Octopus Energy intuitive invoice preparation system for complex invoices
Challenge
Octopus Energy, a global energy provider, has operations across four continents delivering environmentally friendly energy to over 2 million UK customers. The company sources its energy from a diverse and continually expanding network of suppliers, leading to the generation of large volumes of invoices.
The processing of invoices and associated data from different energy suppliers (as well as standard business operations suppliers) represented a complex and unique challenge.
Recognising the necessity for an efficient solution, Octopus wanted to implement a streamlined invoicing system. The objective was to increase the current processing speed, ensuring agility in financial operations, and to expand the accounts team's capabilities to accommodate the escalating demands of the rapidly expanding business.
Solution
Now used by Octopus in 7 countries, the Doc-works Scribe Ledgers Portal was designed to integrate seamlessly into their existing software and was the ideal solution to streamline their invoice processing by improving speed, accuracy and workflow.
By combining a suite of tools including Doc-works Scribe Ledgers Approvals Engine and Reporting Dashboard we were able to solve the challenge of automating the invoicing processing of nearly 2300 diverse supplier invoice templates which previously required time-consuming and costly manual data entry.
Digitalising the process also allowed for a clear, auditable trail for over 130,000 invoice approvals for payment which without a consolidated system could involve lengthy communication by email or phone call.
There has been a significant time saving with nearly 70% of incoming invoices prepared before the end of the same working day and over 40% of invoices are prepared within 2 hours of being added to the system.
Outcomes
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Reduced cost and workload
The use of automated data extraction means that over 90% of invoices can be processed without the need for manual intervention leading to significant cost saving when processing thousands of invoices. -
Flexible & multi-tenanted
The Invoice Processing Portal is now running in over 10 countries and integrates into the different accounting software that each country uses. All this has been done without the need for additional staff and resources. -
Reporting & statistics
The accounts team can instantly view key metrics and KPIs to see where the main issues lie and reassign resources accordingly. -
Engage multiple suppliers
Small-scale suppliers with more complex and time intensive accounting processes can be engaged by Octopus without exponentially increasing the workload for their accounting team. -
Digitisation
All information pertaining to the invoice is captured in the Invoice Processing Portal and exported to the relevant accounting system without the need for external communication ensuring there is a complete document history for auditing purposes. -
Fraud detection
By using Intelligent Document Processing technology supplier bank details on the invoice can be detected and compared with the payment details stored in the accounting system mitigating the risk of fraudulent invoices being processed.