Increased Efficiency through digital Invoicing Processes thanks to AI and Power Platform
Profond Investment Foundation, established in 2016, is a legally independent entity wholly owned by the Profond pension fund. It manages Profond's directly held real estate, which has a market value of around 2.5 billion CHF. The Profond Investment Foundation invests in real estate in Switzerland and Germany, manages it actively and develops it in a targeted manner.
Initial Situation
The Profond Investment Foundation wanted to digitize and automate the processing of its incoming invoices in order to reduce costs, avoid errors and increase transparency. Previously, employees had to manually check each invoice, stamp it, file it in a physical dossier and approve it for payment. This process often led to late payments, loss of discounts, a lack of overview and cost overruns. Profond Anlagestiftung was therefore looking for a new solution that met its specific requirements and could be seamlessly integrated into its existing processes.
Solution
To achieve its goal, Profond Anlagestiftung opted for an innovative solution based on Microsoft's Power Platform. This platform enables a fast and flexible application that meets their individual needs. In several iterative steps, a model-driven app was designed and implemented that digitizes and automates the entire invoicing process. The business application uses artificial intelligence to automatically recognize and extract the invoice data. The invoices can then be materially and mathematically checked in accordance with the competence regulations and forwarded for approval. Both the accounting department and the external construction project management are securely and seamlessly integrated into the process with this app. The solution also guarantees the efficient management and compliance of projects, loans and supplier contracts as well as transparent investment reporting. The Power Platform and the architecture are scalable and enable the continuous addition of further components and the implementation of additional processes - now and in the future.
Benefits
- Thanks to the Power Platform solution, the entire invoicing process for investment projects can be optimized and business value increased.
- By using artificial intelligence, invoice data is automatically recorded and processed, reducing sources of error and time expenditure.
- The digitalization of the verification and approval process enables a faster turnaround time in the invoicing process.
- Thanks to the digital recording and storage of all invoices and documents, a complete record and simple search is possible.
- The new application creates simpler and more secure collaboration, communication and coordination with external construction project management.
- The stored rules and workflows ensure that invoices are checked and approved in accordance with the competence regulations.
- By using an expandable architecture, additional process components can be successively integrated into the solution, which reduces redundancy and improves throughput times.