As businesses grow, so does the volume of invoices they receive, making it crucial to ensure all invoices are processed accurately and efficiently. However, manually validating invoices can be a tedious task for AP departments. It can lead to delayed payments, missed discounts, and unhappy vendors. To overcome these challenges, many companies are now leveraging automated invoice validation tools like Flowis. Our system streamlines the invoice approval process, enabling them to pay their vendors on time and maintain positive relationships.
Flowis enables prompt execution of AP tasks and quick response to business requirements, among other benefits. Teams can conveniently utilize the Transaction and Action lists, which are easy to use. The Action list only displays transactions that require user action. The Transaction list displays invoices that are accessible to the user based on their authorization. The Transaction list can be customized to show specific details based on the customer’s preferences:
– technical information,
– region,
– country,
– profit centers and others.
Initiate the validation with Flowis modules
SoftPoint provides the qRead and qCapture modules. Both are used to convert paper documents or PDF files into electronic files. Flowis’ qRead module (Layout matching and Hash search) utilizes Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. OCR accurately identifies and extracts individual letters from scanned images, transforming them into coherent words and sentences.
qCapture is a powerful module that harnesses the capabilities of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Flowis’qCapture module is highly configurable, enabling it to capture all the necessary data and adapt to changes in invoice formats. If your organization deals with a high volume of invoices from suppliers with varying formats, you may need a reliable solution for organizing them.
Read more about qRead and qCapture here: https://softpoint.tech/purchase-to-pay/ai-implementation-for-data-invoice-extraction/
The validation screen
The validation screen displays all the fields in use, such as document type, entity, country, or profit center. The users have the flexibility to apply different methods or a combination thereof. For instance, in the case of the document type field, qRead is given precedence over qCapture. It means the layout methodology is attempted first, then qCapture if needed.
The OCR recognition of invoices provides a powerful feature that allows for field corrections:
– converting text to upper case,
– removing spaces,
– removing leading zeros,
– adjusting decimal places and many others.
These corrections can be easily made by administrators using the drop-down field. The system does not require any programming expertise.
Additionally, it is possible to establish distinct configurations for various workflows, such as those specific to different regions or countries.
Understanding the Process
Upon the invoice’s arrival in your dropbox, the Flowis system reads both the email and the attachments. This is followed by OCR processing and automatic validation.
At regular intervals, we download data from interfaces into our internal database. During the validation process, we cross-reference this data with the information in your accounting systems. If an invoice contains a PO that is not present in your database, the document will be rejected. The chosen course of action will vary based on your preferences. It could include implementing a customized workflow or exploring alternative solutions.
All information on one screen
As part of the validation process, we perform the mapping. Although an invoice may contain a vendor’s name or other identifying information. In your system, each vendor is assigned a specific code. This code is automatically paired with the corresponding information during validation, and you can view it in Flowis.
The validation screen is designed to be user-friendly, with all information conveniently displayed on a single interface. The right side of the screen provides a preview of the invoice. The left side shows detailed information about it.
Colors are used to indicate if all details are correct. Borders indicate if qRead or qCapture was used for the invoice.
Validation screen for dependency changes
When changing dependencies, such as selecting the country of Germany, the system will only display relevant fields related to German entities. The system will also provide the corresponding mapping, such as “1452 Germany,” before the field name.
Warning and error messages
The system can display warning and error messages for the validator’s convenience, allowing them to quickly identify any issues. For example, if a purchase order (PO) is found in the ERP system, if the PO is for a different supplier, or if the total amount does not match the net plus tax amount, etc.
Rejecting an invoice
If an invoice is set to be rejected – the system will prompt the user to select a reason code, triggering the workflow to begin. The system will then send the vendor a notification with the option to include a pre-written, specific text.
Manipulate Pages option
With the “Manipulate Pages” option when suppliers scan more PDFs in one scan. The validator can then split the document and create new transactions for each one. It can be sent for OCR extraction without requiring any additional printing or scanning.
Data Entry Statistics
Flowis has a built-in success rate feature that compares OCRed invoices to posted invoices. The system measures the success rate percentage for each field. To compare qRead and qCapture, we can analyze their data extraction and compare them to posted transactions.
The report can be downloaded in an Excel file, which shows all the invoices and their details. Advantage: we can see the success rate percentages and analyze them in-depth to understand what makes up the percentage.
There is an option to include an additional step for manual validation, but it can also be skipped if desired.
Automated invoice validation is a must-have for businesses that need to pay their vendors on time and maintain positive relationships. It can also help you avoid unnecessary fines, penalties, and fees by ensuring that invoices are accurate before they’re paid.
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