Automating E-Invoicing Process with Real Impact

by | May 24, 2024 | E-invoicing

Beyond the Buzzword: Rethinking Automation for E-Invoicing

When people hear “automation,” they often think of robots replacing human jobs. But in the context of e-invoicing, automation is about augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing them. It’s about reducing the burden of repetitive tasks and freeing up your finance team to focus on higher-value activities.

E-invoicing automation isn’t just about scanning and digitizing invoices but also about intelligent data extraction, validation, and integration with your existing systems. When we talk about automation, it’s important to understand the what and the why, rather than blindly following the trend. By rethinking automation in this way, businesses like yours can achieve greater accuracy, faster processing times, and significant cost savings.

Freeing Your A/P Team from Data Entry

For a finance department, the invoicing process is still plagued by manual data entry and validation. This manual grind is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. Each misplaced decimal point or incorrect vendor detail can lead to payment delays, strained supplier relationships, and even financial losses. This is where data integration and automation can actually elevate your department.

Traditionally, the accounts payable process involves manual invoice review, approval workflows, and data entry into your ERP. While seemingly straightforward, these tasks can significantly hinder efficiency. Consider your team’s core strengths: they’re financial wizards, masters of order management and payments. Are they getting bogged down by data conversion and manual processes when invoices arrive? Then invoicing automation via ERP integration might be a good choice for you.

The Power of ERP Integration

Imagine this: an invoice lands, but instead of requiring manual data entry for your ERP, the system does the heavy lifting. Your e-invoicing solution seamlessly transforms incoming data, making it ready for effortless ingestion by your existing ERP. This is how you could approach invoicing automation by elevating the data integration from you ERP system.

Suddenly, your team is free to focus on high-impact activities – analyzing data in real time, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and optimizing financial workflows. By automating the invoicing process, you can shift the focus of your finance team from data gymnastics to strategic finance. Check out our ERP connections if you’re interested in learning more.

All Your Partners In One Place

In the B2G and B2B markets, it has become increasingly important to exchange documents electronically in an efficient and secure manner. This can be complicated as the trading partners that do business with each other trading partners have installed their own ERP/financial systems, document formats and connectivity for sending and receiving these documents.

That’s why we developed the retailer network. With more than 1000 retailers on our network it becomes easy for companies to communicate and exchange electronic documents with their trading partners – all through one single, generic entry point.

Invoicing Automation with SPS Commerce

The true power of e-invoicing automation lies in its ability to deliver both efficiency and insights. Intelligent automation goes beyond basic process automation by incorporating advanced analytics and highest compliance standards. This enables continuous improvement and adaptation to changing business needs.

At SPS Commerce, we believe that the future lies in digitalization (and not in digital representation). We support data-driven partnerships with innovative cloud technology, customer-centric service and accessible experts so our customers can focus on what they do best. More than 120,000 companies have chosen SPS Commerce to support their EDI, e-invoicing and supply chain digitization projects.

What part of the invoicing process are you trying to automate? Shoot us a quick message to get a personalized advice for a compliant and cost-efficient invoicing and EDI automation.

Aleksandra Vovchenko
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