How enviolo achieves faster invoice processing, approval and reconciliation with Zone’s procure-to-pay automation

enviolo, a global e-bike gear manufacturer, was looking for efficiency in a manual procure-to-pay process as it experienced over 50% growth in the past four years. The newly established in-house finance team needed to completely overhaul its financial operations, especially the procure-to-pay process in NetSuite ERP.

Their goal was to automate disorganized approval workflows and time-consuming tasks like manual invoice booking and bank reconciliation using a unified set of solutions that worked in perfect harmony.

The Challenge: Manual invoice booking, reconciliation and approvals needed a complete revamp in NetSuite

The rapid growth in the past four years put pressure on enviolo’s outsourced financial services, leading to a strategic decision in 2022 to bring control in-house and hire a small but mighty finance team to manage the increasingly complex financial operations. 

The newly formed finance team of four faced a complex task – with only one person managing invoice booking, approvals and bank reconciliation in NetSuite each month, the team needed to transform enviolo’s manual, disorganized financial processes into a smooth, self-running engine. 

But that wasn’t easy. The main challenges the finance team faced were:

• Manual invoice processing: enviolo’s procure-to-pay process required manual intervention at multiple stages. enviolo’s AP Accountant often spent entire days booking invoices in NetSuite, sometimes handling more than 40 in a single day. Each invoice required meticulous attention – uploading to NetSuite, data entry, verifying quantities, checking supplier details, processing payments and reconciling transactions – especially when dealing with complex purchase orders. 

• Multiple steps and tools for invoice booking: AP Accountant had to use separate PDF readers and either two screens or split-screen functions to cross-check invoice information and enter data into the respective NetSuite fields. This manual process reduced efficiency and increased the chance of errors. Switching between multiple screens was particularly inconvenient when using laptops or single-monitor setups.

• Manual approvals: Finance had to either send messages or emails to approvers asking them specifically what to approve, or remind them to log into NetSuite to approve invoices, causing delays in invoice processing and payments. Approvers who didn’t use NetSuite regularly often faced expired passwords or had trouble navigating the platform to find the invoices they needed to approve. Some, like enviolo’s warehouse lead, also struggled with approving multiple invoices as they had to approve them one by one.

“Each invoice demanded so much attention. Some days, I’d look up and realize I’d spent the whole day just booking invoices. There was hardly any time left for anything else." – Veronika Vyalikh, Accounts Payable Accountant at enviolo

• Inefficient invoice tracking: The team struggled with an overflowing accounting inbox. Without a systematic way to track and follow up on invoices needing more information or clarification, they risked missing important invoices and couldn’t easily show management the status of invoice processing. This made it hard to track progress and spot bottlenecks.

• Complex reconciliations: Veronika had to manually reconcile banks at month-end, which often took several hours, depending on the transaction volume. This process was not only time-intensive but also prone to errors. 

“We needed to organize all our processes – invoice booking, bank reconciliation and approval workflows. While NetSuite's native tools are good, they didn’t fully meet all our automation needs.” – Veronika Vyalikh, Accounts Payable Accountant at enviolo

Faced with these challenges and the demands of rapid growth, the company decided to optimize the entire procure-to-pay (P2P) cycle, automate accounts payable (AP), ensure invoicing and reconciliation accuracy and maintain data transparency, all within a familiar platform, their NetSuite ERP. 

The Solution: End-to-end procure-to-pay automation inside NetSuite  

enviolo needed intuitive, easy-to-use solutions to streamline invoice booking and processing, bank reconciliation and approvals – all within their existing NetSuite environment. The urgency was clear. They required solutions that could be implemented quickly and match the following requirements:

• Easy, native integration with NetSuite: The solutions had to work inside NetSuite as a natural part of the platform and keep all financials in one place. The training needed to be minimal, without having to learn new systems or requiring technical knowledge. 

