Automating Invoice Processing
About this course
This course provides step-by-step instructions on how to build fully-automated invoice processing workflows. You’ll learn how to streamline payment operations by automating tasks ranging from invoice data extraction to data validation and document routing to your third-party systems.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to create, visualize, and automate invoicing processes and similar use cases to speed up routine tasks, minimize errors, and reduce operational costs.
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Automated invoice processing and how it affects business operations
Document workflows, regardless of their type and purpose, are key factors influencing the speed and efficiency of business operations. Consequently, a company’s profit is directly related to them, with Invoice processing being no exception. Find out how to enhance processes and set up automation with the help of the airSlate Academy and its courses.
Invoice management and its structure
It would be logical to start by answering the question: "What is invoice processing?"
The very notion implies managing invoices from the time they arrive up to the moment they’re paid. Invoices can be in paper or electronic format. In either case, if handled manually, the entire procedure looks like the following:
- A company receives a record from its supplier.
- The document is tagged for processing.
- The data from the document is transferred to the recipient’s accounting software. Manual processing requires the accountant to check whether the data in the Purchase Order and the invoice match.
- The responsible person has to approve the document (provided there are no questions) and sign it.
- The record is forwarded for payment.
How invoice processing software works
The previous paragraph described how manual invoice processing looks. Every step must be conducted and controlled by the finance department, which can lead to lost time and human error. One of the reasons why people stick to the old-fashioned way of handling this process is because they’re reluctant to try and learn new things.
Therefore, airSlate has developed a separate course dedicated to automated invoice processing with a detailed explanation of how the Flow should be set up, its elements, and advantages in comparison with the manual procedure. With airSlate, you can automate without having any special skills in automation or programming. The roles you assign (Finance manager and Vendor) influence the actions the parties involved take. In terms of documents, you’ll need a Purchase Order and a Payment processing form. The no-code automation and integration Bots will help transfer the data, export documents, and send notifications and reminders to guarantee that all the steps have been completed. The course is self-paced, so take your time and absorb the information. Upon completing it, you’ll be fully prepared to implement automated management of this document type into your company’s business operation.
Benefits of automatic invoice processing
Before enumerating the benefits of an automated invoice processing platform, let’s focus on the key issues your company (and the finance department in particular) faces when handling the procedure manually.
The four main problems are:- Slow processing and turnaround time
- Human error
- Lost forms
- Wasted money
Statistics show that the manual process can sometimes take more than a month depending on the situation. Besides, the longer the process takes, the more expensive it is; salaries, supplies, meetings. And finally, there’s always the risk of mistakes and inaccurate data transfers. Deploying airSlate and its Sales Invoice Workflow eliminates the problems listed above and increases your business’s productivity.
Here are the key benefits of automated invoice management:- Time efficiencyÂ
Reduce the time it takes to close an order from months or weeks to days or hours. - Budget protectionÂ
Save money by processing more documents a month with less spent energy and resources. - No more human errorÂ
Minimize human interaction by implementing Bots to create a more transparent, effective, and time-efficient Flow. - Increased productivityÂ
Delegate routine and mundane tasks to the automation and integration Bots to keep things moving steadily forward.
Mastering document workflow automation is much easier than you imagine. With the airSlate Academy, you’ll learn how to automate invoice management within your organization in a couple of hours. Stop wasting your budget and human resources on manual operations, use airSlate, and experience the benefits of business process automation (BPA). Get started now!
Questions & answers
What is invoice processing?
Invoice processing is the act of the accounting and/or finance departments handling invoices; receipt to approve and payment. This procedure requires an accountant to ensure that an invoice matches with a purchase order, send it for approval to the responsible staff member, authorize it in the company’s financial system, and finally, pay, and archive it. airSlate provides automated invoice processing and helps to minimize human interaction and time spent on the process.
What is a tolerance limit with respect to invoice processing?
The invoice tolerance defines the variances you allow between price, product quantity, and other numbers stated in an invoice with those from a purchase order. As an invoice should correspond with a purchase order, it’s better to set up a minimum tolerance limit. Implementing software for automated invoice processing allows the finance professionals to set tolerance limits and automatically verify whether to send invoices for approval or postpone them till further clarifications. Sign up for the airSlate Academy’s free courses to become an expert in deploying no-code automation into your invoicing process flow.
What is automated invoice processing?
Automated invoice processing refers to using a particular automation software that saves a company from time-consuming and error-prone invoice processing procedures. airSlate uses no-code Bots for automating invoices and making other business operations run more efficiently so that any person without coding skills can easily set up a flow. Sign up for the airSlate Academy and learn how your company can benefit from RPA/BPA automation.
What is the WAWF scheduled for payment invoice processing time?
WAWF stands for Wide Area Workflow, an electronic system for automated invoice processing, receipt, and acceptance used by government vendors. WAWF helped to decrease time for invoice processing from over 10 days to about 20 hours, depending on errors detected in the documents.
What is requisition invoice processing?
A requisition is a request from an employee or a department for permission to pay a bill. It’s a part of the invoice processing workflow, an approval of an invoice before sending it for payment. Using an automated invoice processing platform helps you reduce the turnaround time and process more documents in less time for higher productivity. The airSlate Academy provides you with a free course dedicated to automated invoicing with a detailed description of how to use Bots for creating streamlined workflows.
What is high volume invoice processing?
Commonly, an accounts payable clerk can process around 1,000 bills monthly. Processing invoices in such a high volume may cause errors and lead to financial losses. Implementing automated invoice processing software, like airSlate, decreases manual interventions and can significantly reduce time and costs spent on handling accounting operations. Enroll in the airSlate Academy and learn how to process an invoice with no-code Bots. Explore how your business can benefit from implementing RPA/BPA automation.
What is automated invoice processing?
Automated invoice processing is a way of using automation software to seamlessly extract data from bills into accounts payable systems, check that information in purchase orders corresponds with their invoices, send them for approval, and route them for payment in several clicks. Use airSlate as an invoice processing platform to reduce the time and cut costs spent on closing deals from weeks to hours. Take a course with the airSlate Academy and discover how to create an effective invoicing process Flow using no-code Bots.
What number of invoices is considered high volume invoice processing?
On average, skilled accounts and payable clerks work on about 1,000 bills monthly which is considered a high volume for invoice processing. Big companies deal with hundreds of suppliers and clients every day, so automating invoices can save them from financial risks caused by error-prone manual data input. Using airSlate and its automated invoicing process Flow helps to eliminate human errors and long turnaround time and increase company productivity.
What are invoice processing costs?
There's no accurate evaluation of costs spent for invoice processing, but according to the Sterling Commerce research, the average cost varies from $12 to almost $40 per invoice. Implementing workflow automation technologies will save your business from unnecessary financial expenditure, reducing these costs to about $2.07. Find out how to use airSlate as your invoice processing platform and quickly set up a streamlined invoicing process Flow with no-code Bots. Sign up for the airSlate Academy’s free courses to boost your company’s productivity.
What are the steps to invoice processing?
Processing invoices involves several steps such as receiving an invoice from a vendor, verifying if it corresponds with a purchase order, saving it in the company’s CRMs, requesting its approval from the responsible person, and finally, forwarding it for payment. Deploying airSlate for automating invoices and other business operations helps to avoid errors and tiresome manual data input, cut costs and turnaround time, and increase your overall efficiency. Enroll in the airSlate Academy’s courses, discover the best way to create your invoicing process Flow, and experience all the benefits of no-code workflow automation.
