How to Harness the Power of Invoice Automation

Accounts Payable (AP) departments are an integral part of any business. They are responsible for invoice approvals, payment processing, vendor management, and reconcilement. Attempting to manually accomplish these tasks can be time-consuming and tedious. Often, manual processes result in a lack of visibility into cash flow, repeated errors, and difficulties locating and storing invoices.

As much as 93% of finance leaders believe that end-to-end automation can improve their overall processes1. However, many AP departments still rely on manual invoice processing because they are unfamiliar with modern technology or fear a hefty implementation process. Paymerang’s best-in-class Invoice Automation platform seamlessly integrates with various ERPs and often requires less than 10 hours or less of staff time to implement.

What is Invoice Automation?

AP practitioners know that processing invoices is a critical step in the Procure-to-Pay Process but can be burdensome to manage when done manually. Automation streamlines processing and approvals, guaranteeing a more efficient process. For example, once an AP department receives an invoice from a vendor, invoice automation utilizes technology to extract and analyze invoice data before inputting it into your accounting system. Gone are the days when employees spend hours manually entering data into the system.

How does Invoice Automation Work?

Through the automated system, invoices can be received by email, fax, or through document uploads. Artificial intelligence technology then scans the invoice and pulls out the relevant data in a matter of seconds. Invoice details are then summarized for staff to review, modify G/L coding, add comments, and approve or reject the invoice. Finally, information is posted to the General Ledger, where a detailed document history is available on demand.

Why should AP Teams leverage Invoice Automation?

By leveraging a best-in-class Invoice Automation platform, you can help your organization:

  • Go paperless

Implementing automation is one of the quickest ways to reduce costs in your organization. In 2021, the average cost of processing a paper invoice was $10.89, up 8% from the previous year2. This price tag quickly adds up for businesses that process a large number of invoices. Paperless document management is another cost-saving perk. With a virtual filing cabinet in place, finance teams no longer have to spend extra money on storage space filled with overflowing banker boxes. Your department could enjoy a 60%-70% reduction in costs just by digitally processing invoices.

  • Gain efficiency

AP specialists spend around 84% of their day on tedious, manual tasks3. Invoice automation drives efficiency by eliminating manual data entry and having documents ready for approval much faster than traditional processing. As a result, users save around 80% of time with an electronic approach compared to the average 10 days it takes to process a paper invoice manually4. Another added benefit is processing 5 times more invoices in the same amount of time it takes to do it the traditional way, allowing users to take more advantage of early payment discounts. With streamlined and automated workflows, employees have more time to focus on high-value initiatives and mission-critical tasks.

  • Gain visibility into the accounts payable process, including every invoice and its approval status

Automated invoice processing software gives designated users instant access to invoices and their approval status. This data gives you a better understanding of cash flow and what steps need to be taken to ensure your business is improving the bottom line.

  • Improve accuracy

Human errors are inevitable when it comes to manual data entry. Invoice Automation eliminates all manual data entry throughout the invoice process, slashing mistakes by 80% and ensuring that data is always accurate.

Invoice Automation Features:

Choosing an Invoice Automation software can feel daunting when considering moving away from your current AP process. Partnering with a company whose solution provides intuitive and easy-to-use features ensures your AP department can seamlessly transition into the digital age.

Features and their benefits:

  •  Automated Invoice Ingestion into System
    • Digitizing invoices eliminates the need for collecting stacks of paper invoices.
  • Intelligent Data Capture Powered by Artificial Intelligence
    • The most powerful Invoice Automation technology uses Amazon Textract to automatically extract text, handwriting, and data from scanned documents, to eliminate manual data entry. Textract provides 85%-90% accuracy, whereas optical character recognition (OCR) typically provides around 75% accuracy.
  • Invoice Separator
    • Enables users to upload in bulk and streamline invoice processing workflow.
  • Document History and Archive Page

Users benefit from a less stressful audit season because automated AP solutions simplify the audit process by eliminating paper chasing, reducing the risk of human error, maintaining an audit trail, and benefitting from increased security. Also helpful, document history allows users to search through any uploaded invoices and also see who an invoice is awaiting approval from in real-time. 

  • G/L Type Ahead
    • Allows for pre-populated G/L codes when typing, eliminating the need to key in lengthy codes.
  • Tiered Approvals
    • Invoices are electronically routed through all required approvers, eliminating invoices getting lost in the shuffle and removing any guesswork on who an invoice is sitting with.
  • Express User
    • Allows an approver to log into the system quickly on a desktop or mobile device to process invoices. This ensures business continuity as staff can approve invoices from anywhere.
  • Multifactor Authentication
    • Provides an extra layer of security protection to combat the growing risk of fraud.
  • Approver Bypass
    • Ability to process invoices that do not require approval because they have been pre-approved or are under a certain threshold.
  • HIPAA-Compliant
    • Safeguards confidential patient information within the platform.

Premier invoice automation software turns inefficient processes into digital wins. The features of a top-performing solution empower AP departments, allowing them to transform their business from top to bottom line.

To learn more about Paymerang’s Invoice Automation platform, schedule a demo and learn how your team can seamlessly start automating invoice management and focus more time on what they do best.


Sources:

1InsightAvenue, 2022

2Ardent Partners

3IOFM

4Ardent Partners

Erroll Amacker

Erroll Amacker

Erroll Amacker is the Account Executive for Paymerang's Invoice Automation software within our Education vertical. Erroll was the first to move into the Account Executive role for our Invoice Automation solution which Paymerang brought to market in 2019 and ramped up sales and marketing for in 2020. He has enjoyed the fast pace and variety that blitz scaling a new product to market has brought to the company and continues to focus on the product's growth focusing on both Lower and Higher Education.