’s an active session, where we can question the process
steps and get clarified.

A focused group session interviews are held to capture their requirement to provide a
relevant real-time solution for the client. In this session the object to solve the situation is set,
we get to understand why the clients need the said requirements, the drawbacks of the current
manual invoice processing, the type of data involved, the approvals, communication path, and
its difficulty. Here open-ended questions are asked which leads to an elaborate response of the
respondents.

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 The samples of the invoices, ledgers, and invoice entries are analyzed to better
understand the process and explore how well a solution can be designed to enhance the
efficiency and effectiveness of the invoice process.

Observation of the work and environment is done, thus understanding their work pressure and
need for automation.

The situation is understood by reviewing the data collected from the above-mentioned ways.

Currently, this process is carried out manually. The drawbacks of this process are,

• Missing the Invoices for processing leading to a strained vendor relationship

• Cases where invoice number is not present in the invoices
• Human errors
• Creating journal entry in the financial system for each invoice
• Laborious & execution time
• Tracking the invoices (To be Processed, Processed, Reviewed)

The project thus aims to design a workflow process to solve the drawbacks and automate the
invoice process with minimum human intervention thus increasing the efficiency of the same.

4.3 CASE ANALYSIS

From the data collected and applying content, thematic, discourse analysis we
understand the approval, communication flow, and process flow.

4.3.1 APPROVAL & COMMUNICATION

The process involves various actors and steps to process an invoice. The actors involved in this
process are the processor and reviewer of the Finance BPO company, the operational associate,
the operational officer, and the Finance office of the hospitality company. The communication
is facilitated through emails for notification and clarification. The flow of communication and
approvals are depicted below.

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APPROVAL & COMMUNICATION FLOW

Fig 4.1: Invoice Approval & Communication Flow

36
4.3.2 AS-IS

The as-is process analysis or current state analysis is a process management strategy
that identifies and evaluates a business’s current processes. Current state analysis can focus on
an entire business organization or one or more specific processes within a department or team,
here we focus on the invoice process. Current state and future state process analysis go hand-
in-hand when we are evaluating business processes. Simply put, as-is maps where our
processes are and to-be maps where we want them to be. The as-is phase outlines the current
state of the processes and any gaps or issues with the current mode of operation. Once we have
that mapped out, we can enter the to-be phase of process management.

The main advantage of as-is process analysis is creating a solid foundation in a current process.
As-is analysis allows a business to evaluate the current state of its processes and identify
opportunities for improvement. Without this fundamental information, it is difficult to manage
and improve processes. In other words, if you don’t know where you’re starting from, you’ll
have a hard time getting to where you want to be.

In this case, AS-IS is shown below. The Invoice process starts when a vendor sends an invoice
via email and it is downloaded. The invoice data i.e. invoice number, invoice date, due date,
vendor details (name, code, address), service or goods bought details and general ledger codes,
invoice amount are inputs to the financial system. The Invoice entry is created into the system,
then the financial officer approvals the invoice, and settlement are made. This is the happy path
of the process. But it includes different scenarios like

1. Vendor details mismatch with the Financial System Database.

2. Invoice number missing
3. General Ledger code not available
4. Duplicate Invoices

The business rules and logic to encounter all scenarios are captured in the AS-IS to process an
invoice.

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AS-IS FLOW DIAGRAM

Fig 4.2: AS-IS Invoice Process Flow

38
4.3.3 INVOICE FILES ANALYSIS

Invoices received by each vendor different format and template.

Format – PDF (searchable& non-searchable), Image, handwritten, Email message attachment.

Template – how the invoices are structured.

Samples of Invoices:

Sample 1

Fig 4.3: Invoice Sample 1

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Sample 2

Fig4.4: Invoice Sample 2

Sample 3

Fig4.5: Invoice Sample 3

40
 Invoice Report:

In the report, file received via email for 2 months are analysis and a record are made to
determine the best solution to develop an AI to extract the invoice details from the invoices. It
is found nearly 99% of invoices are PDF invoices and 91% are searchable invoices.

Batch represents a number of invoices that are sent in bulk as a single file.

