What Is Invoice Processing?
Invoice automation processing is the process your company’s accounts payable team uses to handle invoices from various Vendors. It starts when you receive an invoice and finishes when payment has been made and recorded.
How AP Automation works?
Vendor sends invoices to respective initiators. You can receive paper invoices, PDF, or other electronic means. The invoice must either be scanned or manually entered into Sysfore AP Automation System. In case of Scanned copy, Initiator can send to a configured e-mail. With the help of Cognitive service capabilities using pre-defined Invoice AI data model, data will be extracted from invoice copy and create an invoice transaction in the Sysfore AP Automation System built using Microsoft Power Apps & Power Automate.
Invoice automation details will be validated with the customer’s existing ERP system. Then, the invoice shall be sent to the respective stakeholder or budget owner for review and approval. The multi-step approval workflows take time but can be automated for faster and more efficient processing. This process is seamless, works smoothly with the Office 365 tools and helps approvers to use approve or reject from their mails in Outlook.
Once the approval process is completed, Finance person can post invoice to ERP system for payment processing. Here the direct integration with the ERP system is done, where the invoice entries and payment processing are initiated from within the Sysfore AP Automation solution. System does 3-way matching and the solution can verify all the Goods Receipt Notes(GRN), Purchase Order(PO) and Advance payments made against the same. Power Automate connectors are used to establish secure connection with ERP’s like SAP, Oracle, Dynamics 365 or use custom connectors for API’s provided by the ERP system. Thus, the entire process is automated, and no manual intervention is required except for the approvals or exceptions.
While the automation solution handles everything up to the point of payment initiation—ensuring 3-way matching of Goods Receipt Notes (GRNs), Purchase Orders (POs), and any advance payments made—it is essential that the actual payout process is equally streamlined. This is where organizations often face challenges, particularly when dealing with recurring payments, vendor subscriptions, or bulk disbursements. Manual interventions at this stage not only introduce the risk of delays and errors but also reduce the overall efficiency gained from automation.
In this context, PayInsider offers a modern approach to handling disbursements, especially when dealing with subscription-based or cyclical payments. Its capabilities extend beyond basic payment facilitation to deliver a comprehensive platform that supports enterprise-wide disbursement needs with accuracy and transparency. A standout feature is its Flexible Subscription Management functionality, which allows businesses to automate recurring payments while maintaining full control over subscription cycles, billing frequencies, and vendor management. This becomes particularly valuable for finance teams that manage a diverse set of vendor agreements or service contracts requiring automated, scheduled payments.
Advantages of Sysfore AP Automation
- Reduce human error.
- Easy track of invoices.
- Avoid late payments which may leads to additional amount.
- Integrating invoice processing with ERP.
- Reduce manual work.
- More Early pay discounts.
- Increase Productivity.
- Enhanced Insight with the help of dashboards.
Technologies Used
- AI Builder: AI Builder is a Microsoft Power Platform capability which you can use to bring the power of Microsoft AI to your organization, without the need for coding or data science skills. Reference link to know more about AI Builder Learn More
• AI Builder helps in extraction of invoice data. - Power Automate: How to use AI model in Power Automate?
• Triggers when an email arrived to a configured Email box.
• Create transaction in PowerApps with Data extracted with help of AI Builder.
• Automates Approval process using outlook email.
• Integrate with ERP systems like SAP, Oracle, MS Dynamics - PowerApps:
• PowerApps helps to create forms and also to represents data to users.
Automate your vendor invoice payments today!
Blog authored by Abhilash M., Power Apps Consultant at Sysfore Technologies.