“Processing a huge pile of invoices is fun!” - Author, no one in the history of mankind. Fun or not, it has to be done. The key to unfun activities is accomplishing them as fast, error-free and efficiently as possible. 

Automating the capture of invoice data as it enters your business is the key to frictionless, pain-free AP processing.

The missing puzzle piece for many AP departments: intelligent capture software. Using intelligent capture and workflow automation alongside your ERP can solve the problems that come with high-volume accounts payable departments - manual sorting, data entry errors, duplicate invoices, poor validation, and limited visibility. 

What is intelligent capture software? 

Intelligent capture software is an application for scanning paper documents and digitally capturing electronic documents. It automatically classifies like documents while extracting key data that is fed into your ERP and simultaneously kicks off approval processes. 

Intelligent data capture software helps your AP team efficiently classify, extract and validate data from invoices to speed up invoice cycles, lower costs, and keep suppliers happy. Invoices are captured early in the process and are sent to your team for review, resolutions, and approvals. Intelligent capture greatly reduces manual data entry and errors inherent in manual processing, driving a rapid return on investment.

Capture invoices from any source or format

Invoices come from many places and formats - paper documents, emails, faxes, and EDI sources. No matter the point of entry or format, intelligent capture ingests invoices for processing. Invoices that arrive in the mail can be scanned on a traditional scanner or MFP. Faxed invoices are captured via fax servers. Email attachments are extracted from monitored email folders. XML and EDI formatted invoices from your vendor’s financial system can be imported directly to your business systems. 

Intelligent capture software provides a single, consistent invoice capture process. Once an invoice is captured, the system finds the necessary data, extracts and validates the data against predefined rules and logic set up during configuration. If any data doesn’t pass the rules or logic it is sent to an operator for confirmation before processing the invoice. The system uses embedded machine learning to learn how to apply the operator’s logic when corrections are made - enhancing the intelligence of the system and process.

Integrating intelligent capture with your ERP

Efficiently processing invoices relies on your systems working in tandem to feed semi-structured information to downstream systems. By integrating intelligent capture with your accounting software, you can now quickly access and work with transactional data from vendor invoices and other related business documents, without wasting time on manual data entry and validation. 

An effective data capture process is ensured by validating your invoice information against data that resides in your system. Revolution Data Systems has deep experience integrating OpenText Intelligent Capture with all of the top ERPs:

• Oracle

• SAP

• Netsuite

• Unit4 (Coda)

• Microsoft Dynamics 365

• Lawson

• Sage

• Quickbooks

• Infor 

How to successfully implement intelligent capture into your AP process

Clearing traffic for your AP automation journey has a few speed bumps along the way. Here are the mile-markers that will take you to where you want to go.

1. Document current approval process to the nth degree.

   Put pen to paper of all metrics including invoice volume, seasonality of invoices (when are your heavy periods), types of invoices (PO/non-PO), headcount for the invoice process beginning to end, the average error rate in the data entry process, on-time payment rate, and average invoice cycle time.

2. Take stock of your technology stack.

   List all systems that will communicate with intelligent capture. This might include your ERP, workflow system, document management system, email client, servers, cloud environments, and CRM. What systems are currently in place? What versions are you on? Are you replacing, sunsetting, or decommissioning any of these? 

3. Pinpoint where invoices come from and who receives them.

   Do you have a dedicated email box for receiving invoices? Who scans paper invoices? Are invoices scanned in batches at regular intervals or ad hoc? Do you have centralized or distributed invoice processing? Do documents aside from invoices show up in batches? Where do the document images reside?

4. Determine what data fields need to be captured and validated.

   Keep in mind that this can be as granular as you need it to be. Identifying needs versus wants at this mile marker can significantly change the price tag of your implementation. For example, do you need to capture header data only, or is it imperative that you also capture line item information? We can help steer you in the right direction so that you can accomplish your goals and keep the lights on. 

5. Decide where your digital images will be stored and set policies for long-term retention and disposal.

   If you do not have a system for your document images and content, we can help with that. We support hundreds of OpenText ApplicationXtender clients across the globe. We can also integrate intelligent capture with any system you might already own.

6. Create an implementation plan that doesn’t rock the boat.

   Plan for training and a user adoption timeframe that will not disrupt your AP and support staff’s daily functions. 

7. Measure, calibrate, and compare stats.

   Once your implementation is complete, periodically measure your performance against your previous benchmarks to do some fine-tuning. 

Benefits of using intelligent capture for invoice processing

• AP staff happiness and productivity skyrockets 

• Touchless, straight-through processing of invoices

• Invoice cycle time shrinks greatly

• Increased visibility and control of cash flow

• Suppliers will thank you many times over for faster payment turnaround

• Free up time to focus on “problem” vendors

• Prioritize invoices to realize discounts

• Eliminate data entry and catch duplicates before you start processing them

Why choose Revolution Data Systems as your AP automation partner?

Automating invoice processing with intelligent data capture software is more than setting up capture flows to feed data into your ERP system. Successful implementations require a team of experts that truly understand your business processes and goals. Your partner stands by your side to help you eliminate bottlenecks in your existing processes while planning for future optimization as your business and technologies mature. 

You can think of us as an extension of your accounting department that wants to see you succeed. Hundreds of companies have chosen us to ride shotgun on their AP automation journeys.

Want to take us for a spin? Reach out for a free consultation.