Boosting Efficiency with Advanced KPIs in SAP VIM Analytics

Abstract

SAP Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) by OpenText is a solution designed to digitalize and automate accounts payable processes. It helps manage and accelerate invoice processing and workflows.

VIM Analytics

Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) includes an integrated module called VIM Analytics, which provides standard functionality for assessing urgent invoices based on due dates, exception analysis, and other criteria. While VIM Analytics is an excellent solution for quick operational use, it lacks the configurability required for more detailed and trend analysis.

Users frequently utilize ABAP reports within VIM Analytics, such as the program /OPT/VIM_ANALYTICS, to export data from the system and import it into Excel for further analysis.

To address these challenges, Cubis has developed a workflow to extract VIM information into a data warehouse and reporting solution. This enhancement provides actionable insights that can improve the efficiency of VIM implementation at your company.

Architecture

The following Architectural Diagram shows the High-level overview.
While the example flow has been setup in BW/4HANA, it can easily be implemented into a Cloud Solution like SAP Datasphere.

Underneath the hood, VIM is built on a handful of custom tables prefixed with /OPT/*. Based on these tables, Cubis has developed several extractors to replicate the data 1:1 from the source into BW/4HANA.

After extraction to advanced DSOs, the modeling is performed using HANA calculation views. There are two layers for the HANA views: the Modeling Layer and the Reporting Layer. Each dashboard has a dedicated HANA view. In the Modeling Layer, data is directly extracted from the DSOs into the projection, after which the different VIM data sources are functionally joined to create the necessary dataset for the report.

Once the Modeling Layer is developed and validated, we proceed to the Reporting Layer. In this layer, we introduce the necessary calculated columns, counts, restricted columns, and other business-specific transformations. These elements are essential for tailoring the data to meet the specific needs of business users and ensuring that the data can be easily consumed in reports. For instance, calculated columns might be used for aggregations or custom logic that supports business rules, while restricted columns can help narrow down the data for specific use cases or users.

The Reporting Layer can then be used directly in Power BI for reporting or through a composite provider and query for reporting in SAP Analytics Cloud.

Outcome & Impact

Based on the information available in VIM, the following example dashboards could have been created using our setup. Please find below a table of the KPi’s, followed by examples of the dashboard.

Automation Rate

The Automation Rate dashboard shows information with key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the percentage of invoices processed on the first pass and the percentage of invoices requiring no manual intervention (no touch). The dashboard presents these KPIs through trend analysis graphs, highlighting improvements or declines over time. Additionally, it would display absolute values, such as the total number of invoices processed and the number of invoices that met the first pass and no touch criteria. This comprehensive view enables users to quickly assess the efficiency of their invoice processing and identify areas for further optimization.

Exception Analysis 

A Exception Analysis dashboard is dedicated to exception analysis and shows key metrics such as the number of exceptions encountered during the invoice management process. The dashboard would display these metrics through trend analysis graphs, showing the frequency and types of exceptions over time. Examples of exceptions might include: 

• Goods Receipt (GR) Not Done: Invoices where the goods receipt has not been completed. 
• Approval Required: Invoices that require additional approval before processing. 
• Currency Mismatch: Invoices where the currency does not match the expected currency for the transaction. 

Blocked invoices

The blocked invoices dashboard focuses on blocked invoices and includes key metrics such as the number of blocked invoices and the reasons for these blocks. The dashboard displays these metrics through trend analysis graphs, showing the frequency and types of blocks over time. Examples of blocking reasons might include:

• Date Block: Invoices blocked due to discrepancies in the invoice date.
• Manual Block: Invoices manually blocked by users for various reasons.
• Quantity Mismatch: Invoices where the quantity on the invoice does not match the purchase order.

This detailed view helps users quickly identify and address the reasons for blocked invoices, improving the overall efficiency and accuracy of the invoice processing workflow.

Status Analysis

This dashboard focuses on the status of invoices with key metrics such as the number of invoices in various statuses. Examples of invoice statuses might include:

• Ready for Validation: Invoices that are prepared and awaiting validation.
• Inbound Error: Invoices that encountered errors during the inbound process.
• Approval Complete: Invoices that have completed the approval process and are ready for further processing.
• Pending Approval: Invoices that are still awaiting approval from the relevant authorities.

This detailed view helps users monitor the progress of invoices through the processing lifecycle, identify any bottlenecks, and ensure timely resolution of issues to maintain efficient workflow.

Invoice touches 

This dashboard focusses on how many times an invoices was touched. The more interventions, the less efficient the process is. 

NPO Invoice Approval 

This dashboard focuses on the number of invoices that need additional approval and the ageing of the approval.

Productivity 

This dashboard focusses on the overall productivity of the invoice process, like number of invoices processed, etc. 

Conclusion

If you are interested in enhancing your SAP VIM module with advanced reporting and analysis capabilities, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are eager to share our expertise and insights from previous projects. Leveraging our experience and template setup, we can swiftly initiate a basic setup to kickstart your project.

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