The intelligent ERP and especially machine learning as enabler of intelligent applications have recently been subject of unprecedented attention. An intelligent ERP is expected to take enterprise applications to the next level. But what does this mean in practice? How does an intelligent application look like? And what are the actual benefits from using intelligent enterprise applications?

Our new video series aims to answer those questions to make the intelligent ERP more tangible. With the SAP S/4HANA Invoice & Goods Receipt Reconciliation, a finance topic breaks the first ground. A supply chain and a procurement scenario are already in progress and many more will follow.


The video is intended for an audience, which is familiar with the process of the reconciliation of goods and invoice receipts and may identify itself with common problems or can at least imagine the loss of efficiency resulting from the involved manual work. In the video a real system demo is used to shows, how the initially posed problems are addressed by the intelligent application.

The user in the scenario can be an accountant, who is responsible for the GR/IR account, where goods receipts and invoice receipts are typically matched and cleared automatically. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. As soon as it is not possible to exactly match an invoice receipt with a goods receipt, the exception needs to be reconciled manually by the accountant. The app helps the accountant to structure such exceptions and to focus efforts on the most urgent ones. Smart Facts as a unique filter option describe each exception in the business language of the accountant.

It is then possible to bundle similar exceptions to directly take action or to focus on each exception in detail. In the latter case, the accountant can analyze different information belonging to the exception, which is all summarized in a single view. Drawing from this and supported with machine learning recommendations, the accountant finally decides about the best next steps for an efficient reconciliation. By accepting or rejecting the machine learning recommendations the underlying algorithm is continuously trained, paving the way towards a holistic process automation.

SAP CoPilot enables the immediate collaboration on an exception without leaving the system. The accountant can contact the responsible person and jointly investigate the root cause of an exception. In the best case the reconciliation can be done immediately. Context sensitive objects like the respective purchase order provided by SAP CoPilot as well as an integrated screenshot tool facilitate the collaboration.

The SAP S/4HANA Invoice & Goods Receipt Reconciliation app is only one example for an intelligent ERP application. Nevertheless, it offers manifold benefits, which are characteristic for intelligent applications of SAP. By leveraging machine learning, processes are standardized and increasingly automated, errors are reduced, communication is streamlined, and the overall efficiency is increased. Watch the video now and see for yourself. Also stay tuned for our upcoming videos!


Source: https://blogs.sap.com/2018/11/08/intelligent-erp-video-sap-s4hana-invoice-goods-receipt-reconciliation/