How EM de Jong automated AP processing in ERP with ZoneCapture's OCR and custom workflows

A leading Dutch printing and publishing group with over 1,300 employees and nearly 40 subsidiaries, EM de Jong (full name Beheermaatschappij EM de Jong) faced a growing need to modernize its financial operations. As the company began rolling out NetSuite ERP across smaller entities, it quickly realized the existing vendor bill processing tool wasn’t keeping up. The AP team needed a solution integrated with NetSuite to reduce the manual work involved in processing dozens of vendor bills each day.

The Challenge: A fragmented system slowing down AP operations

To serve newspaper publishers and retail chains internationally, EM de Jong has made several acquisitions over the years. Their growth created a complex financial landscape – leading to a gradual switch to NetSuite from their legacy financial systems. 

But as time passed, new financial challenges emerged. The most affected? Their accounts payable (AP) process. 

Each day, the AP team used a standalone OCR invoice processing tool to book dozens of vendor bills. The two biggest challenges experienced were:

• Disconnected processes: The invoice processing tool EM de Jong used wasn’t integrated with NetSuite – it struggled to accurately capture and process invoices, especially for suppliers who sent bills with multiple supporting documents. If the invoice details and NetSuite records didn’t match, the team needed to manually correct invoice errors, match vendor details and input missing information. This process wasn’t feasible for the team as they were planning to roll out to other subsidiaries.

• Limited customization in NetSuite: As the team expanded their use of NetSuite, they needed the ability to set up custom rules and fields to further automate AP tasks. Their existing tool didn’t support this level of customization. For example, they couldn’t automatically assign specific GL accounts or item codes based on the vendor or invoice type and therefore had to re-enter the same information for every invoice.

As the project to implement NetSuite across all subsidiaries progressed, it became evident that the external bill processing tool no longer met the AP team’s needs. They needed an all-in-one OCR AP automation solution that operated directly within NetSuite and allowed for needed customization.

“We realized that our AP process wasn’t running smoothly. Our external tool couldn’t handle the volume of supporting documents or give us the flexibility we needed in NetSuite.” – John Heesterbeek, Project Guide for NetSuite Implementation at EM de Jong Group

The Solution: Integrating AP processes directly into NetSuite

With their existing AP tool’s contract nearing renewal, EM de Jong reviewed several AP automation products for NetSuite. They decided to switch to ZoneCapture – an OCR-powered AP automation SuiteApp for its balance of price, quality and needed capabilities.

Four key factors for selecting ZoneCapture were:

• Direct integration with NetSuite: ZoneCapture operates directly within NetSuite – no switching between platforms, no separate logins. Everything happens in one place, making it easy for the AP team to handle invoices without disruption. The app pulls and processes vendor bills directly into NetSuite and allows the team to use all the standard ERP tools, but enhanced in terms of customization, speed and accuracy.

• Smart OCR for detailed invoices: OCR inside ZoneCapture captures vendor bills and credits at both header and line levels. It extracts key details such as vendor name, dates, amounts and PO references, along with detailed line-level data like descriptions, item numbers, quantities and rates. On top of this, the tool can be trained for custom data capturing too, making sure custom data is also brought automatically into NetSuite.

• AP workflow customization in NetSuite: ZoneCapture offers the creation of custom settings and predefined rules for vendor bills. For example, the AP team can set up specific rules to automate the assignment of GL accounts based on invoice details, execute a defaulting of the transaction lines, configure auto-processing or flag exceptions for review. 

• No consultants required for a smooth setup: ZoneCapture was implemented quickly and easily, without the need for external consultants. EM de Jong’s AP team was guided through the implementation in a hands-on way by Zone directly. This knowledge transfer empowered them to configure the system and adjust AP processes in NetSuite on their own going forward.

“The beauty of ZoneCapture implementation is you do not need consultants. Three focused calls were all it took to master the tool and give us the confidence to manage everything ourselves. I call it guidance instead of training because it was done by a person who knew the financial process and NetSuite inside out.” – John Heesterbeek, Project Guide for NetSuite Implementation at EM de Jong Group

The Results: A unified AP process in NetSuite with faster invoice processing and greater visibility

ZoneCapture delivered what EM de Jong needed for their AP process. It simplified invoice processing inside NetSuite, supporting the accounts payable team to manage increasing invoice volumes and related AP tasks more efficiently, all within their existing NetSuite environment.

Here’s how their AP process has improved:

• Complete invoice automation within NetSuite: Manual tasks like coding, uploading, cross-checking and approving bills now take much less time. Vendor bills are pulled directly from the accounting email, scanned and made available in NetSuite – no invoice gets lost in the shuffle and no duplicates are found in the system. From there, bills are posted to the correct GL account with pre-set descriptions, freeing up the team from manually entering the same details over and over. 

“Instead of switching between platforms, the team now works entirely in NetSuite. Everything we need to process and approve vendor bills is now in one place.” – John Heesterbeek, Project Guide for NetSuite Implementation at EM de Jong Group

• Greater visibility and control over AP workload: The team operates from a centralized action list – a dashboard in NetSuite created using custom saved searches that pull data from ZoneCapture. This gives them visibility into their workload, including what's in progress, upcoming tasks, outstanding invoices and any potential bottlenecks. If something’s holding up an approval, they can act quickly before the issue causes delays.

• Intelligent invoice processing with custom rules: The accounts payable team uses ZoneCapture’s smart capabilities to set custom rules and pre-defined settings in NetSuite. For example, the team can set trigger keywords on invoice lines to auto-assign the correct account, vendor or item, so new invoice details are entered consistently and accurately.

• Growth-ready AP automation without extra staff: ZoneCapture is designed to grow alongside the company and handle increasing transaction volumes without additional staffing. EM de Jong is slowly rolling out NetSuite and AP automation across all subsidiaries to ensure every location benefits from the same streamlined processes.

• Higher employee morale and productivity: With manual, repetitive tasks reduced and tailored NetSuite customizations, the AP team can now focus on tasks that add greater value to the business. The clear, practical guidance available in Zone’s knowledge base and ongoing support from Zone’s professional services give them the confidence to manage and customize the system easily, with no technical knowledge needed.

Streamlined accounts payable in NetSuite for large printing and publishing companies

With ZoneCapture, EM de Jong automated its accounts payable process in NetSuite, supporting the AP team to manage the workload more efficiently as the company grows.

“ZoneCapture is the perfect solution for anyone looking to simplify their procure-to-pay process in NetSuite. It's user-friendly, reliable and backed by a great support team.” – John Heesterbeek, Project Guide for NetSuite Implementation at EM de Jong Group

If you are looking to improve your financial operations in NetSuite like 3,000+ other finance teams, schedule a tailored demo to see how Zone can transform your procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, reporting and HR operation workflows. You can also try one of our ROI calculators and see the potential results for yourself.