Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA- AP solution and integration guide

Introduction

Efficiently managing your business and identifying cost-saving opportunities is crucial across economic cycles. Embracing advanced automation technology in your AP workflow saves time and money while enhancing your cost structure. It enables your team to focus on strategic improvements and growth. With a focus on end-to-end AP automation, leveraging AI to make most processes autonomous, Vic.ai emerges as the best-in-class solution and integrates directly with SAP S/4HANA.

In this guide, we'll take a deep dive into Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA, focusing on their capabilities in AP automation and purchase order management and payments. Along with a comprehensive Accounts Payable Buyers’ guide, we aim to help you make an informed decision when choosing the ideal fit for your AP automation needs.

Overview of Vic.ai - streamlining your AP process

What does Vic.ai do?

Vic.ai is pioneering the use of autonomy and intelligence to digitally transform accounting and finance processes to improve productivity, decision-making, and ROI. Global customers include accounting firms, enterprise, and mid-market finance teams seeking to embrace automation and AI to improve financial performance. 

Vic.ai is addressing the most manual and inefficient task in accounting – invoice processing – to improve its speed and scalability, ultimately enabling customers to reinvent their accounts payable operations.

G2 High Performer, 4.8 in average customer rating

How Vic.ai AP Autonomy works

Vic.ai’s AI runs the accounts payable process from beginning to end, mimicking human decision-making. Invoices get automatically ingested, classified, and sent to approvers without requiring any data entry or classification review beforehand. Let’s break it down into each step in the process.

Ingestion

The system can ingest invoices through various methods such as email, manual upload from the desktop, snapping a picture using a mobile app, or through EDI, API, or SFTP.

Invoice processing

Once the invoice is ingested into the system, the AI starts processing the invoice. It makes predictions on two aspects of the invoice: the header-level data (like invoice number, due date, terms, amount, currency) and the line-item level data (like GL Account, location, department). If there is a PO associated with the invoice, it will be automatically 2 or 3-way matched.

Human review and approvals

The AP staff reviews the predictions made by the AI and confirms if they are correct or makes edits if necessary. The AI learns from these interactions and improves its accuracy over time. Once the AP staff validates the predictions, the invoice is sent for approval. The approver can view and approve the invoice directly from the mobile app.

Autonomous approvals

Once the AI is extremely confident across all predictions, the invoice can go straight from ingestion into either an approval flow or straight into the ERP ready for payment. The longer clients use Vic.ai, the more autonomy they get. The platform operates at 97-99% AI accuracy, surpassing human-level accuracy.

Payments

After approval, the invoice along with all the associated coding is pushed into the ERP system for payment.  Vic integrates with many ERPs out of the box today, including SAP S/4HANA, Workday, Microsoft Dynamics, PeopleSoft and more.

Intelligent analytics

Vic.ai Intelligence ensures that autonomous invoice processing doesn’t turn into a black box by surfacing insights in real-time. It provides customers with customizable processing insight dashboards and includes performance data based on user, region, AI accuracy, processing time, and more. 

Vic.ai summary

Vic.ai's proprietary AI can autonomously learn and adapt to process invoices with high accuracy, reducing the need for constant human supervision.

In fact, the longer clients use Vic.ai, the more autonomy they get. The platform operates at 97-99% AI accuracy, surpassing human-level accuracy, and clients see up to 355% improved invoice processing capacity per full-time employee.

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Overview of SAP S/4HANA- enhancing AP efficiency

What does SAP S/4HANA do?

SAP S/4HANA is an intelligent, next-generation Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suite developed by SAP, a leading software company. It is designed to streamline and optimize various business processes, providing real-time insights and facilitating data-driven decision-making. 

SAP S/4HANA's scalability, flexibility, and wide range of functionalities make it a suitable ERP solution for businesses of various sizes and industries. It is a comprehensive ERP solution that empowers businesses with real-time visibility, AI-driven insights, intelligent automation, and data-driven insights to drive efficiency, innovation, and growth across various functional areas within the organization.

