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Background: A mountain of paperwork
The Trust is one of the largest NHS Trusts in the UK.
With multiple sites and an operating income of nearly £1bn, we employ around 13,000 staff and treat over 1.5 million patients per year.
The Trust also receives more than 200,000 invoices every year, and until recently we were processing them manually. As each invoice could take up to seven days to process, we wanted to speed things up and save valuable time. We turned to one of Advanced’s partners, whose digital invoicing solution is operated and run through Advanced Data Automation technology.
A smooth set-up for suppliers
The implementation was fast and straightforward. We saw high supplier adoption as Advanced Data Automation didn’t require any changes to their systems, infrastructure or processes – or any additional fees. Our suppliers could simply use their existing invoicing application to create a PDF invoice and email it over.
Our finance assistant director recalls: “Within just three months, 65% of targeted invoices are already being sent electronically and received directly into the processing environment within a couple of minutes of the supplier sending it.”
We estimate that ultimately two-thirds of our invoices – over 130,000 annually – will be processed using Advanced Data Automation.
Saving time, paper, and money
Now, when we receive invoices, Advanced Data Automation extracts the data from the PDF and feeds it directly into our finance management system.
We get 100% accurate data, every time – and with no manual input required.
This has had multiple benefits for the Trust. We’ve saved 70 working hours each week, freeing up our staff to spend more time on more value-added tasks.
Same-day processing for invoices means we can pay our suppliers more quickly, in line with the NHS Better Payment Practice Code. And by no longer printing invoices we’ll save around 250,000 pieces of paper each year, helping us to achieve our sustainability goals. Needless to say, improving our operational efficiency has resulted in significant cost savings.
“Advanced Data Automation has completely transformed our function and we are delighted with the success of the project. To have 40% of our invoices coming through the system within three months of going live is a fantastic achievement, and will have a major impact on how the trust operates going forward,” the finance assistant director added.
We would love to hear from you
We hope this was a useful insight into how the Trust uses Advanced Data Automation to streamline its operations and make savings. If you would like to find out more about how Advanced Data Automation can help your organisation and ensure you are ready to meet the challenges of the future, speak to our team today.
+44(0) 330 343 8000
