CASE STUDY: Invoice Loader

The accounting department at an Upstream Oil and Gas company is a busy place. With a mountain of invoices to be processed for producing partners, vendors, suppliers, and contractors each month, there is no shortage of paperwork. Literally thousands of invoices are processed each month.

While working on another project with a large Calgary-based energy company, one of their domain experts explained their invoice data management challenge to Arcurve. A huge volume of invoices needed to be processed quickly and regularly, but there was a gap in the existing process. Scanned invoices were being successfully coded into ADP’s OpenInvoice® product and routed to the appropriate manager for approval. Once the invoice was approved, it needed to be paid.

At this point, invoice data had to be manually entered into QByte Financial Management™, a financial accounting, management reporting and operations analysis tool. This gap in the process was time-consuming and left room for errors to occur.

Based on the input from the client, Arcurve reviewed the business process and proposed a solution. To integrate the two distinct products, Arcurve created Invoice Loader. Invoice Loader receives an XML file from the OpenInvoice system. It performs data validation by ensuring that specified business rules are applied to the data and then checked for errors. From this information, Invoice Loader can create a transaction for an invoice and posts that information to QByte FM for processing.

By linking these products, the client realized significant efficiencies in time spent processing invoices, a reduction in costly errors, and the right solution for their challenge. By engaging the client in short cycles for continuous feedback and improvements, Arcurve was able to make the most of the client’s time and domain expertise.

To support the transition of the project back to the client, Arcurve created “as built” documentation to understand and articulate the architecture, code base and topography. This knowledge of the Invoice Loader solution results in lower maintenance costs for the client and any necessary support is easy to provide. By providing extensible architecture, Invoice Loader functionality can be added or changed quickly, using only one technical resource.

Since the initial delivery of Invoice Loader, other energy companies have implemented similar Invoice Loader solutions as an essential part of their accounting best practices. Each organization is unique with regards to their internal business process and technical requirements. Arcurve’s knowledge of both the business and technical domain have allowed for successful solutions deployed in these companies. By understanding the client’s business goals and objectives, Arcurve was able to develop a seamless link that improved efficiencies, reduced costs and potential errors, and optimized both technical and domain expertise.