Overview
Our client RSC Group, HVAC service provider received a high-priority audit request from multi-states of the United States, requiring them to produce every invoice and corresponding tax calculations within a strict 15-day timeframe. Brickclay was engaged to address this challenge, which was compounded by the company’s complex data infrastructure – invoices were scattered across multiple databases, hindering efficient extraction and validation.
Challenges
RSC Group needed to provide every invoice along with validated tax information. However, their system stored multiple invoice copies in multiple databases, making bulk extraction and validation a challenge.
- Multiple Invoice Copies: Invoices existed in separate databases, hindering efficient extraction.
- Disparate Data Storage: Invoice data resided in siloed databases, creating a significant obstacle to bulk extraction for audit purposes.
- Manual Validation Inefficiency: Traditional, manual validation of tax calculations across thousands of individual invoice PDFs was time-consuming and prone to errors.
- Time-Sensitive Response: The 15-day deadline imposed immense pressure to deliver a comprehensive and accurate response to the tax authorities.
Solution
Brickclay deployed a multi-disciplinary team of software, data, and quality assurance engineers to develop a customized solution:
- Automated Invoice Extraction: Our team designed software to access disparate document databases and seamlessly convert binary data into a readily accessible format – bulk PDFs.
- Intelligent Invoice Identification: We developed algorithms to meticulously identify each invoice’s final, client-approved version within the extracted set.
- Automated Data Scraping and Validation: Custom software routines were created to extract critical data points, such as invoice totals, taxes, labor costs, and travel expenses, directly from the PDFs and consolidate them into a centralized Excel workbook.
- Cross-System Verification: The extracted data underwent a rigorous validation process by being compared against the source ticketing and invoicing systems, ensuring complete data accuracy.
- Quality Assurance: To ensure 100% accuracy, a quality assurance team independently validated the random invoices using established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and also performed functional verification of custom software utility.
Benefits
Brickclay’s solution empowered the HVAC company to achieve the following:
- Efficient Audit Response: The automated processes facilitated a swift and accurate response to the audit request, enabling the company to deliver validated invoices and tax data to the authorities within the designated 10-day timeframe.
- Enhanced Financial Operations: Beyond the immediate audit needs, the custom software transformed into a permanent utility tool for the finance department.
- Streamlined Bulk Processing: The solution established an efficient framework for future bulk extraction and validation of invoices, significantly reducing processing time and effort.
- Actionable Data Insights: The extracted and validated data, readily available in the central workbook, empowered the finance department to conduct further analysis and generate insightful reports.
Next Steps
Brickclay’s expertise in custom software development played a pivotal role in assisting the HVAC leader in navigating a complex data challenge and successfully responding to a demanding tax audit. The solution not only delivered immediate results but also yielded long-term benefits by automating manual tasks, ensuring data accuracy, and providing valuable digital data for informed financial decision-making. This case study exemplifies Brickclay’s commitment to providing innovative solutions that empower businesses to optimize their financial operations and achieve greater efficiency.
