Jumping on the artificial intelligence train? Here’s how procurement and finance benefit from AI

A tremendous amount is happening in the field of artificial intelligence (also called “Artificial Intelligence” or, for short, “AI”). From summarizing meetings to producing videos: bots can do more and more. The tools are flying around your ears. And now that the world is getting smarter and smarter, you from the procurement or finance department would also like to jump on the artificial intelligence train. But in a way that makes your job easier. In your case, this probably means that you want to automate repetitive, boring tasks. That way you can focus on tasks you enjoy and that are more challenging. But which options are really interesting for procurement and finance departments?

The power of AI: pattern recognition

Most procurement and finance teams process a lot of incoming documents. That often involves a lot of manual work, especially if you enter document data manually. So let’s look at how you can process documents smarter with AI. Smart recognition software goes a long way toward eliminating overtyping. But AI has the potential to make your life even easier. How? Through pattern recognition. When a recognition software vendor observes patterns in a user community, it can make the process around document processing (with the insights gained) even simpler and less error-prone.

What are your options? 2 examples

Suppose you receive a purchase invoice from supplier X. Your recognition software recognizes the invoice data and prepares an entry proposal. You want to book this invoice with split or merged lines. And that actually applies to all invoices from supplier X, which you always book in the general ledger ‘canteen costs’. Now, supplier X runs a fairly large business, so the party that supplies your recognition software sees that other users exhibit the same ‘booking behavior’ as you do. In other words, there is a pattern. With AI, it is possible to recognize this as well as make suggestions. Based on the pattern, the supplier of the recognition software can conclude that your type of organization probably wants to book an invoice from supplier X with certain characteristics to the general ledger ‘canteen costs’ in a specific way. If your software contains an AI assistant, it can make such a suggestion. This will make your work a lot easier and save you time. The possibilities are incredibly broad, so we can’t possibly discuss them all. But to give you an idea, we’ll cover another example: time-based patterns. If you approve a lot of documents with workflow software, the vendor of this software can use your historical data to make proactive suggestions. For example, are there monthly recurring invoices from a particular vendor that actually always show the same amount and the same products or services? Then an AI assistant can suggest that you automatically approve these invoices for the next five months, unless there is a discrepancy. In the latter case, the software alerts you so you can review the deviating invoice. Very convenient, because that way you are called in only when necessary!

“What’s in it for me?” The benefits of AI for procurement and finance

The above examples actually illustrate how you can benefit from AI in the procurement and finance departments. You can reduce manual work even more, working more efficiently and saving time. By further automating repetitive work, you put an even stronger focus on challenging tasks that you enjoy taking on. There’s another benefit to AI that may be less obvious but is very important: you get things done that you couldn’t have thought of on your own. Patterns can be observed in almost all your processes. But the actions you perform have become so automatic that you are usually not aware of them. Sometimes that is a pity, because with optimization you can work much easier and faster. AI helps you realize that. And that can make it easier to do things differently and better!

Embracing AI? Gladly! But where do you start?

Are you ready to take your first steps into AI territory? The trick is to start working with artificial intelligence in small steps. A lot is available and even more is possible. That is great, but it also makes it difficult to see what AI can do for you in the long term. So first look only within your field. What are your options? And what tools are relevant to procurement and finance teams? At Whitevision, we are actively addressing these questions. Soon we will introduce an AI-driven assistant, SAM, which will make suggestions to our users to automate actions based on repetitive behavior. Always be the first to be informed? Sign up for our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn.

Taking steps in the AI field?

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Benefits

Reduce manual labor
Working more efficiently
Saving time

Want to design your process smarter?

At Whitevision, we are actively addressing these questions. We will soon introduce an AI-powered assistant, SAM, which will make suggestions to our users to automate actions based on repetitive behavior. Want to know more?

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