The AP department in any organization is the hub of crucial supplier and vendor-related activity. Unfortunately, accounts payable processes such as logging invoices, processing and approving them, and mailing out receipts are repetitive and time-consuming. Manual processes for invoice management can slow down processing times, damage relationships with vendors and suppliers, and even hinder your company's bottom line and chances of long-term growth.

The right automation software is the answer to solving your invoice processing woes. A robust AP automation solution is the key to dealing with common invoice processing problems. 

Let's look at some specific challenges in invoice processing and the solutions we offer:

#1 Missing vendor invoices

The most commonly encountered problem in AP teams is - believe it or not - lost invoices! AP teams handle large amounts of paperwork. When a vendor calls in to follow up on their invoice payment, AP staff sometimes cannot locate the invoice in question as it is not recorded in their system. Sometimes they cannot trace the invoice that has been exchanged internally between individuals of the AP team. The result is duplicate payments of the invoice. In a survey conducted by IFOL, 68% of respondents admitted they still manually key in invoices into their ERP or accounting software. 56% said they spend over ten hours a week processing invoices and supplier payments. 22% of the respondents said that one of their top invoice processing challenges was the time spent in processing invoice exceptions, causing delays.

The solution:

What if you could digitize every invoice as soon as it enters your office premises? Would it accelerate processing times if invoices were instantly available on a cloud-based system so your AP staff could start processing them immediately without any manual data entry?

A digital mailroom service gathers incoming paper invoices and other documents and converts them into electronic data using document scanning and data capture technologies.

Centralize all your invoices and receipts - be it in paper or digital format - by deploying an outsourced digital mailroom solution. All incoming paper invoices will be digitized at the source and distributed electronically to the appropriate personnel based on automated rules. Alerts and notifications ensure there are no bottlenecks in the approval process. Remote and distributed teams can efficiently process, approve, and clear invoices in a streamlined digital workflow.

Revolution Data Systems offers an end-to-end digital mailroom outsourced solution.

#2 Incorrect or missing line item data in invoices

AP teams often struggle with incorrect invoices. Sometimes the relevant invoice details are missing or incorrectly quoted. A manual data entry error can cause a mismatch between a line item description (as quoted in the purchase order) and the description mentioned on the invoice. This problem is one of the most common reasons for delays in invoice payments and missed discounts on early payments. 

As per the survey conducted by IFOL, 21% of the respondents admit there is too much manual data entry in their invoice management process. 

The solution:

Automatically extracting the correct and relevant invoice data and information from unstructured sources like physical mail and emails makes invoice approval and processing faster and more efficient. Deploying an automated data capture solution to extract and validate (match invoice with the information on the PO and shipping documents) is your way forward. Accounts Payable automation tools can reliably perform three-way matching, saving time and decreasing the error rate. OpenText Intelligent Capture eliminates manual data entry and repetitive steps in business processes in your Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable department.

#3 Payment delays cause problems in supplier relationships 

The invoice processing problems we discussed above can lead to delays in payments, which in turn can lead to issues in relationships with vendors and partners. Maintaining healthy supplier relationships and having a good credit history is critical for AP. A loss of your company's reputation among your vendor/supplier network can pose a problem for business continuity in difficult times. Procurement officers can lose their negotiating edge with vendors to get good discounts and preferred delivery dates for their goods and services. As per the IFOL survey, 21% of the respondents conceded to erosion of credibility in relationships with vendors and suppliers due to poor invoice management, and 20% quoted delays for goods and services deliveries as significant issues. 

The solution:

AP automation helps you streamline your accounts payable workflows to eliminate time-consuming tasks and minimize manual errors. 

RDS offers workflow automation tools to convert paper-based approvals to speedy digital workflows, automate your invoice verifications and approvals, and streamline the complete order-to-pay cycle.

Talk to RDS to re-engineer or improve your AP business process end-to-end and transform your AP department. 

RDS: An end-to-end solution to your invoice processing problems

We solve your invoice processing problems with automated AP solutions that seamlessly integrate with your existing systems to improve invoice processing performance in real-time.

Connect with RDS for integrated process management and automation solutions to streamline your accounting payables workflows. Reduce your payment processing turnaround times and increase compliance.

Intelligent process automation (IPA) streamlines cash flow control for invoices and sales orders from capture to approval.

Contact RDS today and say goodbye to your most challenging invoice processing problems.