A comparison of manual and automated invoice processing
The manual invoice processing
The previous process in the company:
Ideally, the invoice is received directly by the finance department of the respective company by mail and is checked for completeness. Due to the paper-based processing, the invoices are either delivered in person or by in-house mail to the responsible processor (releaser). If this employee happens to be on vacation or sick, this process is unnecessarily delayed and it can take several days for processing to continue. By the time there is a final release and subsequent posting, in most cases the cash discount has expired because the payment deadlines could not be met.
In everyday business, such manual processes are even more complex than shown here.
"Pains" for the employees:
- Time for other tasks is omitted
- Stalled process flows if an employee is absent due to illness or vacation
- Little transparency and long searches for invoices distributed throughout the company
- Frequent frustration as payment deadlines cannot be met
- Tense situation, as often the responsible processor or representative cannot be determined
"Pains" for the company:
- High error-proneness of the process due to many manual activities
- High personnel and processing costs (printing, paper, postage and dispatch)
- Lack of transparency in the processing procedure
- No effective cash discount usage possible
- Lengthy processing of paper invoices (sorting, manual entry into the system, forwarding with in-house mail, delays due to illness or vacation, etc.).
- Many copies of invoices flow through the company
- media discontinuities are available (e.g. print e-mail-invoices)
The automated invoice processing
The new and smart process in the company:
The first and thus also biggest difference to manual processing is that the invoice is scanned directly after receipt and read by an OCR. Otherwise, the invoice can also be entered manually into the ERP system for further digital processing. This eliminates the need to pass the invoice from desk to desk, because from now on the invoice is automatically forwarded digitally within the system to the responsible processor. All processing steps, such as checking, approval, queries, postings, etc., take place directly in the system. Vacation replacements and spontaneous cases of illness are defined in the system and are automatically carried out without the invoice remaining unprocessed for a longer period of time. The finance department receives a detailed overview of all invoices in the company via a digital invoice receipt book.
Benefits for employees:
- The relationship between employees becomes more relaxed and harmonious
- Employees keep track of all invoices
- Searching for invoices is a thing of the past
- Payment deadlines can be met without any problems
- An end to blaming and hectic activity in the event of sick leave or vacation days
Advantages for the company:
- Lower error rates due to many automated steps (e.g. duplicate checks)
- Enormous time and cost savings through digital processing
- Employees can be assigned to other tasks
- Transport and layover times are reduced to a minimum
- Effective discount utilization is possible
- Complete transparency over invoices in the company
Conclusion: The introduction of automated invoice processing is worthwhile!
