The third-annual AP Honors Ceremony celebrated the accounts payable profession and recognized excellence in the field. During the ceremony, Ardent Partners presented awards for outstanding performance and execution in the last year — “The AP Honors” — to a variety of high achievers including Accounts Payable and P2P leaders and teams, as well as ePayables (AP Automation) solution providers and other experts.
Let’s look at the Technology Excellence award finalist.
The Technology Excellence Award: This award is presented to the AP/Finance team that has leveraged technology solutions to impact AP operations and performance.
Institution: UC San Diego
AP Employees: Approximately 12 employees across the accounts payable process.
Website: https://ucsd.edu/
Key People: Yvonne Grobe, Accounts Payable Manager, UC San Diego, and Victoria Ravelo, E-Invoicing Specialist, UC San Diego
*All data given above is based on publicly available information.
UC San Diego’s AP Transformation: From Manual Processes to True Automation
Prior to embarking on its journey toward accounts payable (AP) transformation, University of California (UC) San Diego’s AP team was weighed down by costly, time-consuming manual processes. Most invoices arrived through traditional mail, creating a heavy operational burden for a team of six full-time employees, mailroom staff, and a student worker tasked with opening, sorting, scanning, indexing, and manually keying invoices into the system. Each processor handled a packet at a time of 50 invoices that often led to delays and visibility gaps. As AP staff participated in higher education networking groups, it became clear that UC San Diego’s AP model was unsustainable — change could no longer wait.
UC San Diego needed to transform its AP processes. Automation and identifying the right technology partner were the answers. Ardent Partners spoke to UC San Diego’s Yvonne Grobe, accounts payable manager, and Victoria Ravelo, e-Invoicing specialist, about the drive toward greater efficiency, scalability, and modernized processes, as well as its partnership with Transcepta, a fully automated AP platform provider.
Tipping Point for Change and a Partnership
With invoices reaching 27,000 per month, Grobe explained that increased processing times coupled with the pressure to accelerate payments through virtual card incentives and the physical strain on staff was the tipping point for change. The team recognized that automation was the key to both efficiency and financial growth. Reaching those goals required a partner, which Grobe and her team found in Transcepta through an RFP. What set the provider apart from others, she said, was its promise of true automation with a touch-free platform. Digitization was key but an end-to-end automated process was essential.
Managing External and Internal Change
UC San Diego faced an early challenge onboarding more than 3,700 suppliers. The team reached out to its top 100 suppliers, focusing on high-volume and high-value relationships while also pairing the initiative with virtual card opportunities. Transcepta stepped in by onboarding the initial 1,400 suppliers. Grobe said a dedicated role was created for supplier outreach, with proactive campaigns informing suppliers of the shift to eInvoicing and its benefits. The university achieved an impressive 97% electronic adoption rate chiefly through verifying accurate supplier contact details and phasing outreach to avoid overwhelming suppliers.
Internally, change management was smoother due to strong executive sponsorship and clear communication, leading to alignment across departments. AP staff viewed the technology shift not as a threat to their roles, explained Grobe, but as an opportunity to focus on higher-value work such as analytics and process improvement. It was also beneficial involving staff in the RFP evaluations and decision-making because it built trust and ownership of the transformation initiative.
AI-Driven Automation and Cloud Technology Pay Dividends
Transcepta’s platform was instrumental in shifting to automated, end-to-end AP processes. Grobe said the transition to Oracle Cloud, coupled with AI-driven automation, eliminated silos and delivered real-time visibility. The integration required collaboration between AP, IT, and technical teams across the university. Using detailed process mapping, there was seamless integration and minimal supplier disruption — with many suppliers unaware of the university’s back-end system changes.
Ultimately, the accuracy and speed of AI accelerated approvals and payments, which resulted in improved supplier satisfaction. Ravelo said the AP team was able to reduce its invoice approval time from 30 days to just hours, transforming supplier relationships by increasing their confidence in UC San Diego’s ability to process payments quickly and accurately. Through the Transcepta platform, suppliers can track invoices and reconcile accounts independently.
While automation reduced staffing needs by 90%, staff were relocated into more strategic functions, including a centralized customer service team to resolve inquiries across procure-to-pay functions. Ravelo said former data entry tasks transformed into a focus on supplier communication, exception handling, and account reconciliation that now add value to supplier partnerships. Supplier outreach continues to encourage suppliers to embrace full automation.
UC San Diego is a testament to how AP transformation through automation can replace manual processes while reducing costs and strengthening supplier relationships. The combination of a supportive technology partner and executive stakeholders illustrates what is possible when change is essential for efficient and effective AP processes.
