UK telecoms company, TalkTalk, has automated its supplier statement reconciliation process using cloud-based technology from Statement-Matching.com. The move has enabled the company’s accounts payable team to increase the number of supplier statements it reconciles by 300%.
TalkTalk identified that it needed to reconcile more supplier accounts to ensure greater control of its cashflow and enable proactive management of its supplier relationships. Recognising that its traditional manual and labour-intensive reconciliation process was at the core of the issue. That this could not be resolved in the long term with additional resource. It researched automation technology to upgrade its system. Statement Matching was the only supplier on the market that provided the straightforward solution that TalkTalk required.
Supplier statements are scanned into Statement Matching, where they are automatically cross-referenced with TalkTalk’s invoice processing system. Any invoices or credit notes that are missing, duplicated or with which there is a discrepancy, is flagged for attention. If all items on a statement match, it is reconciled in seconds, freeing up the accounts payable team to handle exceptions identified on other statements.
“Speed is the key, and the only way to achieve this while retaining accuracy was through automation,” explains Gary James, Finance Process Improvement Manager at TalkTalk. “With Statement Matching, supplier statements are in our systems faster, exceptions are identified faster and the accounts payable team has time to resolve these because they are not spending time manually checking every entry. If everything on a statement matches, it is reconciled in seconds. Sophisticated but straightforward, Statement Matching just works.”
The automated nature of Statement Matching results in it using up-to-date data, which leads to cleaner ledgers for TalkTalk. Credibility with suppliers is enhanced, as they see issues being resolved quickly.
Statement Matching also provides a better audit trail and increases control, for example with comments against specific items remaining in place to be read by relevant parties. Cash management is improved because TalkTalk has a clear picture of cash flow in real-time, and it encourages a paperless office as fewer hard copy documents need to be handled.
Daniel Kimpton, Co-founder and Business Manager at Statement Matching comments: “TalkTalk recognised that it had reached the limits of its manual system. Taking a forward-thinking approach and adopting an automated system for supplier statement reconciliation has also allowed it to realise various other business benefits.”
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Statement Matching is a cloud-based application for automating supplier statement reconciliation and AP Auditing. Launched in 2013, the company was founded by Daniel Kimpton and Ian McBeath in response to market demand identified through over ten years of working with Accounts Payable (AP) departments on process improvement and automation projects.
Reconciling supplier statements and identifying duplicates ensures supplier balances are accurate, profits are maximised and AP processes are audited for completeness. Automating the process with Statement Matching allows customers to focus on the exceptions and reduces the volume of invoice status queries from suppliers.
Book a live demo to see the end-to-end processes on live customers systems and learn how easy it is to try this for free on a Proof of Concept.
Book a Live Demo to see the end-to-end processes on live customers systems and learn how easy it is to try this for free on a Proof of Concept.
