SG Fleet, an ASX-listed Australian vehicle fleet management company, manages over 100,000 vehicles and operates with a global workforce of approximately 400 employees. As the business expanded, managing high volumes of supplier invoices became increasingly complex, creating a need for a scalable and efficient financial processing solution.
The Challenge
With rapid growth in fleet size and supplier networks, SG Fleet faced significant operational challenges:
- Processing over 20,000 invoices per month
- Managing invoices from thousands of suppliers across Australia
- Handling diverse invoice types (repairs, servicing, maintenance, etc.)
- Heavy reliance on manual accounts payable processes
- Increasing document storage and retrieval complexities
- Limited visibility into invoice status and financial workflows
This created a bottleneck in accounts payable, impacting efficiency, costs, and scalability.
The Solution
To overcome these challenges, SG Fleet implemented a hosted accounts payable automation solution powered by Dataline.
Key components of the solution included:
- Invoice Automation & Data Capture
Intelligent document recognition technology to automatically classify and extract invoice data - Multi-Channel Invoice Processing
Ability to process invoices received via email, fax, and post - Dataline Portal
A web-based workflow platform enabling real-time access, validation, and exception handling - Automated Matching & Validation
Integration with supplier and purchase order data to ensure accurate invoice matching - Online Reporting (Fleetintelligence)
Providing customers with access to invoice images and financial insights
Implementation Approach
The solution was implemented with a structured workflow:
- Pre-Indexing of Expected Invoices
SG Fleet provides daily expected invoice data for faster matching - Scanning & OCR Processing
All incoming invoices undergo optical character recognition - Automated Matching
Invoices are matched against pre-indexed data - Exception Handling
Unmatched invoices are flagged and reviewed via the portal - Automated Processing & Payments
Successfully matched invoices are processed and paid automatically
Results
The transformation delivered significant operational and financial benefits:
- 75% of invoices automated, reducing manual workload
- Faster invoice processing times
- Reduced operational and processing costs
- Improved accuracy and reduced human error
- Lower document storage and retrieval costs
- Scalable operations without increasing headcount
Business Impact
The implementation enabled SG Fleet to:
- Seamlessly scale operations alongside business growth
- Improve supplier relationships through faster, more reliable payments
- Enhance customer experience with better visibility into maintenance costs
- Quickly resolve invoice disputes with instant access to digital records
- Gain full transparency across financial workflows
As noted by CEO Andy Mulcaster:
“The solution has enabled us to process more invoices as our business grows without the typical costs associated with this.”
Conclusion
By adopting an automated accounts payable solution, SG Fleet successfully eliminated processing bottlenecks and improved financial efficiency at scale. The transformation not only streamlined operations but also strengthened relationships with suppliers and customers, positioning the company for continued growth. Speak with one of our staff.
Call: +61 2 9882 6301 or Email: sales@dataline.com.au
