Accounts Payable Automation

Does your business demand a more automated way to process supplier invoices? Accounts payable automation, or sometimes called automated invoice processing, eliminates manual processes associated with data entry and passing around paper invoices for coding and approval purposes prior to payment processing.

You, like many businesses before you, may discover that Accounts Payable Automation delivered with DocuSphere is just what you need. Many of our clients have opted to pursue creating a virtually “hands-free” solution for this highly transactional process.

The DocuSphere solution spans the entire accounts payable process from receipt of invoices through various sources including paper, email, and fax, through scan and capture of those invoices with DocuSphere Advanced Capture and other leading learn-by-example OCR capture solutions, through routing and approval of those invoices for payment, and finally to payment of those invoices within the client’s ERP system. Once the data is in DocuSphere, the DocuSphere Workflow technology can manage the entire process of routing non-PO invoices for coding and approval – including via a Mobile interface, while both 2-way and 3-way PO-based invoices can be auto-matched. Once non-PO and PO-based invoices have gone through the workflow process, transactions are automatically generated in your ERP system through strong, standards-based, bidirectional integration with your JD Edwards World or EnterpriseOne, Oracle E-Business Suite, or SAP systems.

Not ready for a fully automated virtual hands-free approach? We can start with you with Key-from-Image solutions on the capture side of the equation and ease you into an accounts payable automation system that fits your business and your budget.

Let’s explore some real-world examples of how Image Integration Systems customers have benefitted from DocuSphere for Accounts Payable Automation.

DocuSphere Offers AP Automation for Multi-national Manufacturer

A US-based manufacturer’s European operation wanted to fundamentally change the game regarding how invoices were entered, approved and paid. Complicating matters were multiple countries where languages and currencies were often different. IIS installed DocuSphere Invoice Automation using Content Manager, Workflow (with automated payment transaction creation in the ERP system) and advanced OCR capture software.

Paper based invoices are scanned into the system from multiple countries and then OCR’d to capture the data. The OCR software can find pertinent data, such as invoice number, amount, supplier, etc. regardless of the location on the document or the language and currency. No templates are required, as the software is intelligent and can search the document for required fields. Once captured, this data and image information is validated and passed to Workflow for further processing (approval, coding, etc.). Once all data has been captured, including validation against their ERP system, Workflow automatically creates the transaction in the ERP system through a standard, certified interface.

The result is fewer touches of the paper document, less manual data entry and a very visible, auditable process. Reduced cycle times and lower cost per transaction are key benefits.

DocuSphere Eliminates 75% of the Manual Data Entry Effort

Another customer had just selected a new ERP system to replace a home-grown application and wanted to extend the new functionality with improved business processing. IIS was selected to implement our DocuSphere Invoice Automation for Accounts Payable. This customer had multiple US and Canada regional locations where documents would be received. We implemented the solution to distribute scanning and advanced OCR capture to these regional offices and provide web-based Workflow for all business experts that must review documents prior to their entry into the ERP system.

Workflow allows automated notification of work items and easy to use functions for approving and coding documents. Exceptions can be handled and tracked so that items are completed in a timely manner. Advanced inquiry functions provide visibility at every stage of a transaction. Automated processes within DocuSphere Workflow automatically complete transactions in the ERP system. Since the system is tightly integrated with the ERP system, inquiries can also be done directly from screens within the ERP system providing additional efficiencies.

The DocuSphere solution has eliminated 75% of the manual data entry effort. Transaction processing times and costs have been reduced significantly. The benefits far exceed the DocuSphere investment.