Case Studies

How Coopera Digitized Accounts Payable and ERP Integration for a National Leading Cancer Institute

11 May 2025 No comments yet

Organization

A leading national institute for oncology research and treatment, operating under the Italian public healthcare system as a recognized Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization, and Healthcare (IRCCS). The organization plays a critical role in biomedical research, specialized clinical care, and the administration of public health services, managing a complex ecosystem of suppliers, contracts, and regulated procedures.

The Challenge

The Institute was required to comply with stringent national and European payment regulations, mandating that all invoices be settled within 60 days and undergo strict financial, legal, and operational checks prior to approval.

With hundreds of vendors and thousands of monthly invoices, the Accounts Payable department had to manage a high volume of:

  1. Supplier contracts
  2. Purchase orders
  3. Invoices and delivery confirmations
  4. Tax and social security documentation

Manual processing led to delays, bottlenecks, and audit risks. The Institute aimed to automate the full lifecycle of invoice verification, approval, and settlement, while remaining compliant with ERP, audit, and healthcare sector standards.

The Solution

The Institute adopted the Coopera Enterprise Content and Process Automation Platform, implemented with the support of Interdata and KPMG, to digitize and orchestrate all Accounts Payable workflows.

Key components included:

  1. Document Management – for archiving contracts, orders, delivery slips, and invoices
  2. Case Management – creation of payment cases with structured digital folders
  3. BPM & Workflow Engine – automation of approval, matching, and escalation workflows
  4. Digital Signature Management – for legally binding approval by AP managers
  5. Task Management – for dynamic task distribution across teams and units
  6. RPA Integration – to automate repetitive validation and matching tasks
  7. SAP for Healthcare Integration – for 3-way invoice matching with PO, RC, and contracts

Every month, over 2,000 invoices are received, processed, validated, and archived automatically. Each invoice is enriched with metadata, matched to the relevant order and contract, and routed to the appropriate AP officer based on location and vendor. The system ensures real-time tracking of each step and automatically triggers digital signing for ERP authorization once approved.

Coopera Modules Involved

Coopera empowered a national cancer research institute to digitize and orchestrate the full Accounts Payable (AP) lifecycle—enabling structured, traceable workflows from invoice reception to ERP integration and legal validation.

  • Document Management

    Centralized repository for contracts, invoices, delivery slips, and declarations—archived with classification and metadata indexing.

  • Case Management

    Automatic generation of payment cases grouping all relevant documents and actions into structured digital folders.

  • Human Task Management

    Role-based task assignment for approvers, controllers, and procurement officers—monitored through SLA and exception tracking.

  • Process Automation

    End-to-end automation of invoice workflows, from reception to matching, validation, escalation, and approval.

  • Dynamic Web Forms

    Customizable web forms for invoice approval, payment authorization, and exception handling—used by approvers within task workflows.

  • Content Lifecycle Automation

    Structured management of invoice, authorization, and payment document statuses, retention rules, and traceable lifecycle events.

  • Digital Signature

    Legally binding approval via digital signature directly integrated with Coopera’s workflow engine and ERP triggers.

  • Coopera Integration Hub

    Real-time data exchange and three-way matching (PO, invoice, receipt) with the hospital's ERP system.

  • Content Analytics

    Complete traceability of all actions, decisions, and approvals—ensuring audit readiness and compliance with public sector finance standard

Benefits & Results

The platform eliminated paper-based validation steps, enabled full traceability of payment cases, and dramatically reduced invoice processing time and errors. Coopera ensured alignment with legal, financial, and healthcare-specific compliance requirements while improving internal coordination and transparency across finance, procurement, and clinical departments.

Results achieved:

  1. End-to-end automation of invoice reception, validation, and settlement
  2. Seamless integration with ERP for real-time 3-way matching
  3. 100% digital signature workflows, fully compliant with legal and audit requirements
  4. Substantial reduction in processing time and manual effort
  5. Improved supplier satisfaction through timely payments and reduced disputes
  6. Full audit traceability of every action and decision in the AP process
  7. Better workload distribution, with automated task routing and SLA monitoring

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