Others represent non-invoice documents sent via email

Table 4.1: Invoice File Analysis Report

Property Total Individual PDF Mail Images Handwritten Others Batch

invoices Message
non- (pdf
searchable searchable attachment)
1 388 355 19 4 1 2 10 95
2 222 194 22 2 1 2 1 40
3 202 171 28 1 0 2 4 55
4 281 253 20 3 0 1 7 45
5 311 276 27 5 0 0 13 59
6 302 284 14 3 1 0 2 21
7 367 340 27 0 1 0 1 49
8 243 215 26 1 1 1 1 46
9 540 498 35 5 2 0 2 97
2856 2586 218 24 7 8 41 507
90.5%

By analyzing, the invoice format helps to develop a model that can input in a single format
with a varied template.

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4.4 SOLUTION FLOW

In the solution, the drawbacks listed in Chapter 4 are addressed by automating the process
and visualizing the workflow.

ROBOTIC PROCESSING AUTOMATION FOR INVOICE PROCESSING

The generalized concept of automating an invoice process is depicted in Fig 4.6.

Fig 4.6: Automated Invoice Process

Source: Vendor Invoice Management. CTI Consulting https://cti.consulting/en/solutions/vendor-invoice-

management/

The manual process thus captured can be automated. The steps to automate the invoice
process follow the following steps prepare, transform, verify and complete, exception
handling, approve, and pay. The preparation step involves monitoring the email, download
the invoices. In the transform step, classify the invoices and validate the data extracted from
the invoices. The verify and complete step is the core where business rules and logic are
applied to process the invoice. The exception handling step, handlings the case which doesn’t
compile with the business rules & logic here human intervention is needed to solve the cases
or any clarification is need from the vendors/suppliers for clarification. The approval step is
when the process and reviewed invoices are uploaded into the financial system. Then the

42
invoices are approved for payment. The pay step is when the finance department settles the
bill.

1,

Fig 4.7: High-Level Invoice Process Steps

The High-level Invoice Process Flow is the generalized solution for the case, here steps are
briefed. The steps involved to process an invoice are shown in Fig 4.7.

The document is imported or downloaded. The document is classified i.e., identifying

whether the document is an invoice or not. If it is not an invoice the document is archived in a
separated folder. The classified invoiced are then processed i.e., the invoice data is extracted
and then validated by the processor since the AI model is used for this, we train the model for
better performance, for exceptional cases manual intervention is required after which the
automation flow follows. Then the data is enriched and then imported to the financial system
or ERP. For PO invoices matching takes place for Non- Invoice only approval is required
then submitted for payment. Then the Finance department settles the invoice bill.

4.5 TO-BE

A “To-Be” business process defines the future state of a business process in an

organization. Typically, the analysis goal in putting together the future state process is to clarify
how the business process will work, at some point in the future, once changes are made. Those
changes, as we’ll see, could be technology changes or business process changes. The key at
this stage is to be as simple as possible, idealizing easily understood and explained activities.

43
It’s a good way to check the descriptions of the activities are efficient and objective. In short,
the definition of the activities of To-Be process mapping should include a straightforward view
of what should be done. The To-Be process should be different and better than the current
process. It is necessary to make a comparison between the results currently obtained with the
results to be reached. The To-Be simulation is what the process will be like in the future. You
should take advantage of current technologies that help to predict outcomes with certainty and
confidence, as well as agility.

Fig 4.8: High-Level TO-BE Flow

Source: Fig 4.8: Prashant G. Nagathan (2020). ELIPO: Express Lane Invoice Process Orbit. Peol Solutions.
https://peolsolutions.com/elipo/

The main advantage of To-Be is we can visualize the future state, and see the incorporation of
the improvements or changes from the current state. By this, we can constantly view the future
state and evolve it to meet our requirements. To-Be should be as real as possible so we can
determine the implementation of the same.

Since the solution’s focus is on automating the invoice and workflows, intricate steps are
included so the RAPBOT develops thus from the To-Be can perform the invoice process with
80% automation. The business logic and rules are retained along with all possible invoice
process logic.

Business Requirement Document (BRD) is prepared to document the AS-IS, TO-BE,

requirements, business rules & logic. The BRD is a detailed document that contains the
overview, scope, and objective of the project, the current state of the process (AS-IS), the future
state of the process (TO-BE), and the requirements.

44
TO-BE PROCESS FLOW

Fig 4.9: TO-BE Invoice Process Flow

45
4.5.1 PHASE I & II – DEVELOPMENT

The whole solution is split into 2 phases,

1. Automation of invoice Process – developing a BOT

2. Developing workflow and software application

The Phase-I development flow, will be developed 1st and implement followed by Phase-II
development.

