Automation of delayed payment processes at Perseusz company.

CASE STUDY: Payments Flow application – conscious management of late payments

Payments Flow is an innovative tool built on Microsoft Power Platform that automatically detects and monitors late payments. Thanks to its integration with AI Builder, the solution itself reads data from invoices and immediately alerts you to missed payment deadlines. As a result, your finance team responds faster, and you maintain full control over cash flow – without hold-ups or misunderstandings with contractors. Bet on informed payment management and focus on business growth!

Background

Perseus, a company providing construction and installation services in Europe, regularly invoices contractors working on joint projects. Unfortunately, as the scale of the business grew, problems related to late payments began to grow – the lack of developed mechanisms for reminding about arrears caused payment bottlenecks and weakened the company’s liquidity.

Challenges

• Time-consuming invoice processing – each invoice required manual entry into the accounting system.
• Lack of prompt information about missed payment deadlines – the lack of automatic notifications made it difficult to respond on an ongoing basis.
• Scattered data – invoices ended up in the email inboxes of different departments, making it difficult to maintain consistency in the process.
• Potential human error – the large number of documents increased the risk of data entry errors.

Solution

The Make It Better team proposed to implement an application based on Microsoft Power Platform (Power Automate, SharePoint, OneDrive and AI Builder). The project included:

1. automatic recognition of invoices in the email inbox.

• Power Automate recognizes messages containing invoices and saves attachments in OneDrive, eliminating the need for manual filing.

2. Using AI Builder to read invoice data.

• The artificial intelligence module retrieves information such as the invoice number, date of issue, amount and counterparty data.
• This automatically creates an initial document record without the need for manual transcription.

3. SharePoint as a central database

• All invoice information goes to lists in SharePoint, from where it can be monitored, reported and shared in the form of statements or dashboards.

4. Notifications about unpaid invoices.

• The application generates alerts (e.g., email, Teams) about upcoming or missed payment deadlines, allowing for immediate collection actions.

5. Scalable solution for different sizes of companies.

• Thanks to the low-code and flexibility of Power Platform, both smaller and larger companies can use the solution.

Results

• Time savings: The process of registering and checking invoices was reduced by up to 70% due to automatic recognition and data entry.
• Improved timeliness of payments: Automatic reminders for unpaid invoices minimized the number of outstanding invoices, resulting in better cash flow.
• Improved data transparency: One place (SharePoint) to review, analyze and report on invoices has simplified the work of the finance department.
• Reduced risk of errors: Manual transcription of data was eliminated, reducing document errors.
• Easy scalability: The solution can be easily expanded with additional features and integrations, leaving the company poised for further growth.

The solution provides

• Central control over cash flow thanks to a dashboard that shows the status of charges in real time.
• Quick identification of overdue invoices and automatic sending of notifications to the finance team and contractors.
• Integration with accounting systems (e.g. SharePoint, ERP, databases), which minimizes the need for manual data transfer.

Course of implementation

1. Needs analysis: Together with Perseus’ finance department, we determined at which stages of the payment process the biggest delays occur and set automation goals.
2. Application configuration: Using Power Automate and AI Builder, workflows were created to automatically recognize invoices (including amounts, issue dates, contractor numbers) and transfer the data to SharePoint.
3. Notifications and reports: a module was implemented to generate automatic email or Teams reminders for invoices approaching their due date or already overdue. In addition, Power BI reports were created to provide management with real-time insight into the financial situation.
4. Team training: We conducted workshops and prepared instructional materials so that employees could use the new platform effectively.

Summary

Thanks to Payment Flow, the company has effectively cleaned up the billing process and eliminated downtime resulting from overdue invoices. The implementation has significantly streamlined collection procedures and ensured a more stable cash flow, which has translated into a better competitive position for the company. If you would like to learn more about the capabilities of Payment Flow and the automation of financial processes based on Microsoft Power Platform, we invite you to contact our Make It Better team.