Problem
The Telco’s current approach to managing the energy data and bill processing to payment workflow was complex, slow, and resource intense.
As a widely recognized Australian household telecommunication brand with a portfolio of over 6,000 energy accounts, the Telco’s current approach to managing the energy portfolio needed to be modernized.
A mix of internal and external Accounts Payable processes was expensive and time-consuming, and the incumbent Energy Category manager was unable to meet their increasingly complex requirements. Data integrity issues were being experienced and it was causing issues across the Energy portfolio, with hundreds of thousands of dollars incurred as a result of late payment fees, inaccurate billing, and missed cost reduction opportunities.
Solution
An opportunity to enhance the overall energy category performance, data integrity, and automation of reporting, budgeting, and accrual functions.
After a detailed review of alternatives to the current energy billing and data management process, Bid was appointed to implement its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) driven solution across the client’s entire electricity portfolio. This included resolving an additional complexity of an extensive network of landlord and embedded network accounts across the country, tailored to suit their specific needs.
Key opportunities identified were:
- Technology-driven improvements to their energy category’s performance
- Automated audit & process assurance for Accounts Payable (AP)
- Ongoing energy data completeness, assurance, visibility, and quality control
- Reporting sophistication, automation, and assurance
- Comprehensive accruals & budgeting automation to drive accuracy and better planning.
Outcome
Bid’s solutions have eliminated expensive semi-automated bill processing and Accounts Payable functions and provided instant transparency.
Formalizing the partnership, Bid became responsible for managing all bill receipt, validation, and payment file processing. It quickly deployed its automated Accounts Payable automation solution across the client’s portfolio, including an integration project to incorporate seven years of historical data.
Before
- Unacceptable risk and volatility from the lack of portfolio-wide visibility
- Substantial late fees arising from complex and manual legacy Accounts Payable processes.
- Slow and resource-intensive approach to managing the energy data and bill processing to payment cycle.
- Time-consuming reconciliations due to fragmented management of account opens and closes with retailers.
- Additional inhouse staff was required for manual work processes.
After
- Elimination of expensive semi-automated bill processing and Accounts Payable functions and replacing it with a fully automated solution
- Ongoing avoidance of hundreds of thousands of dollars in late payment fees previously incurred
- Significantly improving the efficiency of internal payment processing resulting in both time and cost savings
- Creation of audit grade data integrity improvements via the automated invoice analysis capability
- Drastic reduction in the time-consuming reconciliations previously required due to fragmented management of account opens and closes with retailers.
- Cost avoidance savings identified to date AUD >$300,000 per annum (>$200,000 USD and >150,000 British Pounds)