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SAP S/4HANA product features

Some of the key capabilities and features of SAP S/4HANA include:

• Simplified Data Model: S/4HANA utilizes an in-memory database, which simplifies the data model, reduces data redundancy, and speeds up data processing. This enables faster data retrieval and analysis, leading to quicker business insights.
• Real-time Analytics: The platform offers embedded analytics and reporting, allowing users to access real-time data and perform ad-hoc analysis without the need for separate reporting tools.
• Finance and Accounting: SAP S/4HANA streamlines financial processes, including accounting, financial planning, cash management, and treasury operations. 
• Sales and Customer Management: The system helps manage the entire sales cycle, from lead to cash, enhancing customer relationship management and sales performance.
• Supply Chain Management: SAP S/4HANA optimizes supply chain processes, including procurement, inventory management, demand planning, and logistics, to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
• Manufacturing and Production Planning: The platform facilitates efficient manufacturing processes, from production planning to shop floor execution and quality control.
• Project Management: SAP S/4HANA supports project planning, execution, and monitoring, helping organizations manage projects effectively.
• Human Capital Management (HCM): The system includes HCM functionalities for talent management, workforce planning, payroll, and employee development.
• Integrated Business Planning: SAP S/4HANA enables integrated business planning, aligning financial planning with operational planning to achieve better business outcomes.
• Cloud and On-Premise Deployment: SAP S/4HANA is available in both cloud-based and on-premise deployment models, offering flexibility to organizations based on their IT infrastructure and business needs.
• Machine Learning and AI Capabilities: S/4HANA leverages machine learning and AI technologies to automate repetitive tasks, predict outcomes, and provide intelligent recommendations.

Taking Accounts Payable beyond automation: Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA

The bar isn't automation anymore - it's autonomy. Template-driven tools are rigid and require considerable manual labor to implement and maintain, which is unsustainable for large organizations. Taking Accounts Payable beyond automation, the integration of Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA brings unparalleled efficiency and accuracy. 

Vic.ai's advanced AI technology complements SAP S/4HANA robust platform and runs the accounts payable process from beginning to end, mimicking human decision-making. Invoices get automatically ingested, classified, and sent to approvers without requiring any data entry or classification review beforehand. This powerful partnership empowers businesses to experience a new level of AP excellence.

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Intelligent invoice coding and processing: Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA

Vic.ai AP Autonomy replaces legacy OCR template and rules-based invoice processing methods using next-generation AI technology to deliver fully coded invoices. AP Autonomy consists of several key features: Autopilot, Autonomous Approval Flows, and Autonomous PO Matching.

Vic.ai’s AP Autonomy solution leverages Vic.ai’s proprietary AI to process invoices faster and more accurately than template and rules based automation solutions.  Invoices get automatically ingested from various sources, including SAP S/4HANA, electronic file formats and EDIs, e-mail, PDFs, direct connections, and more. Once extracted, the AI reviews and classifies the invoice data, which then matches and processes all relevant invoice information, including vendor, dates, numbers, cost accounts, dimensions, assets, and purchase orders. From there, it is sent to approvers without requiring any data entry or classification review beforehand. Once approved, it is posted to SAP S/4HANA for payment.

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Autonomous PO matching: Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA

Vic.ai’s PO matching supports AP teams in vetting invoices before submitting payments.

Vic.ai’s solution revolutionizes the PO matching process, using AI to handle 2-way or 3-way PO matching by understanding item descriptions just the way humans do, but with greater accuracy and in a fraction of the time. Vic.ai ingests the invoices from a variety of sources, including SAP S/4HANA, electronic file formats and EDIs, e-mail, PDFs, direct connections, and more, and matches it with the PO information pulled from SAP S/4HANA.

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Effective invoice payment management: Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA

After approval, the invoice along with all the associated coding is pushed into SAP S/4HANA for payment. 

Vic.ai’s AP Autonomy reduces invoice processing time by 80%. This enables customers to have more control over when they pay their bills. For example, they can take advantage of early payment discounts.

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Integration and compatibility with SAP S/4HANA

Vic.ai integrates directly with all major ERP systems, including SAP S/4HANA, and has an open API to seamlessly integrate with any ERP. The integration with SAP S/4HANA enhances finance and accounting operations by automating mundane tasks like AP processing, expense management, and more. By leveraging AI, Vic.ai optimizes efficiency, accuracy, and productivity, streamlining financial workflows and driving business growth.

