The Industry Landscape: Re-thinking Accounts Payable for a Digital-first Future
Across the insurance sector, finance leaders are under pressure to reduce cost leakage, enforce compliance and accelerate payment cycles while managing risk and supplier relationships across geographies. Manual, fragmented accounts payable processes, high reliance on non-Purchase Order (PO) transactions and legacy systems limit control and visibility.
As organizations look to scale, there is an urgent need to harmonize operational expertise with intelligent accounts payable ecosystems and automation, re-positioning the function as a value enabler. Complex regulatory environments and globally dispersed operations require digital accounts payable solutions that are secure, agile and designed for sustained efficiency.
The Client Challenge: Manual Processes, Compliance Gaps & Rising Risk
The client, a global insurance brokerage firm, faced significant inefficiencies within its Source-to-Pay (S2P) function, especially in the accounts payable process. Key challenges included:
Operational Inefficiencies
Productivity was hindered by fragmented, country-specific rules and user roles, with processes tied to individual countries and operating units – leading to longer transaction cycles and delayed payments across more than 80 countries and 200+ operating units globally
Vendor Onboarding Delays
Manual supplier onboarding lacked cyber risk assessments and resulted in integration delays
Manual, Fragmented Processes
Processing 450K invoices annually with limited automation led to delays and compliance lapses
Inconsistent Financial Controls
Disconnected systems and a lack of real-time validation exposed the firm to financial inaccuracies
Non-PO Environment
98 percent of invoices were processed without POs, increasing the risk of maverick spends and duplicate payments
Poor Visibility and User Experience
Limited query resolution and manual payment processes caused vendor dissatisfaction and strained stakeholder engagement
The decentralized structure made it challenging to implement unified controls, analyze spend and proactively respond to business needs across global markets – making a case for global accounts payable automation.
The Solution: A Digitized, Standardized and Centralized Accounts Payable Framework
WNS collaborated closely with the client to re-imagine their global accounts payable function – by design. Working as one unified team, we successfully drove business success and aligned with the client’s strategic objectives.
The initiative was anchored in a clearly defined S2P maturity curve, encompassing end-to-end process and technology integration across 80+ countries. A dedicated project team worked closely with business units and project sponsors to design standardized workflows, facilitate stakeholder alignment and ensure rapid, scalable deployment.
The cornerstone of this transformation was the transition from multiple ERPs to a single global ERP spanning several countries and more than 200 operating units, enabling uniformity, efficiency and scalability. Underpinned by a robust governance framework, the engagement featured structured progress reviews, proactive risk mitigation and coordinated execution to accelerate time-to-value while reinforcing compliance.
Key elements of the solution included:
1. Process Standardization & Global ERP Alignment
- Migrated from fragmented systems to a Single Global ERP, creating a unified accounts payable backbone and improving governance
- Rolled out standardized accounts payable policies and documentation across countries, supported by multi-lingual templates and SOPs
- Ensured global policy adherence through structured governance and periodic Key Performance Indicator (KPI)-led reviews
2. Digital & Intelligent Automation Led Supply Onboarding & Governance
- Migrated from manual invoice processing to e-Invoicing, deploying Tungsten to enhance processing cycle time and improve on-time payments across countries. Successfully deployed the e-Invoicing portal across 32 countries
- Deployed Apex Analytics to establish a robust supplier onboarding framework, reinforcing compliance and operational control
- Integrated OneTrust for comprehensive risk management, ensuring regulatory and secure data governance
- Deployed Oversight to automate employee travel and entertainment expense audits, improving accuracy and fraud detection
- Introduced a chatbot for the accounts payable helpdesk, streamlining query resolution with reduced agent dependency
3. Operational Efficiency & Duplicate Payment Prevention
4. Data Visibility & Strategic Reporting
- Implemented a centralized KPI reporting model using Qlik dashboards
- Delivered data-led decision-making through custom KPIs and unified reporting across all operating units
- Supported performance optimization and issue tracking through consistent reporting on compliance, cycle times and spend control
Through this accounts payable transformation, WNS harmonized human ingenuity with intelligent ecosystems – optimizing compliance, accelerating cycle times and setting the foundation for business innovation.
The Outcome: Intelligent Accounts Payable Operations with Tangible, Measurable Impact
The engagement delivered significant and measurable impact across key financial and operational metrics:
~ percent improvement in on-time payments across more than 80 countries through e-invoicing
>USD Million in cost avoidance through duplicate payment prevention
USD Million in productivity gains via automation and digitization
percent PO compliance achieved through strict enforcement
percent of all payments digitized, improving vendor satisfaction and processing speed
percent of invoices processed via e-invoicing across countries
USD Billion global spend managed under a unified governance framework