Centralized management of the passive cycle and approval workflows | ARXivar

The client company manages a growing number of incoming invoices, credit notes, fee notes, and related due dates. This process involves several business functions: administration, treasury, CFO, and various approvers. The traditional management approach, based on email exchanges, scattered attachments, and Excel files, made it difficult to track approvals, exposed the organization to the risk of losing information and documents, and required a significant amount of time to retrieve past communications.

In addition, there was no single access point for documents related to the accounts payable cycle, nor a structured security system ensuring visibility consistent with each user’s corporate role. The client therefore needed to centralize accounts payable management, digitizing approval workflows and tracking every step in a secure and controlled manner.

The solution implemented in ARXivar introduced a centralized management of the accounts payable cycle, starting from the structured archiving of invoices, credit notes, due dates, and fee notices. All documents are stored in a single document repository and made easily accessible through customized views designed for different business roles. Each user manages their activities through dedicated tasks, with clear and guided interfaces.

The system is integrated with the company ERP. When the ERP assigns an approver to an invoice, ARXivar automatically triggers a workflow that generates the corresponding task and sends a notification to the designated approver. From there, the user can:

• review the invoice;
• add any supporting attachments;
• change the approver, if necessary;
• decide how to proceed.

If the invoice requires a partial or full credit note, the approver can directly initiate the request. These requests follow a dedicated approval path involving the designated approvers and conclude with the management of the invoice reversal.

The workflow is designed to manage not only the main document, but also the fee notes and due dates linked to each invoice. Due dates go through a structured approval cycle involving approver, administration, treasury, and CFO, ensuring full visibility over future outgoing payments. At the end of the process, ARXivar interacts with an external payment application, transmitting the necessary information for settlement. During the various approval stages, users can update amounts, add documents, leave operational notes, and approve or reject requests with just a few clicks.

Particular attention was given to security: each user belongs to a specific group, with visibility rules that restrict access only to the areas and documents relevant to their role. This ensures confidentiality of accounting data and sensitive information throughout the entire process.

Finally, the project placed strong emphasis on user experience. The ARXivar platform was used in white-label mode, replacing default logos and color palettes with those of the client, ensuring consistency with the client’s visual identity. Tasks were designed to be as intuitive as possible, with careful UX/UI work to make them clear, consistent, and engaging. However, this was not only a graphical intervention: layout, text, and information were structured to highlight the most relevant data for approvers (amounts, due dates, request status, notes), enabling fast and informed decision-making based on data.

Automatic notification emails were also customized with company logos and colors, including a clear call to action that leads directly to the relevant task in ARXivar.

The five benefits achieved through the introduction of a centralized accounts payable management system were:

• Reduction of errors and inefficiencies
• Greater transparency and process traceability
• Centralized and reliable governance of accounts payable
• Smoother relationships with suppliers
• Operational efficiency and stronger administrative control