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AI finance roadmap: Vic.ai and SAP S/4HANA

The market today is heavily saturated with AP Automation incumbents who specialize in automating invoice and PO processing using technologies such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

Vic.ai’s focus on Autonomous Finance and AI goes beyond these traditional automation solutions. Even with automation, AP processing  is a tedious process. Vic.ai’s highly accurate AI model, trained on half a billion invoices, handles the complexity so our customers can focus on intelligently scaling their teams.

This is just the beginning of Vic.ai’s commitment to delivering autonomous finance into the hands of our customers. Vic.ai is committed to pushing the boundaries of AI to make finance and accounting teams more efficient, accurate, and intelligent.

Vic.ai wants to make this as seamless as possible, by integrating into SAP S/4HANA to ensure real-time data inflows and outflows so customers have an accurate picture into the health of their business.

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The best AI accounting platform for your business

Choosing the right AP Automation solution is a critical decision, especially for growing teams requiring scalable solutions. The best AI accounting platform for your business seamlessly integrates cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to streamline financial processes, automate repetitive tasks, and enhance accuracy. Selecting a platform that can grow with your business ensures seamless financial operations and accommodates your evolving needs, making it a vital investment for your company's success.

Vic.ai’s intuitive interface and advanced analytics optimize financial management, minimize errors, and provides valuable insights, making it an invaluable asset for any modern business.

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When to choose Vic.ai

• You are managing a high-growth enterprise and want to maximize productivity and ROI.
• Your aim is to fully automate the accounts payable process from start to finish.
• You're looking to swiftly implement AP automation, achieving fast time-to-value for your business.

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What our customers say

"With Vic.ai's advanced AI platform, we will be able to reduce our average user invoice processing time from 8-10 minutes to less than one minute. This means that we can shift approx. 40,000 hours per year to higher-value tasks, which will revolutionize our finance department."

Patrik Berglund, Head of Finance Operation, Elkjøp Nordic AS 

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“In today’s economic climate, enterprises must be strategic with every dollar they spend. Vic.ai’s current offerings, including Autopilot and Autonomous Approval Flows, will allow our business to keep growing at a rapid pace without requiring us to grow our workforce at the same pace,” said Conor Clair, Senior Finance Manager of Accounting at Milwaukee Tool. “And with these new intelligent spending tools in development, not only will we be able to have a complete picture of our costs, but we will also benefit from real-time analysis of these transactions as well as advice on how we can optimize. It’s a game changer that will not only help companies outlast the downturn, but also outperform the competition.”

Conor Clair, Senior Finance Manager of Accounting at Milwaukee Tool

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"The AP team loves it! It really helps them to become reviewers instead of processors (of data entry)."

Margareta Marro - Director of Accounting Operations, Higher Ground

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Improve AP productivity and accuracy with accounting AI

According to IFOL’s automation trends report, companies still have a long way to go before reaching autonomous finance and accounting. In fact, 

• 68% of enterprise companies enter invoice data manually or semi-manually
• 41% of inaccurate numbers in reporting stem from human errors
• 62% are not well equipped to manage sudden increases in invoice volumes

Even with some automation in place, rules and template-based automation solutions require constant updates and maintenance from the AP team. Unlike AI, solutions like RPA can’t adapt to a new environment and process a new invoice format or vendor, without pre-programming carried out by an AP team member. 

Autonomous accounting refers to the integration of advanced artificial intelligence and automation technologies to handle financial processes independently. It enables self-execution of tasks like data entry, invoice processing, reconciliation, and reporting, streamlining financial workflows and enhancing accuracy. This transformative approach allows businesses to achieve greater efficiency and real-time insights in their accounting operations.

With accounting AI on your AP team, your full-time employees get freed up to work on more high-impact tasks, as described in this list of 8 high-value AP tasks. This leads to both business growth and cost reduction.

Integrating SAP S/4HANA with Vic.ai offers a user-friendly solution that seamlessly can handle the AP process from start to finish at 99% accuracy and a 5x productivity rate. 

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Conclusion

Vic.ai's proprietary AI can autonomously learn and adapt to process invoices with high accuracy, reducing the need for constant human supervision. By integrating with SAP S/4HANA any organization with a large invoice volume, can see instant cost savings and performance improvements.

Schedule a call with a Vic.ai expert to learn more about how Accounting AI can benefit your business.