Purpose
1.2. Ensure each invoice aligns with agreed-upon pricing, quantities, and item specifications in ERP and accounting systems.
1.3. Accelerate accounts payable, reduce manual labor, prevent duplicate payments, and enhance auditing fidelity.
1.4. Integrate approvals and exception handling for out-of-policy invoices.
1.5. Archive matched invoices and create granular audit logs for compliance and reporting.
Trigger Conditions
2.2. Entry of new purchase order or delivery record in ERP/accounting workflows.
2.3. Scheduled batch interval for processing pending invoices (e.g., hourly, daily).
2.4. Manual initiation by AP personnel when encountering exceptions.
Platform Variants
3.1. Microsoft Power Automate
• Feature/Setting: Use “When a new email arrives (V3)” trigger and “AI Builder – Extract information from invoices” action.
3.2. Zapier
• Feature/Setting: “Email Parser by Zapier” trigger and “Filter” + “Formatter” actions to structure and validate invoice fields.
3.3. Google Workspace (Apps Script)
• Feature/Setting: “onNewEmail” trigger, Gmail API for attachments, and Sheets API to compare extracted fields.
3.4. SAP Integration Suite
• Feature/Setting: “Inbound Invoice Interface” and “PurchaseOrder API” for direct matching workflows.
3.5. Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
• Feature/Setting: “ERP Integration Service” API to pull invoice data and launch validation procedures.
3.6. DocuSign CLM
• Feature/Setting: “Envelope Completed” webhook—feed signed invoice PDFs into workflows.
3.7. QuickBooks Online
• Feature/Setting: “Create Invoice” API and “PurchaseOrder” endpoint verification.
3.8. Xero
• Feature/Setting: “Invoices” and “Purchase Orders” endpoints with GET/POST webhooks for reconciliation.
3.9. SAP Concur
• Feature/Setting: “Invoice Capture” OCR and “GET PurchaseOrder” REST API to pull and compare records.
3.10. Zoho Books
• Feature/Setting: “Invoices API” and “Purchase Orders API” for structured data comparison.
3.11. NetSuite
• Feature/Setting: “REST Record Service” to retrieve transaction records; SuiteScript for automation logic.
3.12. UiPath
• Feature/Setting: “Document Understanding” activity for invoice OCR and “Database” activity for PO validation.
3.13. ABBYY FlexiCapture
• Feature/Setting: “Invoice Project” for extraction, “Database Lookup” for PO validation.
3.14. Box
• Feature/Setting: Box “New File” trigger, Box Skills for document metadata extraction.
3.15. SFTP (Generic Servers)
• Feature/Setting: Scheduled polling for new invoice files, SFTP “Get” action to fetch data.
3.16. FreshBooks
• Feature/Setting: “Invoice Created” webhook and API for PO cross-validation.
3.17. Sage Intacct
• Feature/Setting: “Purchasing” and “Payables” APIs for programmatic invoice matching.
3.18. Salesforce
• Feature/Setting: “Platform Events” or “REST API” getInvoice/getPurchaseOrder commands.
3.19. Slack
• Feature/Setting: “Outgoing Webhooks” on invoice PDFs, push details to approval/review channels.
3.20. AWS Textract
• Feature/Setting: “AnalyzeDocument” API extracts structured fields from invoice scans for direct processing.
3.21. IBM Watson
• Feature/Setting: “Watson Discovery” scans for key finance entities in emails; APIs extract/validate content.
Benefits
4.2. Accelerates reconciliation, shortens payment cycle.
4.3. Enables real-time compliance oversight and audit readiness.
4.4. Improves supplier trust via transparent, fast processing.
4.5. Frees staff for higher-value tasks by automating repetitive checks.