In today’s fast-paced financial world, manual workflows for approvals and reporting can lead to inefficiencies, errors, and wasted time. Epicor BPMs (Business Process Management) offer a robust solution for automating and streamlining financial workflows, enabling businesses to optimize operations, improve accuracy, and make data-driven decisions.

This guide explores how Epicor BPMs can be utilized to automate approvals and reporting, helping businesses achieve seamless financial processes. With actionable insights, this post focuses on empowering businesses without any sales pitch.

What Are Epicor BPMs?

Epicor BPMs are a set of tools within the Epicor ERP system designed to automate, manage, and optimize workflows. These tools allow businesses to:

• Enforce business rules across departments.
• Automate repetitive tasks.
• Streamline reporting processes.
• Improve the accuracy and efficiency of workflows.

When applied to financial workflows, Epicor BPMs can transform complex processes into streamlined operations that save time, reduce errors, and ensure compliance.

Benefits of Automating Financial Workflows with Epicor BPMs

1. Time Efficiency
   Automating manual tasks, such as approvals or report generation, significantly reduces the time spent on repetitive processes.

2. Enhanced Accuracy
   Epicor BPMs enforce business rules and validate data at every step, minimizing the risk of human error.

3. Cost Reduction
   By automating processes, businesses can reduce operational costs associated with manual labor and errors.

4. Compliance and Audit Readiness
   Automated workflows maintain a clear audit trail, ensuring compliance with financial regulations and standards.

5. Real-Time Insights
   Automated reporting provides stakeholders with up-to-date financial data for better decision-making.

Automating Approvals with Epicor BPMs

Approval processes in finance often involve multiple layers of authorization, leading to bottlenecks and delays. Epicor BPMs address these challenges through automation.

1. Multi-Level Approval Workflows

• Set up workflows that route documents like invoices, expense reports, or purchase orders to the appropriate approvers based on thresholds or roles.
• Example: Invoices under $5,000 can be auto-approved, while those above are routed to managers.

2. Conditional Approvals

• Use conditional triggers to automate approvals based on predefined criteria, such as budget limits or vendor requirements.

3. Notifications and Alerts

• Epicor BPMs can send automated reminders to approvers for pending actions, reducing delays.

4. Real-Time Status Updates

• Provide visibility into the status of approvals to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Example Use Case:

• A company automates its expense approval workflow:
  • Expenses below $1,000 are auto-approved.
  • Expenses above $1,000 are routed to department heads.
  • Notifications are sent for pending approvals.
• Result: The approval time is cut by 40%, and errors are reduced.

Automating Financial Reporting with Epicor BPMs

Financial reporting is critical for decision-making but often involves manual data gathering and formatting. Epicor BPMs can automate this process to improve speed and accuracy.

1. Scheduled Report Generation

• Create workflows that generate recurring reports, such as monthly financial statements, quarterly summaries, or annual budgets.
• Example: Automate the creation of balance sheets every month.

2. Real-Time Data Integration

• Pull real-time data from Epicor ERP to generate accurate reports without manual intervention.

3. Customizable Report Templates

• Design templates for financial reports to ensure consistency across reporting cycles.

4. Automatic Distribution

• Set up workflows to distribute reports to relevant stakeholders via email or shared dashboards.

5. Dashboards for KPIs

• Use Epicor BPMs to feed real-time financial data into dashboards, giving executives instant visibility into key performance indicators.

Example Use Case:

• A CFO needs a weekly cash flow report.
  • Epicor BPMs automatically generate and email the report every Monday morning.
  • Result: The finance team saves 8 hours per week, and the CFO gets timely insights.

Steps to Implement Epicor BPMs for Financial Workflows

1. Map Existing Workflows

   • Document your current approval and reporting processes to identify inefficiencies.

2. Define Business Rules

   • Establish clear rules for approvals, such as thresholds for auto-approvals or escalations.

3. Design Workflows in Epicor BPM Designer

   • Use the BPM Designer to create workflows with triggers, conditions, and actions tailored to your needs.

4. Test and Validate

   • Run test scenarios to ensure workflows function as intended. Address any issues before full implementation.

5. Monitor and Optimize

   • Use Epicor’s built-in monitoring tools to track workflow performance and make adjustments for continuous improvement.

Best Practices for Epicor BPMs in Financial Workflows

• Start Simple: Begin with small workflows and gradually automate more complex processes.
• Regularly Audit Workflows: Review workflows periodically to ensure they align with evolving business needs.
• Leverage Data Validation: Use BPMs to enforce data validation at every step to maintain accuracy.
• Train Your Team: Provide training to employees involved in using and managing Epicor BPM workflows.
• Focus on Scalability: Design workflows that can adapt to future business growth and complexity.

Key Metrics to Track for Financial Workflow Automation

1. Approval Cycle Time: Measure the time taken from submission to final approval.
2. Error Rates: Track the frequency of errors in financial data or workflows.
3. Report Generation Time: Measure how quickly reports are created and distributed.
4. Cost Savings: Calculate the reduction in operational costs due to automation.

Real-World Impact of Epicor BPMs

Case Study:
A manufacturing company implemented Epicor BPMs to automate purchase order approvals and monthly financial reporting.

• Challenges: Delays in approvals caused missed deadlines, and manual reporting consumed significant time.
• Solution:
  • Automated PO approvals based on amount thresholds.
  • Scheduled monthly financial reports with automatic distribution to stakeholders.
• Results:
  • Approval times reduced by 50%.
  • Reporting time reduced from 5 hours to 30 minutes.

Conclusion

Epicor BPMs offer a powerful way to automate financial workflows, from streamlining approvals to generating real-time reports. By reducing manual effort and increasing efficiency, businesses can focus on strategic growth rather than operational bottlenecks.

At Epicforce Tech, we specialize in helping businesses harness the full potential of Epicor BPMs. Whether you’re looking to automate approvals, reporting, or other financial workflows, our expertise ensures seamless implementation and maximum ROI.