Eliminate costly Errors using Smart Invoice Processing
February 20, 2023

Nearly 70% of the professionals still cite manual data entry, which is an inefficient, error-prone, and time-consuming process. Moreover, invoice processing takes 4 to 16 days per organization, from creating an invoice receipt to payment approval.

It is inefficient that the invoice process erodes your credibility with suppliers and can threaten cash flow. Refine and define your account’s payables by getting a clear picture of financial health and making payables agile and more efficient. You can also digitize your financial solutions with Endive IMS.

Do you know there are invoices from regular suppliers receiving late invoices in their accounts payable? This maintenance of bulky records and spreadsheets, lengthy approval mechanisms, and manual checks add up to an extra cost and loss of time and effort. The below image shows the report from IOFM, where companies manually process less than 20,000 payments per year, and only 20% pay through a Purchase order (PO) based on invoice time.

Step by Step cycle to Invoice Processing

Automating smart invoice processing is a great way to get started if you’re looking to streamline your invoice processing. Firstly, you need to establish an efficient invoice processing workflow which includes:

Invoice Receipt

The accounting department verifies the product or service procured, matching the total amount billed on the original purchase order (PO). Additionally, if there is a discrepancy in the amount charged, the issue must be resolved with the supplier before the invoice is routed for approval.

Invoice Approval

If the information is good to go, the invoice is routed for approval based on the company policies.

Invoice Payment

As soon as the invoice is approved, the payment is set based on the terms negotiated with the vendor. In some cases, companies may choose to pay an invoice to take the benefits of a discount. Moreover, having an established invoice processing flow makes your account more efficient to track. This ensures the payments are appropriately approved and processed accurately.

Challenges to manually process invoices

Delays in Payments

Some companies worldwide rely on only the traditional approach, which is paper-based invoice processing. Chances are invoices might travel back and forth between departments which ultimately makes the process lengthy and delays payments.

Risk of Fraud

There may be internal and external Fraud committed within a company which are more frequent than we think. Based on past scams, in 2020, 70% of criminal cases were registered, and a typical example is phishing. The best option would be to choose a popular invoice management system or a smart invoice provider company to do the job for you and your organization.

Missing Invoices

We know that paper invoices can be easily lost on their way to the office or in a lot of paperwork. With this, the missing invoices can only be paid once retrieved. This would consume more time in finding the missing invoices, impacting the supplier’s cash flow and damaging the relationship with the organization.

Matching Errors

The three-way match is a common practice that adds up checking the purchase order, supplier’s invoice, and goods receipt note before payment is approved. Here the account team needs to do it manually, and chances are of human error. This can be worse when the accounting department pays an invoice despite the goods not arriving. In the end, resolving these mistakes can be tedious and time-consuming.

Double Payments

Payment issues are caused mainly by data entry errors, misused financial software, or an invoice that needs to be paid. In this case, there are chances of payment delay. Later, the supplier sends a second invoice since the first was unpaid, so the account team ends up paying two invoices. The best option is to hire an invoice management company like Endive IMS, which helps your organization pay on time without errors.

Stained Supplier Relationship

The above-discussed challenges may cause supplier relationships to suffer. Any error that happens once it can be resolved, but if the issues persist, chances are your relationship will hurt the suppliers. Therefore, impeccable processing of invoices is needed to keep your business running smoothly and successfully.

Why does one need a Smart invoice processing system to streamline your workflow?

As discussed in the above section, the old traditional approach will keep you at risk. The best investment one can make by solving and preventing invoice challenges and using an automated system. One can use an extraction tool that helps to extract data from invoices. Moreover, the data can be sent to an accounting system that handles account payable workflow, such as invoice matching and approval. Here’s how automation benefits your organizations:

Save Time

Automating invoice processing can reduce the amount of time drastically. The team can improve their focused time and energy on other tasks and get more rewards for the program.

Save Money

One can automate the manual data entry and cost of processing invoices, plus you would not be required to hire staff if the volume of invoices increases in the future. Cherry, on the top, you will prevent the cost of error fixing incorrect information and other additional time and money.

Payment on Time

If the approval cycle is shorter, you’ll receive the payment on time. There won’t be any delays, and send reminders to get approvals. This, in the end, makes it easier to pay the invoice on time and has no chance of payment delays.

Improve Data Quality and Visibility

Say goodbye to manual data entry, as a smart invoice processing system helps you quickly improve your data quality. Moreover, you can:

Does it offer an accurate data extraction
Does it have a customized workflow
Does it offer invoice tracking and monitoring
Does it offer integration with accounting software
Does it come with automated payments
Does it have security and compliance

Minimize the risk of Fraud

Automation offers more transparency and security in your systems. It centralizes the process and gives you complete visibility on payments. You can track the payments as an organization, leaving less room for fraudsters to tamper with invoices and other financial statements.

Maintain a Healthy Supplier Relationship

By using the smart invoice processing from Endive IMS, one can drastically reduce missed, late, or duplicate payments. Overall, one can strengthen the relationship with suppliers and establish strategic partnerships to enhance competitiveness in the industry.

How Endive IMS helps you eliminate errors with smart invoice processing?

Endive IMS is an effective invoice generator that helps businesses automate their process and embrace the paperless revolution. They help in solving the challenges of manual processing. Our expert team is a click away from streamlining the process, reducing cost, and ultimately becoming competitive.

Get ready to automate your transactions, and you are not required to spend a hefty amount to use our services. Pay only for the services you would be using and be the one to use the best invoice management solution. Endive IMS offers an end-to-end solution and supports you until the invoice is cleared from both ends.

Need Help Simplifying your Invoice Management Process?

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