JSW Automates 7K+ Monthly Invoices and POs with PayEX AP, Cutting AP Processing Time by 90%

The Objective

Return significant time to the overworked AP team and eradicate payment delays in Accounts Payable management.

The Background

JSW, one of India's leading business houses, has an innovative and sustainable presence in various sectors, including Steel, Infrastructure, Cement, Energy, Paints, Venture Capital and Sports. JSW Steel is one of the leading steel exporters in India and is known to be the largest manufacturer and exporter of galvanized steel products.

The Numbers

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Faster Reconciliation

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Reduction in DSO

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Dealers on FreePay

The Numbers

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Accuracy in Invoice Processing

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Reduction in customer onboarding time

INR 0Cr

Worth Invoices Processed Automatically Every Month

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Reduction in AP Processing Time

The Challenge

Managing over 25,000 vendors across India and processing 7,000+ invoices per month, JSW faced significant inefficiencies in its Accounts Payable (AP) operations. The team relied on manual processing for vendor management, payables tracking, and payment status updates, leading to operational bottlenecks.
Without AP automation, scaling with business growth became increasingly difficult. Additionally, the team had to scan physical documents and enter invoice data into the system that consumed valuable time and resources while increasing the risk of errors and delays.

01 High Risk of Errors

JSW’s AP team was responsible for manually keying payable invoice information into their ERP system SAP and for chasing down forms from suppliers for tax compliance. They had to double-check the data that was pushed to GSTIN. Accuracy was always an issue as there was a high scope of human errors, and GST penalties. Fixing errors took up valuable time, and if anyone wanted to validate an invoice, they’d have to dig through records or call up vendors.

02 Limited Visibility for Vendors

JSW being a large enterprise with multiple approval layers for each invoice, faced challenges in providing invoice status visibility to its vendors. With no clear timeline for payments, vendors were left uncertain, leading to frequent follow-ups with multiple stakeholders. This lack of transparency not only created inefficiencies but also strained supplier-buyer relationships.

03 Heaps of Paperwork

JSW received about 65% of its invoices via postal mail, and a team of three spent 4 hours daily manually linking invoices. The AP team spent two days every week manually routing the paper invoices for approval signatures. Its invoice approval process was manual, and the rapid company growth buried the AP team in paperwork.

04 Complex Invoicing Needs due to Multiple Business Models

With operations spanning multiple sectors, JSW's diverse business models resulted in complex invoicing requirements. Instead of standard receipt notes, the AP team had to generate GST-compliant tax invoices on behalf of suppliers. They also managed a variety of documents, including credit notes, debit notes, digital invoices, IRN invoices, and paper invoices. The high transaction volume further complicated filing and reconciliation, making the process both time-consuming and resource-intensive.

05 Hectic Month-ends

At month-end, the AP team had to verify and reconcile all financial entries, identify and correct anomalies, ensure all invoices were processed, and schedule payments. They had to align every transaction with the correct account, department, and period. Given the high work volume and the need for accuracy, the month-end was a high-pressure period for JSW's AP team.

Our Solution

Building an in-house solution was very expensive and required a lot of technical bandwidth. JSW chose Global PayEX’s AP automation software, PayEX AP, to streamline its Accounts Payable management.

01 360-Degree Visibility with Vendor Portal

PayEX AP provided a vendor portal for JSW's suppliers to log in, and upload invoices directly to the portal. JSW’ AP team can view supplier onboarding status and overall analytics, mimic the vendor’s view of the portal, trigger onboarding emails, extract reports, and more. PayEX AP posts the information into its Datacap system. This portal allows vendors to track invoice statuses in real-time, eliminating the need for multiple invoice follow-ups.

02 Enhanced Efficiency with AI-Powered Invoice Data Capture

Our system automatically understands the invoices, credit notes, deduction and extracts different invoice information. It auto-reads invoices uploaded in any format – e-invoice, PDF, image and performs validation checks. It also automates invoice submission through the Supplier Portal.

03 Streamlined Invoice Approval Process with Role-based Workflows

PayEX AP automatically triggers role-based approval workflows for invoices in JSW. Respective personnel are notified, and they have the option to accept or reject the submitted invoice. JSW's AP team receives the supporting documents of invoices pending approval, and our system enables them to create a one stop repository.

04 Minimized Manual Intervention with End-to-end AP automation

Our solution automates all the repetitive tasks, freeing up AP staff even during the month-ends. The system ensures consistent processing, from invoice receipt to payment, enhancing efficiency and accuracy. It liberates JSW's AP team to focus on strategic initiatives, driving productivity and success.

The Results

After implementing PayEX AP, JSW has seen its invoice processing transition from entirely manual to 100% automated. This shift led to a staggering 90% reduction in AP processing time, significantly enhancing the AP team's productivity.Additionally, PayEX AP's advanced functionalities have strengthened their supplier-vendor relationships. With this robust AP automation solution in place, JSW is now poised to accelerate its business growth trajectory.

“A highly adaptable solution that has transformed the way we do business”

We have been using FreePay since 2017 and the improvement and efficiency it has brought in our collections and account receivables management has been remarkable.

FreePay has helped deliver electronic invoices to our Channel Partners in real time, process payments with all our business terms plugged in and taken care of our end-to-end customer account reconciliation.

Our Channel Partners have also been very appreciative of introducing FreePay to them especially for its feature capabilities, ease of use, transparency and customer support, without adding any cost to them.

Joseph Selvakumar , Vice President – Commercial ,

V-Guard Industries Ltd.

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Reduction in Manual Efforts