Retailer
AI Agents for Fashion & Retail invoice automation
From 30% to 80% STP for a global fashion retailer
Key Takeaways
Challenge: Processing 800k invoices annually across 15 countries, causing approval delays of up to 4 weeks, high operational costs, and compliance risks.
Transactions footprint: invoices, credit notes, receipts, e-invoices, other AP documents.
ERP System: SAP ECC, OpenText VIM Workflow, as well as Vertex for US Sales Tax Database Validation.
Solution: AI-powered IDP integrated with our client’s existing systems in place, automating 95% of invoice ingestion across 7 languages and multiple formats, ensuring compliance and faster approvals.
Impact: 40% reduction in manual effort, 80% straight-through processing rate, and invoice cycle times reduced from 4 weeks to 5 days.
Rollout: 6 months.
A top fashion retailer with footprint in 70 countries
One of the world’s largest fashion retailers, operating in over 70 countries with annual revenues exceeding $20 billion, faced significant inefficiencies in its accounts payable (AP) process. With a highly complex, global operation processing around 800,000 invoices annually, manual effort and fragmented workflows led to compliance risks and operational bottlenecks. Hypatos partnered with them to transform their AP process, driving automation, efficiency, and compliance improvements at scale.
Fragmentation, Low Capturing Automation, Multi-Region Tax Complexity
Prior to implementing Hypatos, the customer's invoice management across 70+ markets had only 20–50% capture automation and limited downstream process automation. Several factors triggered the transformation of their AP process:
Penalty Payments & Tax Compliance
Inaccurate or missed VAT/sales tax coding led to potential penalty payments and no automation for advanced tax compliance checks, requiring significant manual interventions and risk of incorrect transactions being undetected.
Limited Data Extraction Automation
Complex or multi-language invoices were often processed manually. High manual effort and error rates for coding predictions.
Global Inconsistencies
Different geographies used disparate processes. Minimal standardization exacerbated overhead and complexity.
Hypatos + SAP ECC: Intelligent AP Without Workflow Disruption
Hypatos implemented a comprehensive AI-powered AP automation solution, integrating seamlessly with the customer’s SAP ECC and OpenText VIM. The rollout was structured in five key phases:
Wave 1 (Pilot): Focused on select markets to test and refine the solution.
Wave 2 (EMEA): Expanded automation across key European countries.
Wave 3 (Americas): Integrated advanced tax compliance for US operations.
Wave 4 (APAC): Addressed multi-language invoice complexities.
Wave 5 (Rest of World): Final consolidation and handover for full client ownership.
Key capabilities included:
- Intelligent Document Processing: Automated invoice classification, extraction, and validation.
- AI-Based Coding Predictions: GL account, cost center, and tax code predictions for automated posting.
- End-to-End Compliance Checks: VAT and sales tax validation via Vertex integration.
Global Standardization & Efficiency at Scale
50% increase in straight-through processing
40% reduction in manual effort for invoice handling
Faster processing times, improving overall vendor relationships
Improved compliance, reducing tax penalties and errors
Standardized AP processes globally, enabling scalable automation