Posted: Friday, May 11, 2007, 10:42AM
SABMiller enhance financial control with invoice processing from BasWare
SABMiller, one of the world’s leading brewers with a portfolio of over 150 brands including Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell, Miller Genuine Draft and Castle Lager, has purchased and electronic invoice processing tool from BasWare.The investment in an electronic invoice processing tool was made to improve efficiency, visibility and management information within the accounts payable department.
SABMiller inherited an SAP system from the main trading company in South Africa. SAP is more suited to payment for goods and tangible products, and the UK-based accounts payable department is primarily involved in making payments for professional and consultancy services. The lack of an appropriate tool created a number of problems for the accounts payable department.
Stephanie Videlo, Plc Finance Manager at SABMiller, says: “The accounts processing department frequently received phone calls from suppliers asking where payment was, but our staff had no visibility of the invoice status or if there was a dispute.”
The lack of automation in financial processes also created inefficiency. By not entering the invoice into the system as soon as it was received, accounts clerks had to contact cost centre managers to assess the value of outstanding commitments. This information then need to be relayed back to the supplier. A major concern was the company appeared unprofessional.
Stephanie says: “We chose the BasWare solution because we felt they had a significant amount of experience in delivering on similar projects. However, the most important factor for us was the integration with SAP.”
BasWare is an SAP certified vendor and uses optical character recognition, to pick up key data from the invoice. Using a workflow tool, the invoice status can be tracked and employees have the information at their fingertips when a customer or supplier calls.
Videlo comments: “The visibility the BasWare solution provides has been invaluable. For instance, during a recent bout of sickness at SABMiller, the workflow tool gave the remaining staff complete visibility of the status of invoices, and the level of accruals required. This level of knowledge had been previously unattainable using the manual processes. As a result, management information has improved.”
About BasWare
BasWare is the global leader in Enterprise Purchase-to-Pay and Financial Management solutions. More than 500,000 end-users in over 20 countries use its software to automate back-office financial operations to enhance efficiency, gain process control and transparency, and meet compliance requirements. BasWare’s products are widely used in Shared Service Centers.
In 2006, net sales reached EUR 60 million. The growth target for net sales for 2007 is 15–20% and will continue to be supported by a growing network of value-added resellers. Founded in 1985, BasWare Corporation is a public company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, it has eight subsidiaries in the US and Europe.
