RPA LOWERING COST AND IMPROVING ACCURACY IN INVOICE PROCESS

---

Delays or errors in Invoice Processing effects a company's revenue, cash flow not to mention 

trust in the customer's eyes. Errors are due to incorrect information passed into the manual process of generating an invoice. What makes RPA a good and viable solution for invoice processing is that 

• It is a rule based activity, 
• Repetitive in nature
• Data for invoice is taken from structured source such as CRM
• Deliverable mechanism are also routine i.e. email or print.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a highly effective for automating invoice processing. Following are some subprocesses in invoice generation where RPA comes in handy,

• Data Extraction: RPA bot can extract relevant data from Purchase Order regardless of formats (PDF, email, scanned images etc). This includes invoice numbers, date, vendor information, product/services, rates, quantity etc). Optical Character Recognition is often used together with RPA to read data from unstructured sources.
• Data Validation: RPA bots can validate extracted data from Purchase orders, agreements or contracts. This helps to ensure any discrepancies and errors to ensure compliance.
• Three way matching: RPA can automate the three way matching process by comparing the invoice, purchase orders and goods receipt. This helps to prevent overpayment or payment for goods not received.
• Exception Handling: Any discrepancies between invoice and purchase order, missing information or unusual amounts can communicated to the relevant authority for review and resolution automatically via email.
• Approval Workflow: RPA Bot can automate the invoice approval process by routing invoice to the relevant authority based on pre-defined rules. This speeds up the approval process and reduce bottlenecks.
• Payment Processing: Once an invoice is approved, RPA Bot can trigger the payment process ensuring timely and accurate payments to vendors.
• Data Entry: RPA can automate the entry of invoice data into ERP Systems eliminating manual data entry errors and freeing up employees for high value tasks.