• Smart invoice capture and processing: The team wanted an invoice processing solution that includes optical character recognition (OCR) technology to reduce the time spent on manual data entry and ensure all invoices were accurately recorded.

• Approvals for non-NetSuite users: The goal was to keep approvers out of NetSuite and allow them to approve invoices via email on any of their devices (laptop, desktop, and even their phone). Bulk approval capabilities were necessary too to make the process faster and less stressful. 

• Automated invoice tracking from email into NetSuite: The team needed to view and enter invoice data directly in NetSuite without switching between screens or using different PDF readers. They wanted to organize invoices received by email directly in NetSuite, ensuring nothing was lost, overlooked or forgotten. 

• Simplified bank reconciliation: To optimize the bank reconciliation process as much as possible, the bank reconciliation solution had to offer smart automation capabilities.

• Scalability for future growth: The team wanted a procure-to-pay addition for NetSuite, built to handle large transaction volumes both now and in the future, without proportionally increasing the team’s workload or size.

“We explored various options, but Zone & Co was the only one offering turnkey procure-to-pay solutions fully integrated with NetSuite. It feels like using NetSuite itself, not a separate SuiteApp. Each Zone SuiteApp is an extension of the tool we already use, not an additional layer of complexity.” – Veronika Vyalikh, Accounts Payable Accountant at enviolo

Having previously used Zone & Co SuiteApps for procure-to-pay at her previous jobs, Veronika recommended ZoneCapture, ZoneApprovals and ZoneReconcile to her manager because they aligned perfectly with enviolo’s needs. And while they considered other options on the market, it was clear that only Zone & Co offered the seamless, native integration with NetSuite they required. Within just two months of making the decision, enviolo was up and running with NetSuite’s turnkey expansions from Zone.

“The support from Zone’s professional services was and still is fantastic. The team provided detailed walkthroughs and is always available to answer questions, making the setup process straightforward even for someone without technical expertise.” – Veronika Vyalikh, Accounts Payable Accountant at enviolo

The Result: Fully automated procure-to-pay in NetSuite with significant efficiency gains

Implementing Zone’s procure-to-pay automation within enviolo’s NetSuite environment allowed the finance team to fully utilize their financial system and get the best out of their ERP investment. ZoneCapture, ZoneApprovals and ZoneReconcile met all the criteria enviolo set out at the start of their search for an automated solution, achieving everything they needed and more:

Accounts payable productivity increased significantly: Automation provided by Zone has freed up a big part of Veronika’s capacity, allowing her to contribute more broadly to the finance team. Previously, she spent all her time on invoice booking, payments and reconciliation. Now, with most of these processes fully automated, Veronika has the bandwidth to handle some accounts receivable tasks too, help manage the fixed assets, and support internal and external audits.

Perfectly streamlined invoice booking: With ZoneCapture, all invoices received via email are automatically sent to NetSuite, ensuring no invoice data is lost or overlooked. By completely automating the invoice booking workload using OCR technology, the team only needs to review the final result in NetSuite. If there’s anything she needs to check with the supplier or the operations team, they can use the memo section to add comments, flagging the invoice for further review or follow-up. This streamlined process has cut hours of invoice processing to just a fraction of the time, allowing the AP Accountant to focus on additional responsibilities within the accounting scope.

"Invoice booking is not manual anymore; now almost the entire process is automated. I just quickly double-check if everything is accurate and leave a comment if and where needed for my colleagues." – Veronika Vyalikh, Accounts Payable Accountant at enviolo

Automated invoice data entry with a split-screen feature in NetSuite: Using NetSuite’s native functionalities, Veronika had to switch between multiple screens or use separate PDF readers to view invoices while entering data. This made it particularly inconvenient when working on laptops or single monitors. ZoneCapture's split-screen feature now allows her to see the invoice and input data simultaneously, all within one screen in NetSuite, making the process fast and accurate. Default lines in ZoneCapture further automate data entry by pre-populating GL codes, TAX codes, and Description.

