Time and Cost Pressure Make Efficient Vendor Invoice Processing Challenging for Field Operations – Partnering with Workrise Makes Evaluating Spend More Manageable and Lessens the Risk of Invoice Fraud
Field operations are often tasked with approving vendor invoices because they oversee the provision of services, but it can be demanding and take up far too much time. Research has shown processing invoices when working within a mostly manual process flow can mean that as little as five invoices are processed each hour.[1] This is a pain point for field ops, but since they are close to the work they want to have eyes on the invoice because if inaccuracies were uncovered during an audit, they would be on the hook. Invoice processing is also costly – organizations that process 20,000 or fewer invoices do so at a cost of $15.97 per invoice.[2] It is vital that the Oil and Gas industry keeps costs to a minimum at a time when production efficiency is dropping and operating expenditure is rising.[3]
Neglecting False Invoices is Costly
Time and cost pressures mean that field ops may not dispute every incorrect invoice and may decide to contest only the highest value invoices as those of lower value do not justify the time input. But neglecting false invoices can be extremely costly – research has shown that US businesses lose on average $300,000 per year to invoice fraud.[4] This is a concern for field ops, which will be held responsible for any errors.
Major reasons for invoice disputes include factual errors and dissatisfaction with the quality of the deliverables.[5] Factual errors may include the items listed on an invoice, inaccurate prices for items, and an incorrect total amount payable, while problems could arise if what is delivered does not meet the buyer’s expectations. Also, if services are not delivered at the agreed time, this could lead to project delays. While checking invoices line by line would identify these issues, in reality, it’s often not feasible for field operations to spare the time for such detailed work.
Access All Invoices in One Place
Workrise Connect provides instant access to spend data, as well as consolidated lists of onboarded vendors and invoices all in one place. The platform includes a reporting dashboard for evaluating spend by providing three key visuals:
- All vendor spend over time
- Spend broken down by vendor
- A breakdown of spend by vendor, by month
These reports make evaluating spend across vendors much more manageable. Clients can look at their data and if, for example, a huge spike in spend is seen one month they can, in seconds, filter down by vendor and pinpoint whether it is just one vendor driving the increase. In the past, getting the answer would’ve involved digging up invoices for dozens of vendors and asking colleagues in the field to try to remember what happened. And they certainly wouldn’t have seen it happen in real-time - they would be trouble-shooting after the fact.
Access All Invoice Line Items in One Place
This is where the platform is extremely powerful – if a search for all of the invoices from a particular vendor is required, users can deep dive into those expenses without ever having to open a different software system or tab on their browser. The platform provides a complete list of invoices and enables the viewing and downloading of the original invoice. Users are able to click on an invoice in the list and see an expanded list of details as well as a PDF version of the invoice. The invoice status feature enables line-items to be checked easily in the event an investigation into expenses with a particular vendor is needed. Invoice status shows whether it is:
- Paid in full
- Open - approved, awaiting payment from client
- Pending approval - invoice submitted
- Disputed
Let’s Talk
With Workrise, field operations can easily verify invoices and keep spend on budget. For best-in-class invoice processing solutions, let’s chat.
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