Understanding the current state

Let's start this use case by learning a little about the current state of the process. Every day, the accounting team of Company ABC receives invoices submitted by vendors as part of its procure-to-pay (P2P) process, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

Figure 9.5 – Company ABC's P2P process

As defined by Company ABC, vendors must send invoices to a central inbox that the accounting team maintains. As the accounting team receives these invoices, they are reviewed for correctness and entered into their system of record, where they are reconciled and forwarded to Accounts Payable (AP) for payment, if all is correct.

Company ABC has been doing extremely well this year, thus has been purchasing more goods and services than in years past. This influx in purchasing has put a strain on the accounting team as it tries to maintain an efficient P2P process. A portion of this strain has been caused by the increase...