July 26, 2023
PENN Entertainment is one of America’s leading providers of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming experiences. The organization operates 43 facilities in the United States and Canada, and implementing sustainable best practices that complement their long-term strategy for expansion is a top priority. Symbeo’s expertise in AP automation and SaaS solutions, as well as its status as a preferred partner with Coupa, drove the decision for PENN Entertainment to partner with Symbeo.
In March 2020, PENN was on the path to implementing Symbeo’s AP solution to help them realize their long-term goal of automating their invoice process. When the pandemic suddenly and radically changed the landscape of their workforce, they knew they needed to find a stopgap solution fast. Faced with the need to rapidly deploy AP resources and the challenge of absorbing additional work without an existing workforce already in place, they looked to Symbeo for solutions.
From the beginning of the partnership, PENN saw the value of Symbeo’s experience in delivering solutions critical to efficient AP operations. At a time when PENN’s staff was limited due to the pandemic, Symbeo quickly implemented its proprietary Virtual AP (VAP) service, a ready workforce of AP professionals who are deployed rapidly to help with any immediate challenges. This offered a smooth transition while Symbeo’s full AP automation solution was being built, tested, and implemented.
The shared goals, commitment to collaboration, and Symbeo’s innovative approach resulted in a solution that was designed to meet their requirements and exceed expectations. Symbeo’s VAP services managed the immediate needs while Symbeo and PENN worked together in parallel to finalize the AP automation solution. Both services continue in place today, with plans to expand moving forward.
Symbeo’s automation solutions significantly reduced the overall cost of the invoice processing operation. Because of this, PENN Entertainment was able to scale their shared service operations, more than doubling the volume of transactions while at the same time seeing a cost reduction, based on a cost per invoice, of approximately 45%.
Symbeo’s expertise in AP automation has led to a notable reduction in the number of invoices being handled manually. Automation rates have jumped by over 23 points, bringing them to over 76% touchless processing. With this solution in place, the automation rate continues to increase.
PENN Entertainment plans to partner with Symbeo to develop solutions for managing other parts of their accounts payable operations, including non-PO-backed invoices and payments automation, and expand their services into 2024.