Accounts Payable: Acume improve AP and AR workflows with AI

“Affinda’s Accounts Payable solution has significantly enhanced our ability to serve our clients. By improving the accuracy and efficiency of our document processing, we can deliver faster, more reliable services. The custom validation rules and seamless integration have reduced manual intervention, enabling us to focus more on meeting the unique needs of our customers. We are now better equipped to help our customers achieve their financial goals with greater accuracy and speed.” Shane Wills, Head of Finance Processing Disruption and CEO at Acume.

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About Acume

Established in 2004, Acume is a New Zealand (NZ) based company that specialises in transforming back-office processes through disruptive technologies, helping customers improve efficiency, reduce errors and cut costs. Leveraging the Peppol data exchange framework adopted by the Australian and New Zealand governments, Acume offers an eInvoicing solution that enables fast, secure and cost-effective transactions. Processing over 40,000 documents monthly for customers in industries like manufacturing, finance, transport, education and professional services, Acume focuses on optimising financial workflows.  

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Acume’s Unique Business Challenge & Requirements

Before finding Affinda, Acume faced challenges with a US-based provider. Their product updates were centered around US and European markets, resulting in low accuracy when handling their New Zealand-specific AP/AR documents. The provider’s development priorities didn’t align with the specific needs of the Australian/NZ market, causing ongoing frustration and inefficiencies. Realising the need for a more dependable, locally focused solution, Acume began looking for a provider better suited to the Australian/New Zealand market.

Acume’s key business requirements included:

• Accurate classification of various AP and AR document types (invoices, credit notes, account statements, purchase orders and receipts)

• AI-powered data extraction, including line items, with high accuracy

• Custom validation rules to highlight discrepancies for human review

• Integration with their existing platform for seamless processing

• Scalability to manage over 40,000 documents per month

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Solution

Affinda delivered immediate value to Acume by providing their business with pre-built AI extraction models to integrate with Acume’s existing automation software for AP and AR processes. The models were configured to classify and extract data from multiple AP and AR-related document types. This setup was crucial for managing their diverse customer base across industries. Furthermore, Affinda's solution was customised to include validation rules, ensuring that Acume's team could efficiently review and approve flagged data before sending it to their own platform. This seamless integration not only enhanced operational efficiency but also allowed the team to quickly adapt the system for their diverse range of customers. Additionally, as an Australian-based provider, Affinda's product updates ensured higher accuracy and reliability for Acume, specifically addressing the needs of the Australian/NZ market.

Impact

• Acume now process 40,000+ documents monthly, resulting in an impressive improvement in overall accuracy

• Improved document classification for complex financial workflows

• Significant reduction in manual data entry, boosting overall workflow efficiency

• Seamless integration into Acume's existing platform, ensuring a smoother operational workflow

• Affinda enabled Acume to exceed their Service Level Agreements (SLAs), ensuring exceptional service and deep customer trust

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Ready to see how Affinda’s AI-powered document processing products can help your business? Chat with one of our experts today.