Client
City of Parramatta Council
Industry
Government
Focus
AP automation
Product
Tungsten TotalAgility
ERP
TechnologyOne
As one of Australia’s fastest-growing local government organisations, City of Parramatta Council required a modern, scalable approach to accounts payable. Partnering with Xcellerate IT, the Council transformed a paper-heavy, manually intensive AP function into a streamlined, digital workflow built on the Tungsten TotalAgility platform and integrated with TechnologyOne Financials.
Processing more than 40,000 paper and electronic supplier invoices annually, the Council now benefits from faster processing, improved visibility, reduced costs and stronger service delivery to both internal stakeholders and suppliers.
“We have become a paperless department. We now spend less time on data entry, searching through paper files and answering internal and external queries”
Veronica Correa
Team Leader Accounts at City of Parramatta Council
The Accounts Payable team at City of Parramatta Council was under increasing pressure from rising invoice volumes and manual processes. Each month, approximately 3,500 invoices arrived via mail and email in multiple formats and were then circulated for approval through internal mail envelopes.
This paper-centric process frequently led to delays, misplaced invoices and late payments. Staff spent significant time on data entry, document handling and searching for invoices, making it difficult to meet customer service standards.
As the organisation continued to grow, the existing process became unsustainable. Overtime became routine, resourcing was difficult to manage during staff leave, and the AP team lacked visibility across the end-to-end invoice lifecycle. The Council needed a solution that could automate invoice processing, reduce reliance on paper and leverage its existing ERP investment.
“We used to have four full-time employees in Accounts Payable, plus a senior manager involved in invoice processing. Every time a staff member was on leave, we had to source additional resources”, said Veronica.
“Overtime became necessary to keep up with the paperwork, and staff found it difficult to quickly locate invoices, reducing their ability to respond promptly to customer enquiries.”
City of Parramatta Council had an established relationship with Xcellerate IT, having previously implemented an automated invoice processing solution based on Kofax Capture in 2011. To further advance its digital transformation, the Council extended this partnership in 2018 by upgrading to Tungsten TotalAgility.
Tungsten TotalAgility provided a robust, enterprise-grade platform to standardise and manage invoice processing across the organisation. The solution automatically captures invoices received via email and paper, extracts and validates key data and uploads it directly into TechnologyOne Financials through a web-based interface.
Xcellerate IT worked closely with the Council’s IT and Accounts Payable teams to design and implement a solution tailored to their specific requirements, ensuring seamless ERP integration and minimal disruption during deployment.
“We considered other vendors but selected Xcellerate IT based on their integration experience with our ERP system and their extensive expertise in deploying similar solutions with other councils”, confirmed Veronica.
“The system was implemented on time and within budget”.
The automated solution has transformed invoice processing at City of Parramatta Council into an efficient, end-to-end digital workflow, delivering both financial and operational benefits.
The Council now processes invoices more rapidly and accurately, ensuring suppliers are paid on time while enabling the AP team to manage increasing volumes without additional resourcing.
Key outcomes include:
The solution has delivered a clear return on investment, with cost savings achieved within approximately two years, alongside non-financial benefits such as improved processing speed, stronger governance and more efficient use of internal resources.
Today, City of Parramatta Council operates a fully digitised, scalable accounts payable process that supports growing invoice volumes while maintaining high service standards. The solution continues to deliver measurable value while enabling the organisation to focus on broader operational priorities and community outcomes.
Founded in 1790, Parramatta is one of Australia’s earliest areas of European settlement and today serves as the major geographical, commercial and cultural capital of Western Sydney.
With a population of more than 245,000 residents, City of Parramatta Council delivers over 40 services to support the local community and drive economic growth, urban renewal and liveability across the region.
If you’re exploring how automation could apply in a similar environment, we can help you understand options, constraints and practical considerations.