Process Automation

Federal Contractor

A large federal contractor requested assistance in the development of a process automation solution to make their customer invoicing process more efficient for their billing department. The client has a large, dispersed project portfolio, with work on over 100 contracts spanning 90 countries on 4 continents.

Business Challenge

The customer had the initiative to advance their invoicing process. The original process involved the customer spending multiple days working through a series of reports for each project, sorting and consolidating them, reviewing, then approving them manually which was very time-consuming. Their existing process was cumbersome and inefficient and characterized by the following:

Manual and inflexible budget processes
Time-consuming sorting, consolidating, and reviewing of financial reports
Manual data processing activities that stretched over several days
Limited scalability of users or data
Lack of formalized data reporting and approvals

Solution

Based on requirements and existing information technology infrastructure, Ascendra recommended creating a workflow that will be user-friendly, efficient, and improve workplace productivity. The tool consisted of a flow using Microsoft Power Automate to accept automated reports via email, create a folder structure, copy and merge attachments, email approvers links to drafts for review, and request approvals. Ascendra’s solution contained the following features:

Configurable settings for projects, approvers, and reports for review
Shared inbox to receive documents reports for each project
Automated sorting, merging, and emailing for review
Allows multiple people to receive an approval email
Distributed Departmental reports with Workflow Approvals

Benefits

By implementing a new invoice automation solution, Ascendra has made significant strides in streamlining and automating the customer’s invoice approval processes. The tools are now in place to effectively receive, save, merge and send merged documents for approval. The immediate benefits derived have been:

Customer Draft Invoice creation is consolidated and sent for approval in a matter of minutes instead of days
Automated process steps improved process visibility, removed manual errors, and promoted adherence to internal controls framework

Services & Technologies Utilized

Ascendra provided the following consulting services and software:

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Ascendra, Inc.
3900 Jermantown Road, Suite 160
Fairfax, VA 22030
Phone: 571-375-2461 | Fax: 703-991-2495