Hospitality

ZFV modernizes accounts payable with AI

One of Switzerland’s leading hospitality groups replaced manual invoice checking with AI-powered recognition, live in three weeks across more than 220 operations.

Overhead view of a table set with salads, a burger, wraps and red drinks.

76%

Posted without correction

40,000

Invoices per FTE annually

Transparent approvals

Real-time status visibility

Industry

Hospitality

Headquarters

Switzerland

ERP

Abacus

Automated processes

Non-PO Invoices

Objective

Process Automation & Error Reduction

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A process under pressure

The ZFV Cooperative is one of Switzerland’s leading hospitality and catering groups. Founded in 1894, ZFV is guided by a strong social mission: sustainable nutrition, fair and inclusive working conditions, and welcoming spaces for people to meet. With more than 220 operations nationwide, from restaurants and hotels to canteens and childcare facilities, each business area runs its own processes and systems.

Each year, Claudia Königshofer, Head of Accounts Payable, and her team process 120,000 non-PO invoices from around 19,000 suppliers. Roughly 60% arrive via EDI, the rest as PDFs. The existing setup was reaching its limits: data extraction errors, IT dependency for every adjustment, a high manual workload, and slow approvals caused by a lack of transparency.

“Our previous system struggled with invoice recognition. Almost every invoice had to be checked and corrected manually.”

Claudia Königshofer

Head of Accounts Payable, ZFV

AI as a new team member: Go-live in 3 weeks

Through a service provider, ZFV introduced BLP, an AI-powered process automation solution. The decision for BLP was driven by: generic recognition with precise line-item extraction across multiple document formats, including cost centers on the invoice and without prior training; a centralized interface managing all legal entities in one platform; independent supplier setup for EDI with no IT involvement needed.

Less manual work, more clarity

With intelligent recognition, validation, automated postings and workflow integration, ZFV achieved accurate capture, with all relevant invoice information extracted correctly at line-item level and no prior training required. Straight-through processing means posting, tax codes and other labor-intensive tasks now run automatically, so the team only handles exceptions and invoices flagged by BLP for review. Extracted documents are automatically matched against master data synchronized from Abacus. And a clear task overview, easy team allocation and fast approvals, thanks to the user-friendly BLP Web App and its underlying workflow engine, keep collaboration efficient across every stakeholder.

“Our BLP contact acted both as a project lead and sparring partner. During the implementation, we especially benefited from reviewing and optimizing our processes together with BLP. So our gains come not only from the software but also from BLP’s consulting expertise.”