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    12 weeks from project start to full production deployment

    Invoice Processing Automation for a Services Company

    Engineering consulting firm with 300 employees processing 2,000+ vendor invoices monthly. Three-person accounts payable team handling invoice receipt through payment.

    The Challenge

    Invoice processing was entirely manual. Staff received invoices via email, printed them, matched to purchase orders, obtained approvals via physical routing slips, and entered data into the accounting system.

    Average processing time was 12 days from receipt to approval. Late payment penalties were common, and the company missed early payment discounts that could have saved significant money annually.

    Month-end close was chaotic with a backlog of unprocessed invoices. The AP team worked overtime regularly just to keep up with volume.

    Our Approach

    We implemented invoice capture from multiple channels including email attachments, a vendor upload portal, and scanned paper documents.

    We built extraction to pull vendor name, amount, line items, and PO numbers from invoices automatically. Extraction accuracy was validated against a sample of historical invoices.

    Approval workflows were created with routing based on amount thresholds and cost centers. Approvers receive notifications and can approve from email or a web interface.

    We integrated with the existing accounting system so approved invoices are posted automatically without manual data entry.

    Exception handling was built for invoices requiring manual review, such as those without PO matches or with amounts exceeding approved budgets.

    Invoice Processing Workflow

    1

    Invoice Receipt

    Invoices captured from email, upload portal, or scanned documents

    2

    Data Extraction

    Vendor, amount, PO number, and line items extracted automatically

    3

    Validation

    PO match, budget availability, and vendor status verified

    4

    Approval Routing

    Invoice routed to appropriate approver based on amount and department

    5

    Approval

    Approver reviews and approves or rejects with comments

    6

    Accounting Post

    Approved invoices automatically posted to accounting system

    7

    Payment Queue

    Invoices scheduled for payment based on terms

    Results

    Processing time reduced from 12 days to 3 days average
    Late payment penalties eliminated entirely
    Early payment discounts captured, saving over $50,000 annually
    AP team reduced from 3 FTEs to 1 FTE managing exceptions, with staff reallocated to higher-value work
    Month-end close accelerated by 4 days

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