RPA: Automating the Invoice Process
The Accounts Payable department encounters one of the most paper-intensive tasks. Managing invoices takes an extensive amount of employee hours per month. Manual invoice processing is often a costly operation due to the mistakes that can occur and the slower processing speed. In addition, any tardiness could result in an expensive fee structure and lead to disruptions with payments.
The Account Receivable team is faced with a complex scenario, as customers and vendors each use distinct invoice forms, making it difficult for personnel to keep track of the data and subsequently issue invoices that match information provided.
Challenges faced by enterprises in today's economy
- Quicker payments to vendors
- Lengthy manual process and a considerable potential for error
- Avoiding late payment penalty
- Faster cycle to complete the process
Solution
By incorporating Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, bots can rapidly digitize, validate, and review purchase order data in order to create invoices. This automation relieves F&A personnel of the burden of manual labour while minimizing financial risks associated with late or faulty payments. RPA accelerates the entire invoice processing by enabling quicker collection of funds, thus maximizing revenue with precise invoices delivered to customers.
RPA can help to streamline and simplify your invoice process. RPA offers an efficient and cost-effective solution to automate the tedious manual tasks associated with invoicing. In this blog article, we'll explore how RPA can be used to automate the invoice process, from start to finish. Read on to find out how RPA can help you save time and money!
Why should you use RPA to Automate Invoice Processing?
A common question that every enterprise asks before implementing RPA is - How Long Does It Take to Process an Invoice? To answer that at times, the duration of paying an invoice can extend up to almost a month. By utilizing automation however, certain invoices may be settled in a matter of days, presuming the business will benefit from doing so.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has become the go-to solution for companies seeking to streamline their invoice processing. By automating the tedious, manual steps of invoice processing, companies can improve efficiency and reduce costs. With RPA, businesses can quickly and accurately process invoices with minimal human intervention.
With digitization and automation on the rise, these statistics suggest organizations are not taking full advantage of streamlining their finances and accounting. A high proportion of manual labour reflects a lack of optimization and absence of uniform payment management protocols, potentially resulting in delayed payments and excessive labour expenditure.
The potential of automation in invoice processing -
Given the vital importance of financial operations to an organization's success, it is understandable why there might be hesitancy in trusting Robotic Process Automation for duties such as handling invoices related to accounts payable.
Suppliers can send invoices to businesses in a variety of formats, such as paper, Microsoft Word, PDF attachment or fax. Companies must carefully input the data from these invoices into their database and address any discrepancies accordingly, which falls within the domain of their finance team.
Coming up against these complexities makes it practically impossible to always manage invoices in the same way, which, consequently, leads to manual invoice processing by corporate employees. Furthermore, since the data enclosed in these documents is usually unstructured, this labour-intensive task demands an excessive amount of time and opens up a door for potential mistakes.
All these business operations are not required to be performed manually. RPA can help perform these tasks.
30x Faster Invoice Processing by RPA
Invoice Process with RPA
Robotics Process Automation (RPA) offers substantial improvement potential in the area of finance and accounting, with invoice management taking a top spot among them. The use of RPA software robots is highly beneficial when it comes to data entry, resolving errors and making certain decisions that are part of invoice operations. Moreover, automation can be an effective guard against mistakes in these procedures and reduce the manual intervention needed for troubleshooting.
RPA can be utilized for the entire cycle to swiftly transfer an invoice from receipt to payment.
How RPA Software perform the tasks to automate the process-
Invoice
RPA software is capable to scan a specific folder on an ongoing basis, keeping tabs on incoming invoices which have been saved in PDF format by staff members (or other robotic programs). Upon detection of the document, the robots commence in extracting relevant information from it.
Extraction
By utilizing the synthesized capabilities of OCR and NLP, automated programs are capable of deciphering the relevant data imprinted on invoices. After extracting the key components from each invoice, robots log in to the company's database or ERP system and commence processing the invoices chronologically by transferring over all applicable information.
Notification
Upon completion of the registration process for each invoice, the robotic software sends out notifications to the relevant personnel or provider through email. An exception will result in an email being directed to the concern person as well.
Additionally in the back-end the software robots also perform mundane functions such as overseeing the devoted invoice folder or email address, ascertaining that the business database is operating properly, and validating if vendor particulars in the invoice are consistent with what is already present in database.
Leading IT Service Company Automate Invoice Processing by Implementing RPA
A leading global IT service company based out of US implemented RPA to reduce time and effort in their client's invoice process. The company was looking to eliminate manual data entry process and automate invoice processing.
The RPA process helped to reduce the cycle time and eliminate human error. Reduce the process time by 80% and 100% accuracy in data extension and invoice processing. The process helped to bring down the overall cost and annual saving. Read the case study here.
Benefits of using RPA to Automate Invoicing Process
The primary advantage of using RPA for invoice process automation is that it eliminates manual errors. By using automated processes, businesses can ensure that all invoices are accurate and complete. This reduces the risk of costly errors or delays in payment due to incorrect data entry or other manual errors. Additionally, RPA can speed up the invoice processing time significantly compared to traditional methods.
Additionally, using RPA for invoice process automation is that it enables businesses to quickly detect discrepancies between invoices and purchase orders. By automatically scanning each document for accuracy, businesses can quickly identify any discrepancies that may result in costly disputes or delays in payment. This helps to ensure that payments are processed accurately and on time.
Finally, RPA can provide businesses with increased visibility into their accounts payable processes. With automated systems in place, companies can gain a better understanding of their accounts payable performance and identify areas where improvements could be made.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, RPA is a powerful tool for automating the invoice process. It can reduce costs, increase efficiency and accuracy, and free up more time for your staff to focus on other tasks. By implementing RPA into your invoice process automation strategy, you can save time and money while improving customer satisfaction. Contact our experts here to discuss your RPA project.