In Phase-I development, the invoice process is developed, i.e. a software BOT is

developed to execute the invoice process end-to-end. In this development phase, the BOT
developed will mimic the human actions with precision and executes the tasks in incredibly
lesser time. All business rules and logic are added here so the entire invoice process is
automated with an exception of a few which need human intervention. The exceptions are sent
to the human queue so they can review and complete the task.

Other files to PDF converted is incorporated in the process, an AI model is developed to extract
all the invoice details i.e. invoice number, date, due date, amount, line items(services/products),
vendor details, payment details. WebQC application is a processor review application where
all the extracted data are reviewed, upon which the invoice data will be pushed to the financial
system. All the invoice details are tracked in an excel file,

In Phase-II development, a workflow system and software application are developed to

carry out the invoice process. It involves a hospitality company’s co-operation to adjust to the
new improvement to the process. The Invoice tracking is viewed and maintained in the
application. The application helps to view the invoices statuses, processed, reviewed, approved,
and a single place for communication. Reports can be easily generated.

Overall, different portals are developed with respect to user rights. The hospitality
company will be uploading the invoices, the processor can download the invoices and process
the invoice, and uploads the processed invoice into the application. The reviewer will review
and approves the invoices. Then the invoices are pushes to the financial system later for the
hospitality company’s approval and settlement.

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PHASE-I DEVELOPMENT

Fig 4.10: Phase-I Development Invoice Process Flow

PHASE-II DEVELOPMENT

47
Fig 4.11: Phase-II Development Invoice Process Flow

48
PHASE-I WORK ESTIMATE AND STATUS

Table 4.2: Phase-I Development Effort Estimate & Status Tracker

49
PHASE -I TEST CASE
Table 4.3: Phase-I Test Cases

50
 Table 4.2 and Table 4.3 represents the Phase-I Development’s ‘Effort estimate & Status
Tracker’ and ‘Test Cases’.

An effort Estimate is used to determine the number of days required to complete a single
task. Complete of a single task includes analysis, development, and testing of the piece of
development. Each task can be a standalone i.e., they can be developed simultaneously or
parallel development can be done or sequential i.e., only when one is development net task can
follow suit. The tasks are mentioned in the Action items column. Tasks are prioritized as High,
Medium, Low based on their impact on the project. Person Days are the no. of days to complete
the action item. Data assigned is when the task is started. Assigned to indicates the developer
who is working on the action item. Completed data is been split into two namely Expected date
and actual date. The Excepted data is calculated based on the person-days and assigned date
i.e., if the person-days is 2 (2 days effort), and assigned on say 01.04.2021 then the expected
date is 02.04.2021. The Actual date signifies the actual date the action item is completed. The
status column tracks the status of the item which could be Not Started, In Progress, Completed,
Blocked. % Completion tracks the % of developed completed. Comments will record any
impediments the developers/testers face which will be followed up and solved to ensure smooth
development.

Test cases are all the possible cases that we may encounter in real-time when we use
the process and test them thoroughly. It also checks whether all the action items are integrated
& the integration of all the systems/applications is done and working fine. When all the test
cases pass only then can say we the development is completed. The testing also ensures all the
required captured are included. Only when all the requirements are checked for development
and testing, we proceed to provide a demo to the client.

Tracking the progress ensures the timeline is maintained, blockers are captured, and delivered
at the estimated time. There are Project Management tools for this purpose. Excel is the
simplest and use by small projects/companies.

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4.6 TECHNOLOGY

The technologies used to develop the solution are Artificial intelligence, Python language,
and Zoho Creator low code platform.

4.6.1 AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are
programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any
machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.
The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that
have the best chance of achieving a specific goal. A subset of artificial intelligence is machine
learning, which refers to the concept that computer programs can automatically learn from and
adapt to new data without being assisted by humans. Deep learning techniques enable this
automatic learning through the absorption of huge amounts of unstructured data such as text,
images, or video.

An AI model is developed to extract invoice data from varied templates and classify whether a file
is an invoice or non- invoice. The numerous samples of files are used to train the AI to do the
required task. Any new template thus feeds to it, it will extract the details correctly with precision.

4.6.2 PYTHON

Python is a general-purpose coding language—which means that, unlike HTML, CSS, and
JavaScript, it can be used for other types of programming and software development besides web
development. That includes back-end development, software development, data science, and
writing system scripts among other things. Performing repetitive tasks can bore even the most
resilient of us out of our minds. Lucky for us, the digital age we live in offers us a bevy of tools to
relieve ourselves of that sort of tedious labor.

