Simplify Your Financial Operations with Automated Invoice Processing

Automated invoice processing (AIP) is a technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to automate the manual tasks involved in processing invoices. This can include tasks such as data extraction, validation, matching, and approval.

What is automated Invoice Processing?

Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, and success for these organizations is built on securing and supporting a strong customer base and valuable vendor connections. But keeping customers and vendors happy can be a challenge and one of the biggest hurdles is invoicing.

Automated invoice processing software modernizes this workflow. Instead of an employee manually typing data from a PDF or paper document into a system, the software captures the invoice, reads the data using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI, and pushes it through the approval workflow.

This technology is essential for modernizing financial departments. It allows teams to shift focus from repetitive data entry to strategic growth initiatives.

How Does ERP Invoice Processing Work?

When integrated with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, automated invoicing becomes even more powerful. An ERP solution centralizes business-wide data, ensuring that updated, synchronized information is available in real-time to every member of your team.

Here is how the process typically works:

1. Capture: The system receives invoices via email, scan, or portal.
2. Extraction: AI and ML extract key data (date, amount, vendor, line items).
3. Validation: The system matches the invoice against purchase orders and receipts (three-way matching).
4. Approval: Validated invoices are routed automatically for approval based on your rules.
5. Payment: Once approved, the payment is scheduled or executed.

Key Benefits of Automated Invoice Processing

Switching to automated invoice processing software allows you to trade manual headaches for powerful business benefits.

1. Greater Visibility and Accuracy.

With a comprehensive ERP solution, you’ll have a direct sight line into your invoicing process. You’ll know:

• How many invoices are being sent and received.
• How many customers are disputing your invoices and how many vendor invoices you are disputing.
• Which customers are or are not paying their invoices and which invoices you have or haven’t paid.

Such visibility decreases errors and lets you accurately and easily track purchases and revenue from a single solution.

2. Saved Time and Money.

Manually processing invoices is an employee-intensive, time-consuming task. Many steps must be taken, including collecting data, verifying the information on the invoice, getting approvals, routing payments to the appropriate vendor and/or receiving payments from a vendor, and reporting payments for audit purposes.

An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution’s automated accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) workflows reduce human intervention. So, they boost productivity and efficiency as team members shift their attention from gathering and paying money to working on making it.

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3. Centralized Data and Document Storage

An ERP solution pulls information from across the organization and stores it in one database. Your team members will no longer need to access separate applications to gather or enter pertinent information. Instead, you’ll have a single, intuitive dashboard from which you can glean and share data quickly and easily.

4. Shortened Processing and Payment Cycles

With powerful automation through the right ERP system, invoice processing time can be reduced from hours or days to mere seconds. Having shortened processing and payment cycles means you get accurate invoices to your customers faster, which should translate into more prompt payments. And paying your own invoices faster will help you build stronger relationships with your vendors.

Real-World Success with Acumatica

Automated invoice processing is a critical feature for today’s businesses, and companies seeking this capability need to ask themselves an important question—which ERP solution delivers the best results? We believe the answer is Acumatica.

Acumatica is a complete, award-winning cloud ERP solution that offers small and mid-sized businesses like yours the Financial Management software they need to thrive in any industry. In addition to automated invoice processing, real-time insights, quick month-end closes, and continuous help with regulatory compliance, Acumatica provides:

• A single source of companywide truth.
• Powerful reporting, both out of the box and customizable.
• 24/7 mobile access to facilitate remote collaboration.
• Unlimited users, so everyone has the data they need when they need it without extra fees.
• International capabilities—including multi-currency features.

Acumatica’s automated invoice processing, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), saves hours of labor and money for our customers. For instance, it helped FSC Lighting cut invoicing time from up to five days to just 20 minutes.

Chad Treadwell, Vice President of Operations at FSC Lighting, says:

Now [our paperwork is] automatically done each day. Acumatica has brought us so much more control over our business. There were times before when invoices were missed [altogether] and that just doesn’t happen anymore.

And for Yuri Durovskikh, IT Manager at Oil Field Services International (OFSi), Acumatica’s automated invoice processing was an absolute necessity.

[Prior to Acumatica], invoicing was based on manual, paper-based work orders and carbon copies. If we invoiced a customer, it was extremely hard and time-consuming to retrieve all the paperwork related to that order. The sales process was lacking transparency as well because invoicing was done after the fact without sales orders being created. Even worse, the field services invoicing process was paper-based and shipped to main office, and only then was the invoice created and sent to the customer.

With Acumatica, OFSi has reduced its invoicing time from 21 days to the same day. Durovskikh says, “Now we can analyze how late customer payments are, who the biggest customer is at any moment, and how much we have in inventory. We didn’t have this information before.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the difference between manual and automated invoice processing?
A: Manual processing relies on humans to enter data, check for errors, and physically route documents for approval. Automated invoice processing uses software to capture data, validate it against records, and route it for approval instantly without human intervention.

Q: Does automated invoice processing integrate with ERP systems?
A: Yes, top-tier automated invoice processing software is designed to integrate seamlessly with ERP systems. This integration ensures that data flows automatically between your finance, sales, and inventory modules for a “single source of truth.”

Q: How much time can automated invoicing save a business?
A: Automation can reduce processing time significantly, often turning days of work into minutes. For example, Acumatica customers have reported reducing their invoicing cycle from 21 days to a single day.

Q: How does automating invoice processing contribute to compliance, audit readiness, and risk mitigation?
A: Automation reduces errors, creates a secure digital audit trail, enforces compliance checks, and makes audit preparation much simpler and faster.

Q: What key capabilities should you evaluate when selecting an automated invoice processing solution?
A: Look for seamless ERP integration, advanced OCR/AI for accurate data capture, and scalability to support your company’s growth. Prioritize an intuitive, user-friendly interface and robust reporting features for visibility into spending and performance. These capabilities ensure efficiency, accuracy, and actionable insights.