Automated processing of incoming invoices

In the finance department of the University Hospital Cologne, greater efficiency has been achieved through the use of tangro to automatically process invoices. The tangro solutions IM (Invoice Management) and BWF (Business Workflow) were recommended by colleagues at the University Hospitals Munich and Erlangen; additionally, the staff at Cologne were able to see with their own eyes the quality of the solution during a research visit to Munich. Particularly convincing were the user-friendly system and the practice-relevant workflows as well as the quick implementation and its excellent price/performance ratio.

Approximately 155,000 invoices come into University Hospital Cologne each year. The incoming documents are scanned in the central accounting office and are then ready for processing in the tangro receipt journal. If an invoice meets the 'standard', it can be posted immediately so that no more than one or two days pass before payment. "We can process so many more invoices today than previously. The document flow has been so improved with tangro that we can reliably meet significantly more discount periods," says Werner Buser, Director of Accounting, University Hospital Cologne.

If further clarification is needed, such as issues caused by discrepancies in price or quantities, or missing orders, the document is electronically forwarded to the relevant administrator for further investigation. The documents are then checked in the individual departments, corrected if necessary, then released and returned to the accounting department. The transfer and release of documents happens so much faster now —with the click of a mouse — that even in the event of discrepancies, the invoice can be posted a lot quicker. 

However, even if one is still waiting for a document to be released, there is an additional escalation tool to ensure prompt processing. "With tangro, we now know exactly which invoices are currently being processed, how many there are in workflow, and who has released a document," says Werner Buser.

With the tangro receipt journal it is clear at any given time, how many documents are in circulation – a particularly important point when one considers cost-efficiency. "We want to manage our cash discount losses, and this can only happen with more transparency," said Werner Buser. It also benefits the administrators that the processing of every invoice or order is completely traceable. One click of the mouse on the relevant document and all the information is on-screen. And because all documents are available electronically, paper waste is drastically reduced.