Manual versus automation: Are invoice processing automation platforms worth it?

Optimizing invoice processing platforms (IPP)

One of the most common, paper-intensive functions facing organizations today is the handling of invoices. In Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivable (AR) departments, spanning institutions across of all sizes, shapes, and markets, employees are spending hundreds of hours handling these common, yet inconsistently structured documents. Organizational and regulatory requirements can even mandate that some invoices take priority, making timelines even more critical. The effective sorting and management of these documents is therefore vital to the flow of payments. But with the high degree of variability, it falls to AP and AR departments to navigate these documents in an expedient and intelligent manner. Gartner cites that intelligent document processing is an integral technology enabling hyperautomation, encompassing a $1.2 billion market. 

The Problem: invoice processing (the manual way)

Handling invoices is typically a time-demanding and paper-intensive task. Vendors, while supplying documentation with generally consistent content, provide invoices in dramatically different formats. This variation makes repeatable processes more difficult to implement and track. Ultimately, it impacts the ability of workers to quickly, effectively, and accurately process the documents, which can impede the flow of payments in an organization. As a result, historically manual invoice processing is subject to a host of problems, including: 

• Manual Data Entry Errors 
• Processing Delays (and potential lateness penalties)
• Compliance and Regulatory Validation Issues
• Lack of process Flexibility and Transparency
• Missed Priorities/Escalations

The Solution: AI-driven invoice processing automation

Using the end-to-end solution, Hero Platform_, users can now leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to implement an Accounts Payable Invoice Automation (APIA) solution. Employing highly flexible integration features, invoices can be read from one or many systems, such as email or from scans stored in file systems. The content of the invoice can then be run against a configurable AI model to classify it. 

For example, it may determine that the invoice is of sufficient value or customer risk or content to make it a high-priority item. This document could then be sent to a web-based human-in-the-loop interface for a rapid review, supporting better prioritization. The invoice could then be sent to a second, pre-trained AI model, designed to extract 30+ critical data points from the document, such as: invoice number/date, customer information, dollar amounts, and line-items. The automation could then clean-up the extracted data, check to see if it’s a duplicate, and ultimately send it to a HITL interface for review. Instead of manually reading and re-keying data into a Financial system or ERP, a human could quickly review the extracted data and only make corrections if needed. With human validation complete, the Hero Platform_ could then communicate directly with the ERP and load all the correct data, including the invoice itself.

ROI: next-gen invoice processing automation with IDP

It is predicted that by 2026, more than half of all organizations implementing a cloud-based ERP will leverage the APIA to manage these kinds of processes. Leveraging this kind of automation through the Hero Platform_, yields a significant number of operational benefits:

• Intelligent, accurate, AI-driven document extraction
  Faster return and benefit with self-service AI features
• Human-review for validation and escalation
  Effectively use your valuable employee skills beyond mundane re-keying tasks, while keeping them fully in-the-loop.
• Minimize penalties for late payments
  Support internal and regulatory payment timelines
• Faster cycle time
  Reduce overall document processing time; make and receive payments faster
• Improved process flexibility and transparency
  Maintain full control over process changes and reporting metrics