Chapter 04
One Engine, three people who use it differently
The ap analyst works a queue, the controller watches thresholds and exceptions, and the cfo sees cycle time and cost. Same Engine underneath, three different questions asked of it.
What the agents did today
Invoices processed
168
Exceptions cleared
31
Journal lines coded
412
Vendor replies sent
24
Time spent on this went from4 hrs/day40 min/day
Time in the AP queue, modelled at steady state
Waiting on a human decision
- INV-20841HighInvoice exceptionCalumet Fastener Supply$18,460.00
Invoice $18,460 against PO $16,900. Variance of 9.2% exceeds the 2% tolerance for this vendor tier.
- INV-20866MediumMissing receiptRivera Packaging$7,215.40
Goods receipt not posted for PO-88213. Warehouse confirms delivery on 4 Aug, receipt not entered.
- REC-1140MediumReconciliation varianceLockbox — Illinois entity$3,882.16
Four unmatched deposits against remittance advice. Two appear to be partial payments.
- INV-20903LowDuplicate candidateHarbor Steel Products$2,140.00
Same amount and date as INV-20714, different invoice number. Vendor has re-issued before.