Breaking Bottlenecks: A Global Bottler’s Accounts Payable Transformation
The company is a leading franchise bottler in the Liquid Refreshment Beverages (LRB) sector, producing and distributing a wide portfolio of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages across multiple regions. With a large supplier network and high daily transaction volumes, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and timely payments are critical to sustaining smooth business operations. The organization has also been recognized with several accolades, including the Caleb Bradham Gold Award for “Quality Excellence” in 2020 and the Caleb Bradham Platinum Award for “Best of the Best” in 2021.
As operations scaled, the company faced growing complexity in its accounts payable processes. Manual invoice handling, multiple touchpoints for approvals, and fragmented workflows slowed processing, increased the risk of errors, and limited visibility for finance teams. Ensuring timely supplier payments and maintaining compliance became increasingly challenging, creating a pressing need for a centralized and automated solution. To address these challenges, the company partnered with Incture, implementing Cherrywork’s Accounts Payable Automation from its Suite of Digital Solutions to streamline workflows and enhance visibility and compliance.
The company’s accounts payable operations faced increasing demands as transaction volumes grew, creating a strong business need to maintain timely and accurate supplier payments. Manual invoice processing required finance teams to enter data from emails, PDFs, and other formats multiple times, track approvals across different staff members, and ensure every payment was reconciled correctly. These manual steps often caused delays in processing, missed or late payments, and increased the risk of errors, impacting cash flow management and straining supplier relationships. Finance staff spent significant time resolving discrepancies, following up on payment status, and correcting mistakes—tasks that took away from strategic planning and decision-making.
In addition, high volumes of invoices submitted in various formats, repetitive manual tasks, and fragmented workflows highlighted the need for a more efficient approach. From a business perspective, the company required a centralized, automated, and integrated solution that could streamline invoice processing, enhance operational governance, reduce manual effort, and provide clear, end-to-end visibility from invoice receipt to payment—enabling finance teams to focus on strategic priorities and maintain strong supplier relationships.
To address these challenges, a centralized and automated accounts payable workflow was implemented using Cherrywork Accounts Payable Automation. The solution integrated seamlessly with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, enabling automated invoice posting, validation, and reconciliation directly within the ERP system. Supplier invoices submitted via email were automatically captured and processed, and configurable workflows ensured smooth approvals and validations without the need for repetitive manual intervention. High-volume and repetitive tasks were handled by the system, allowing finance teams to focus on exceptions, discrepancies, and strategic activities.
The automation provided real-time visibility into invoice status, approvals, and exceptions, giving finance teams full control over cash flow, payment timelines, and
operational compliance. Rule-based workflows and exception-handling mechanisms ensured accuracy, consistency, and adherence to internal policies and audit requirements. By consolidating workflows and standardizing processes, the accounts payable function transformed from a manually intensive task into a scalable, efficient, and insight-driven operation—reducing errors, accelerating invoice cycles, and strengthening supplier relationships.
The solution delivered measurable impact. By leveraging the solution, the company’s accounts payable operations were transformed into a streamlined, efficient, and transparent function. Manual workloads were reduced by 60–80%, and reliance on email-based approvals was eliminated, allowing finance teams to focus on strategic tasks such as vendor management, cash flow planning, and compliance monitoring. Invoice processing cycles, which had previously required multiple manual touchpoints, were significantly shortened, enabling on-time payments and the ability to capitalize on dynamic payment term discounts.
End-to-end visibility across the accounts payable process empowered finance teams to track invoice status from receipt to payment, resolve exceptions more effectively, and maintain a centralized, audit-compliant repository. The transformation enhanced operational efficiency, reduced transactional errors, strengthened governance, and established a scalable accounts payable framework capable of supporting sustained business growth.
