Automate invoice processing: streamline your accounts payable workflow

Accounts payable departments play a crucial role in managing supplier payments. However, the process can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially for companies dealing with a high volume of invoices. Key challenges include:

• Time-consuming data entry
• Accuracy issues leading to over or underpayments
• Fraud prevention concerns
• Difficulty in scaling operations

Thanks to the power of AI and intelligent document processing, companies can now automate significant portions of the invoice process. This allows accounts payable teams to process more invoices efficiently and focus on those that truly matter. Let's break down the invoice processing steps and see how AI can streamline each one:

1. Extract information from PDFs and Emails

Most invoices arrive via email, with important information contained in PDF attachments and sometimes in the email body itself. The first step is extracting data from both sources. While traditional OCR has been effective, the advent of large language models has significantly improved this process, especially when dealing with complex table structures in PDFs.

2. Validate information and perform 3-way matching

Once data is extracted from the invoice, it needs validation. Every business has unique rules for validating invoices, and any automation tool should accommodate these custom requirements. The validation process includes:

1. Checking for the presence of all required information (e.g., VAT numbers)
2. Matching the invoice against purchase orders (POs), receipts, or other internal records (3-way matching)

By leveraging AI, this matching process can be automated, allowing your team to focus on invoices that are either high-value, unmatched, or both.

3. Approve invoices with customized workflows

Most businesses have specific approval chains for invoices, typically routing them based on supplier name, amount, or both. It's crucial that your invoice processing software allows for customization of these rules and flags instances where the approval chain is broken due to organizational changes.

4. Integrate with Your ERP or Accounting Software

One of the most time-consuming aspects of invoice processing is inputting data into your ERP or accounting software. Each ERP system requires information in a specific format, while incoming invoices come in various formats. The best invoice processing software will:

1. Automatically transform extracted information into the required format
2. Push data directly to your ERP system

With the power of LLMs and AI, this process can be highly automated, reducing errors and saving time.

5. Measure Success and Optimize

To ensure your automated invoice processing is effective, track these key metrics:

1. Processing time (from receipt to payment)
2. Error rate (duplicate payments, data errors, payment errors)
3. Average approval time
4. Supplier satisfaction

Automate Invoice Processing with Kili: Your AI-Powered Solution

Kili provides an out-of-the-box solution to automate invoices received via email. Our AI-powered document processing platform:

1. No Engineering Effort Required: Get started in minutes with our user-friendly platform.
2. Flexible Input Options: Process documents via our UI, API, or email.
3. Comprehensive Data Extraction: Extract data from PDFs, images, and any other document type.
4. Easy Integration: Connect seamlessly with your existing business systems.
5. Customizable Workflows: Tailor the process to your specific needs.

Get in touch with us to streamline your accounts payable process.