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Industry use cases · 04 / 20

Finance & Accounting

Reduce administration. Strengthen financial control.

Improve invoice handling, credit control, expense records, reconciliation and cash-flow visibility while retaining authorised financial oversight.

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Accountant reviewing an invoice beside a laptop and calculator.
Finance & Accounting · Industry overview
Accounts payable clerk scanning a supplier invoice beside a purchase order and laptop.
Supplier Invoice Processing & Approval Automation
Use case 01 · UC-016

Supplier Invoice Processing & Approval Automation

The challenge

Supplier invoices arrive in several formats and need manual entry, checking and approval, increasing duplicate and delay risks.

How SBS Ltd can help

Capture invoice details, check for duplicates, match available purchase information and route exceptions to authorised approvers.

The invoice record would preserve the original document and extracted supplier, reference and amount. Missing purchase-order information or mismatches would create a finance exception, while approved items move through the organisation's existing posting process. A named process owner would maintain the agreed rules, check exceptions and ensure staff understand how to handle failed or incomplete records.

Illustrative UK business scenario

An engineering SME receives component and subcontractor invoices through a shared finance inbox.

Potential benefits

Less manual entry and better visibility of outstanding liabilities.

We would agree a baseline and success measures before implementation, then compare handling time, record quality and unresolved exceptions during a controlled pilot.

Appropriate controls

Verify suppliers, amounts and tax details; retain approval before posting or payment.

Implementation would be quoted to scope after assessing your systems, available integrations and required controls.

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Credit controller reviewing an aged-debtor dashboard while checking an invoice folder.
Accounts Receivable & Payment Reminder Automation
Use case 02 · UC-017

Accounts Receivable & Payment Reminder Automation

The challenge

Credit-control staff manually check overdue balances and prepare reminders, while disputed invoices can be chased in error.

How SBS Ltd can help

Monitor approved ledger records, identify due and overdue items and prepare reminder drafts and credit-control tasks.

The review would distinguish overdue, recently paid and disputed balances before any reminder is prepared. Credit-control staff could pause an account, record a conversation or agree a next action without losing the history behind the balance. A named process owner would maintain the agreed rules, check exceptions and ensure staff understand how to handle failed or incomplete records.

Illustrative UK business scenario

A wholesale business produces an aged-debtor review with disputed invoices clearly separated.

Potential benefits

More consistent follow-up and earlier visibility of payment problems.

We would agree a baseline and success measures before implementation, then compare handling time, record quality and unresolved exceptions during a controlled pilot.

Appropriate controls

Confirm allocations, exclude disputes and review sensitive accounts before contact.

Implementation would be quoted to scope after assessing your systems, available integrations and required controls.

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Employee photographing a receipt beside a travel expense form and laptop at a desk.
Employee Expense & Receipt Processing
Use case 03 · UC-018

Employee Expense & Receipt Processing

The challenge

Emailed receipts and spreadsheets create missing evidence, duplicate claims and repeated approval requests.

How SBS Ltd can help

Collect claims through a consistent form, extract receipt details, flag policy exceptions and route them to the correct approver.

Employees would receive a clear submission route with the information needed for checking. Managers would see the claimed amount, supporting evidence and flagged exceptions together, reducing back-and-forth while keeping the approval decision with the authorised person. A named process owner would maintain the agreed rules, check exceptions and ensure staff understand how to handle failed or incomplete records.

Illustrative UK business scenario

A consultancy gathers travel and accommodation claims before an authorised finance review.

Potential benefits

Less administration and more consistent expense records.

We would agree a baseline and success measures before implementation, then compare handling time, record quality and unresolved exceptions during a controlled pilot.

Appropriate controls

Verify supporting evidence, retention rules and manager approval before reimbursement.

Implementation would be quoted to scope after assessing your systems, available integrations and required controls.

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Finance analyst comparing settlement records and ledger tables across two screens.
Financial Reconciliation & Exception Reporting
Use case 04 · UC-019

Financial Reconciliation & Exception Reporting

The challenge

Banking, payment-provider and accounting records must be compared manually, delaying investigation of unmatched items.

How SBS Ltd can help

Compare authorised datasets using documented matching rules and produce a traceable exception list for finance staff.

Matching would use agreed references, dates, values and tolerances rather than unsupported interpretation. Unmatched items would retain links to both datasets, allowing finance staff to investigate timing differences, missing entries or fees without losing the reconciliation trail. A named process owner would maintain the agreed rules, check exceptions and ensure staff understand how to handle failed or incomplete records.

Illustrative UK business scenario

An online retailer investigates unmatched settlements and unexpected payment-provider fees.

Potential benefits

Less manual comparison and faster discrepancy investigation.

We would agree a baseline and success measures before implementation, then compare handling time, record quality and unresolved exceptions during a controlled pilot.

Appropriate controls

Reconcile totals, document tolerances and require approval of adjustments.

Implementation would be quoted to scope after assessing your systems, available integrations and required controls.

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Business owner and accountant reviewing a cash-flow chart together at a laptop.
Cash-Flow Forecasting & Debtor Dashboards
Use case 05 · UC-020

Cash-Flow Forecasting & Debtor Dashboards

The challenge

Manually prepared forecasts become outdated as customer receipts, supplier payments and payroll commitments change.

How SBS Ltd can help

Combine approved financial records with management assumptions and show expected receipts, payments and scenario-based cash positions.

The view would separate confirmed balances from expected receipts and planned expenditure. Management could compare scenarios using visible assumptions, review material changes and identify which customer or supplier items are driving a projected cash requirement. A named process owner would maintain the agreed rules, check exceptions and ensure staff understand how to handle failed or incomplete records.

Illustrative UK business scenario

A professional services SME reviews its anticipated cash position for the coming weeks.

Potential benefits

Earlier visibility of funding gaps and better payment planning.

We would agree a baseline and success measures before implementation, then compare handling time, record quality and unresolved exceptions during a controlled pilot.

Appropriate controls

Separate actuals and projections, state assumptions and review forecasts regularly.

Implementation would be quoted to scope after assessing your systems, available integrations and required controls.

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From idea to practical improvement

Understand. Simplify. Automate where justified.

Understand the work

Review the business problem, existing systems, information and decision owners within an agreed scope.

Choose a useful starting point

Assess value, feasibility and controls before agreeing a focused pilot and implementation scope.

Check the result

Test with realistic examples, confirm ownership and monitor agreed measures before wider use.

Common questions

Before you start

Are these completed SBS client projects?

No. These are illustrative scenarios showing how a workflow could be improved. They do not claim measured customer results or guaranteed outcomes.

Will we need to replace our existing systems?

Not necessarily. We first consider existing processes and tools. Feasibility depends on supported integrations, licences, permissions and data quality.

Can we start with one use case?

Yes. A focused assessment can identify a useful starting point, define success measures and establish an appropriate implementation scope.

How much will implementation cost?

Implementation is quoted to scope. The initial review helps establish the requirements, system dependencies, delivery responsibilities and controls before a solution is commissioned.

A practical next step

Where could a better workflow make a difference?

Start with the business problem. We assess the process, the available information and where automation could add measurable value.

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Consultancy led by SBS. Implementation matched to your needs.

SBS leads the business assessment, workflow design and business case. We select suitable technical delivery expertise alongside discovery, based on the systems, skills and capacity your project requires. Implementation scope, costs, responsibilities and support are agreed after technical validation.