‍

‍

‍Approval by email, even for non-NetSuite users: ZoneApprovals has completely transformed the approval process at enviolo. By allowing invoices to be approved via email, most of the approval tasks are now handled outside of NetSuite, making it easier for approvers who don’t use the system regularly. The finance team customizes the details shown in approval emails, so approvers can see everything they need – amounts, due dates and attachments (including Excel files) – without logging into NetSuite. This is especially helpful for the business development team who can now approve invoices while traveling, directly from their phones. 

‍

‍

Bulk approvals in NetSuite: The ability to approve multiple invoices at once with bulk approvals in NetSuite has been a game-changer for enviolo’s warehouse lead. What used to take hours approving invoices one by one, is now completed in a fraction of the time.

Organized approval workflow with multi-level approvals: ZoneApprovals has structured enviolo's approval process by offering an approval matrix inside NetSuite. Invoices are automatically routed through multiple levels of approvers via email, ensuring they are properly vetted and authorized. 

100% bank reconciliation accuracy and faster month-end close: With ZoneReconcile in place, Veronika achieves up to 100% accuracy in bank reconciliation. Every day, the system automates much of the reconciliation process from transaction matching to bank charges handling. Veronika only needs to address the last day at month-end, significantly reducing the time, effort and stress of closing the books every month.  

Smart, customizable reconciliation rules in NetSuite: ZoneReconcile's custom matching rules in NetSuite allow the team to set up specific criteria for recurring or predictable transactions, like frequent vendor payments, salaries or forex trading. By identifying keywords in payment descriptions, the system automatically allocates transactions to the correct accounts and creates necessary journal entries – further streamlining the reconciliation process by eliminating extra steps and routine tasks.

Improved control over accounts payable and receivable: enviolo’s Controller now has better visibility and control over financial processes. Using saved searches in NetSuite for ZoneCapture, ZoneApprovals and ZoneReconcile, the team created a comprehensive dashboard that provides an overview of incoming and processed invoices for the month, pending bill approvals, bank statement reconciliation status and more, allowing them to monitor progress, view audit trails and identify potential bottlenecks.

Smart staffing with early automation in NetSuite: The automation provided by ZoneCapture, ZoneApprovals and ZoneReconcile has completely streamlined enviolo’s finance operations, enabling the team to keep up with increasing demands without expanding the team. The decision to invest in Zone & Co solutions has saved the company tens of thousands of euros in staffing costs.

“ZoneCapture, ZoneApprovals and ZoneReconcile have completely transformed our financial processes for the better. We’re more efficient, more accurate, and better equipped to handle our growth without adding extra staff.” – Veronika Vyalikh, Accounts Payable Accountant at enviolo

Automated procure-to-pay in NetSuite for manufacturing businesses

enviolo’s experience shows how the right automation for NetSuite can transform financial operations, even for lean teams. By integrating ZoneCapture, ZoneApprovals and ZoneReconcile directly into their NetSuite environment, enviolo’s finance team optimized key procure-to-pay tasks, minimized errors, improved compliance and drove significant cost savings. 

"Companies often wait until they're bigger to adopt automation in NetSuite. But I've seen firsthand that using Zone's SuiteApps early, even for small teams, makes financial processes much more efficient. With Zone & Co solutions for NetSuite, you can easily manage a growing and complex workload without needing to hire more staff." – Veronika Vyalikh, Accounts Payable Accountant at enviolo

Ready to fully automate your financial operations in NetSuite like 4,000+ other finance teams? Schedule a tailored demo to explore how Zone can transform your procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, reporting and HR operation workflows, or try one of our ROI calculators and see the potential results for yourself.

‍
Disclaimer

There is no legal partnership between enviolo BV and Zone & Co and enviolo BV is not involved in the development, maintenance, or functioning of any of Zone & Co products. The case study is based on enviolo BV's experience of using Zone & Co products.

Results may vary depending on individual use cases, and enviolo BV is not responsible for the performance or support of third-party products.