Python offers great readability and approachable syntax. The latter resembles plain English,
which makes it an excellent choice to start your journey with. When compared with other
languages, Python clearly stands out as one of the simplest in the bunch. You can automate
nearly everything with Python. From sending emails and filling out PDFs and CSVs to
interacting with external APIs and sending HTTP requests. Whatever your idea, it’s more than

52
likely that you can pull it off using Python along with its modules and tools. Tons of libraries
created for Python make the language really powerful, allowing developers to tackle everything
from machine learning and web scraping to managing your computer’s operating system.

Python is a programming language used to develop the software BOT that mimics human action
with precision.

4.6.3 ZOHO CREATOR

The future of work is digital, and businesses of all sizes need to transform fast. Zoho Creator
is a low-code platform that gives you the power to make the shift quick, secure, and seamless—
regardless of the complexity of your requirements and coding expertise.

Configure workflows to automate your business applications with minimal steps and iterations.
With Zoho Creator, any user who understands business logic can build an application in no
time. Fill the gaps in the existing system or extend its functionality seamlessly. The prebuilt
connectors let us easily integrate systems old and new.

Zoho creator is easy to use, low code platform for developing an application and workflows.
The application can be used for all the hospitality companies tied to the Finance BPO company
(Client). The application acts as a front end where the invoices are uploaded. The status of the
invoices is tracked. Communication is facilitated. Reports can be generated. It can interact with
other applications like databases and financial systems.

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 CHAPTER V

FINDINGS

1. It is found that invoices are of varied format and template.

2. The invoice process takes high execution time if done manually.
3. The process involves repetitive tasks/steps which are found to be scope for automation.
4. The process is prone to human error which can be eliminated on automation.
5. The delay to process an invoice or neglect of any invoice, fortunately, can be avoided by
automation.
6. The delay in the invoice process led to delayed payment or missing an invoice has led to a
non-payment straining vendor relationship.
7. The process involves different actors and actions which follow business rules and logic thus
have greater opportunity for automation.
8. It is found that the hospitality companies have to be persuaded to adopt the new application
idea to uploading the invoices instead of sending via email, hence the solution development
has two phases.
The feedbacks of phase I development are collected in the retrospective session.
1. Automation mimics human activity with precision thus increasing the efficiency and
effectiveness of the process. The BOT is a software script that with one run can process all
the invoices.
2. The Finance BPO company have strongly agreed BOT has completed the assigned task and
all requirements were met.
3. The Implementation is of Bot is strongly agreed to be hassle-free.
4. The bot has reduced the execution time on average by 50%
5. The bot has reduced the manpower to process the invoice by 75%
6. The Bot has reduced errors on average by 90%
7. The users have agreed that the efficiency of the whole process has improved.
8. The Finance BPO company has agreed that collaboration with the developers was easy.
9. The users have agreed that Bot performance meets standards.
10. The users have agreed that they are satisfied.

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 RECOMMENDATION

The standardization of invoices can be done i.e., by making all the invoice e-invoice
instead of handwritten, scanned files etc. The standardization can greatly impact the process
thus reducing human intervention. By standardizing the input, the process can also be
standardized. The database of vendors' details should be updated thus avoiding any mismatch.
Scheduling tasks can be incorporated when new vendor ties are made or changes on existing
vendor made, this would be achieved when the operational department & IT team work closely.
For this to happen closer relationship with vendors is a must and among various departments
in the Hospitality company. ERP system is one such which will integrate all the activities in an
organization. Though smaller companies may not be inclined to invest in an ERM system since
digitalization is the trend smaller applications can be used and integrated to follow transparency
in the company.

55
 CONCLUSION

The invoice process is an important one from a financial point of view. The payments
are made only when the invoices are recorded in the Financial system else the delay or non-
payment will reflect on the company’s good name. The invoice process is detailed in this
research and understanding the process fully has helped us to find a solution to automate the
process with minimal human intervention. The idea to develop an application for the whole
end-to-end process is discussed and its integration with various applications makes it a whole
package for the company to believe that process can be made effective and efficient. The case
discusses the input. the process, and output of the Invoice system. Though standardization is
the core to make any process seamlessly effective and efficient, it takes considerable time to
set the standards, implement, follow and continuously improve them.

