OBOS: Rydoo Accounts Payable automates the posting of half a million invoices

By choosing Rydoo Accounts Payable's AI solution, OBOS now has an automation rate of 83 per cent, freeing up more than seven FTEs.

When OBOS, one of the Nordic region's largest homebuilders and one of Norway's largest accounting firms, changed its invoicing system, it could have stuck with a traditional solution. Instead, it chose to think innovatively and used the opportunity to digitalise what was largely a manual process. OBOS selected Rydoo Accounts Payable's artificial intelligence (AI) solution, and within a year it had reached an automation rate of 75 per cent. Now, less than two years after implementation, the automation rate has risen to 83 per cent, freeing up more than seven FTEs.

"Our somewhat ambitious goal was for our solution to make approving invoices more enjoyable," says Hilde Rannem Rostad, Director of Digitalisation of Financial Services at OBOS.

The housing association has an ambitious group strategy in which artificial intelligence is defined as a priority area.

"When we were planning to replace our invoicing system, it was natural to look for new technology and solutions that would carry our processes well into the future, while also delivering added value to our customers. That's how we came across Rydoo Accounts Payable," says Rostad.

AI is a strategic choice for OBOS

Rostad's department provides accounting services for more than 5,000 housing associations and jointly owned properties, with more than 22,000 board members responsible for approving payments in OBOS's proprietary portal, Styrerommet. OBOS processes more than half a million invoices every year, and it was previously not uncommon for advisers at OBOS Eiendomsforvaltning AS to spend several hours a day on relatively simple posting tasks.

"We are very aware that the chairs and members of co-operative housing association boards put in an enormous amount of voluntary work. They perform a socially important task and ensure that the living conditions of hundreds of thousands of people follow an orderly framework. So naturally, it's important for us to help make their job as simple and hassle-free as possible, especially when it comes to managing finances and administration," says Rostad.

"OBOS has made strategic, group-level decisions to make this a reality. One of the most important is to digitalise everything we can in pursuit of simplification, streamlining and smart processes."

"We have stated that artificial intelligence is a priority area for OBOS. I can't think of a more suitable place to start than accounting – with numbers and columns, predictable volumes and often fixed structures."
— Hilde Rannem Rostad, Former Director of Digitalisation of Financial Services, OBOS

A glimpse of the future

In short, implementing Rydoo Accounts Payable has freed up more than seven FTEs that were previously spent processing and posting incoming invoices.

"I'd estimate that each adviser used to spend a couple of hours a day on this task, time they can now spend on work that creates more value," says Rostad.

"Less than two years after implementation, 83 per cent of invoices already flow through the system without us having to deal with them."

"Less than two years after implementation, 83 per cent of invoices already flow through the system without us having to deal with them."
Rannem Rostad, Former Director of Digitalisation of Financial Services, OBOS

"We deal with any invoices that need attention, and because the AI in Rydoo Accounts Payable learns from our feedback, we rarely encounter the same issue twice. This means our advisers have more time for the housing associations and jointly owned properties they're responsible for, which improves the quality of our services."

"Rydoo Accounts Payable reads invoices down to line level, which generates more data than a traditional solution. This will enable us to deliver reliable predictive analyses to our customers," Rostad concludes.