Victorian  electricity distributors CitiPower and Powercor are moving  to automate their accounts payable processes with  a ReadSoft solution, with a view to extending it to other finance and operational processes within the organisation.

Together, CitiPower and Powercor supply electricity and power services to more than a million Victorian customers.  Its core business is to manage the poles, wires and equipment that delivers electricity to homes and businesses in Melbourne’s CBD, inner suburbs and through to central and western Victoria.

Though currently processing approximately 90,000 invoices per year, CitiPower and Powercor's current AP process is very manual and paper-based, with little visibility over the life-cycle of its invoices. This hinders its ability to track invoices and associated end-to-end processes.

Its invoice management and exception handling is also highly manual, and without systematic audit trails, workflows or effective on-line management tools.

CitiPower and Powercor also struggle with the task of manual filing, storage and retrieval of paper invoices.

The businesses were looking for a solution that would alleviate these issues and adopt best practice principles into its invoice processing. The selection criteria included requirements for reduced invoice processing time, improved monitoring and tracking of invoices and an automated workflow into its SAP system.

They also required an electronic storage capability that would improve the handling of invoice queries. The need for a solution which would accommodate future growth and expansion into other processes was also a key element to its decision.

ReadSoft’s SAP accredited solution, PROCESS DIRECTOR, offers an integrated platform for further automation of other request and paper-driven financial process such as purchase order requisitions, master data creation and maintenance, and finance posting correction.

“The implementation of ReadSoft’s solution will bring immense improvement and control to our current AP process and will set us up for further process improvements in other areas, “says Filomena Palmer, Finance Manager for CitiPower and Powercor.

“We are pleased that we can help CitiPower and Powercor transform its AP processes and assist in delivering more value from its SAP system.  Users will find the transition to the integrated SAP solution seamless and the account payable team will be far more effective in dealing with suppliers and driving further efficiencies from the process,” says Frank Volckmar, MD ReadSoft Oceania.