56
REFERENCES:

• Kenneth E. Kendall, & Julie E. Kendal (2011), Rutgers University. System Analysis &
Design. Eighth Edition, Pearson Education Inc.

• Bruno Koch (2019). The e-invoicing Journey 2019 – 2025. Fourth Edition, Billentis.

• Oracle White Paper (2015). Process Automation for Accounts Payable. Oracle.
https://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/bpm/ap-process-automation-wp-2284450.pdf

• Mitul Makadia (2020). All you need to know about deploying RPA for Invoice Processing
and Accounting Processes in 2020. ITProPortal. https://www.itproportal.com/features/all-
you-need-to-know-about-deploying-rpa-for-invoice-processing-and-accounting-
processes-in-2020/

• Alex Cabuz (2019). Using AI to Automate Invoices and Receipt Processing. UI Path.
https://www.uipath.com/blog/ai-invoice-receipt-processing

• FreshBooks. How to Process an Invoice: A Guide for Small Business Owners.

https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/invoicing/processing-invoices

• Sreyesh Sarma (2020). Eliminating Human Errors in Invoice Processing with RPA. Aspire
Systems.https://blog.aspiresys.com/robotic-process-automation-rpa/rpausecases/
eliminating-human-errors-invoice-processing-with-rpa/

• Fylim (2019). 6 Fundamental Principles of Robotic Process Automation Solution Design.

https://fylim.medium.com/6-fundamental-principles-of-robotic-process-automation-rpa-
solution -design-a3ef6575c113

• Brad DeMent, Trey Robinson, Jonathan Harb, & Todd Kennedy (2017). Robotic Process
Automation: Key to a Successful Implementation. Scottmadden.

57
 https://www.scottmadden. com/insight/robotic-process-automation-keys-to-a-successful-
implementation/

• Sebastian Schroetel & Christopher Aron (2019). Business Process Management and
Robotic Process Automation: Two Sides of The Same Automation Coin. Digitalist
Magazine https://www.digitalistmag.com/cio-knowledge/2019/09/26/business-process-
management-robotic-process-automation-two-sides-of-same-automation-coin-06200717/

• Cem Dilmegani (2021). In-depth Guide to Automating Invoice Processing in 2021.

AIMultiple. https://research.aimultiple.com/invoice-automation/

• QuestionPro. Qualitative Research. https://www.questionpro.com/blog/qualitative-

research-methods/

• Amy Luo (2019). Discourse Analysis. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/

discourse-analysis/

• Jack Caufield (2019). Thematic Analysis. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com methodology/

thematic-analysis/

• Shona McCombes (2019). Case Study. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/

case-study/

• Amy Luo (2019). Content Analysis. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/

content-analysis/

58
 ANNEXURE

FEEDBACK ON RAPBOT FROM USERS

RAPBOT – RAPID ACCELERATION PARTNERS ROBOT

1. RAPBOT completed the assigned task.

o Strongly disagree
o Disagree
o Neither Agree nor Disagree
o Agree
o Strongly Agree

2. The Implementation of RAPBOT was hassle-free.

o Strongly disagree
o Disagree
o Neither Agree nor Disagree
o Agree
o Strongly Agree

3. Implementation of RAPBOT reduced Process execution time by (%)

o (0-20)
o (21-40)
o (41-60)
o (61-80)
o (81-100)

4. Implementation of RAPBOT reduced error (%)

o (0-20)
o (21-40)
o (41-60)
o (61-80)
o (81-100)

59
5. Implementation of RAPBOT reduced Manpower by (%)
o (0-20)
o (21-40)
o (41-60)
o (61-80)
o (81-100)

6. Implementation of RAPBOT improved efficiency.

o Strongly disagree
o Disagree
o Neither Agree nor Disagree
o Agree
o Strongly Agree

7. RPA development team is easy to collaborate with.

o Strongly disagree
o Disagree
o Neither Agree nor Disagree
o Agree
o Strongly Agree

8. All the requirements were met.

o Strongly disagree
o Disagree
o Neither Agree nor Disagree
o Agree
o Strongly Agree

9. Performance of the RAPBOT

o Far below standards
o Below standards
o Meets standards
o Above standards
o Far above standards

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10. Satisfaction of the User.
o Highly unsatisfied
o Unsatisfied
o Neutral
o Satisfied
o Highly satisfied

61