“Initially, I thought that BEST was going to take up a lot more of my time and increase my workload, but what has actually happened is that it has freed up my time to resolve long outstanding issues. Previously, all my time was spent ensuring that current invoices were paid on time, but with the recons now being done by BEST and the ageing being reflected, it forces me to act on the old unresolved issues. BEST also helps me with suggested matches. Overall, BEST has resulted in a 50% time saving for me.”
Builders AP Clerk
Builders achieve over 96% auto-match rates with BEST reconciliations
As a home improvement retailer managing over 120,000 monthly vendor invoices, Builders leveraged BEST’s SAP-integrated reconciliation automation to achieve 96.5% auto-match rates and 50% time savings for their accounts payable team.
Builders
As part of Massmart Holdings, Builders manages over 120,000 vendor invoices monthly across their home improvement and building materials stores. With high volumes and cross-border complexities, Builders sought to optimise their procure-to-pay processes, including critical vendor reconciliations. By implementing BEST in 2016, Builders leveraged automation to realise efficiency gains and resolve issues proactively.
Our approach
Connecting directly to Builders’ SAP system, BEST ingests over half a million statement lines every quarter across their South African and African operations. With advanced auto-matching algorithms, Builders achieves excellent statement matching rates exceeding 96% which eliminates nearly all manual reconciliation tasks.
With this newfound efficiency, AP staff can shift focus towards proactively resolving disputes, improving vendor relationships, and identifying process bottlenecks. As per a Builders AP clerk, BEST delivered over 50% time savings that facilitated clearance of previously unactioned issues.
Results
- 5550 statements loaded into BEST between 1 July and 30 September (over 520,000 statement lines).
- Around 10% automated (OCR reading of statements into BEST).
- 96,5% automatic matches with BEST achieved on the statement lines.
- Mass data processing is performed by the system, allowing personnel to report and chase exceptions.
- More proactive management of suppliers.
- Improved relationship with suppliers.
- Improved relationship with our suppliers.
- Reduced risk of errors and fraud.
- Reduced printing of SAP open items.
Beyond reconciliation, BEST also enables Builders to attach statements directly, email remittances to vendors, and generate integrated reporting on critical procure-to-pay metrics. With a bird’s eye view of volumes, ageing, and performance trends, Builders leverages actionable insights to continuously enhance processes.
For Builders, BEST delivered the high-performance reconciliations required to effectively manage vast payment volumes across a complex landscape. Automation and easy-to-use tools empower staff to drive working capital gains through streamlined procure-to-pay.
