Want to know more about why you should automate your invoice processing? Read on here.
The Benefits of Automating
- Increases efficiency and saves time
- Provides greater accuracy and fewer errors
- Reduces costs
- Frees up employees for other meaningful tasks
- Makes it flexible and easy to scale
- Collects data and provides valuable insights
How to Do It – Step by Step
It is one thing to talk about it. It is another to do it in practice. Here are five steps you need to go through to automate your invoice processing.
Step 1: Digital Receipt of Invoices
The invoice process starts as soon as the invoice arrives. You can save a lot of time and avoid hassle if you automate the receipt.
- Ask your suppliers to send invoices in EHF-format. It ensures correct structure and makes data easier to read.
- Still using PDF or paper? Compello uses AI to scan and interpret all types of invoices – with up to 99.6% accuracy.
- The system automatically extracts data such as amounts, KID, account numbers, invoice dates, and invoice numbers – eliminating manual entry.
Step 2: Automated Validation and Approval
- Set up “smart rules” to automate validation. For example: “If supplier = X and amount < 5,000 kr. send directly for approval.”
- Use features like serial approval and amount limits, so invoices automatically reach the right people in the organisation.
- Approvals can happen directly via mobile – so it does not become a bottleneck if someone is on vacation or working from home.
Step 3: Posting and Matching
Now the invoice needs to be accounted for and posted – an area where automation can reduce processing time by up to 70%.
- Use PO-match to match invoices with purchase orders down to the line level.
- With reference checks, you can, for example, link the invoice to a vehicle registration number, a power number, or a specific project.
- Auto-accounting with AI automatically selects the correct account based on historical data. It saves both time and correction errors.
Step 4: Integration with ERP and Financial Systems
A strong integration between the invoice solution and financial system ensures that the automation does not stop at approval but continues all the way to posting.
- Compello has more than 40 integrations, including with Microsoft, Visma, SAP, and 24SevenOffice.
- Use API integrations to ensure real-time updates and avoid file exchanges, double entries, and versioning issues.
- When an invoice is approved and posted, it is automatically sent to your ERP-system, without anyone having to lift a finger.
Step 5: Continuous Evaluation and Optimisation
Automation is not just something you implement once. It requires ongoing adjustments to reach an automation level of 90%+, which the most efficient companies achieve.
- Monitor the degree of automation via the dashboard it shows how much of the process that runs automatically and where there is room for improvement.
- Measure processing time, error rates, and bottlenecks. Use insights to adjust rules, master data, or supplier formats.
- Continuously update your workflows and standardise invoice formats by asking suppliers to send in EHF.
Want to Experience It in Practice?
Europris achieved an automation level of 93% by following the above steps freeing up valuable time in the finance department for more important tasks.
Contact us below if you want to automate your invoice processing and achieve similar results!
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