Before automated invoice processing, it was all up to the eye of the beholder to determine which amounts are due for what services or goods. If an Accounts Payable clerk receives an invoice document, whether paper by snail mail, fax or as an email attachment, they have to use their common sense and experience to identify and manually enter the relevant information into the accounting system. It takes time, but it usually works and is occasionally plagued by entry errors or misunderstandings, say from a quirky invoice format or bad handwriting. That way of literally “eyeballing” it, though, is quickly becoming a process of the past.
Systems for invoice processing and Accounts Payable automation have made ingesting invoices a much easier task, it’s worth taking a closer look at how we at Yooz have built a cloud-based solution that is faster and more accurate than an experienced human.
How does automatic invoice processing work?
To automate invoice processing and the Accounts Payable workflow you need a combination of the top technologies: optical character recognition, smart data extraction, machine learning powered by artificial intelligence, and the Cloud. The Yooz Accounts Payable automation solution is the best at leveraging those technologies in one easy to use platform.
OCR
It starts with optical character recognition (OCR). OCR is the mechanical or electronic conversion of images of typed, printed, or even handwritten text, into machine-encoded text. The text can be captured from a scanned document, a photo of a document, a scene-photo (for example writing on signs and billboards in a photo), or from subtitles superimposed on an image (such as a TV show). It’s a nifty shortcut to save time typing, but it’s only the first step.
Smart Data Extraction
The next layer -- smart data extraction -- is where the magic starts to happen. Smart data extraction technology basically “reads” each invoice. It can understand and process the text from the OCR and transform it into relevant data. OCR by itself does not know what to do with the information it sees, but the “smart” in smart data extraction adds a crucial capability: software can now take the text and do something with it, instantly making the life of every Accounts Payable clerk so much easier.
With Yooz, the relevant fields in an invoice such as the date, amounts and applicable taxes, discounts, due date and recipient information plus payment info are automatically moved into the corresponding fields of your accounting or ERP system’s database. The software assigns the correct GL code, matches purchasing orders to invoices and will move the document along to the right person to approve it. Or flag it if it’s a duplicate or otherwise problematic. At its best, this is a touch free workflow from end to end that cuts the time to process an invoice down to minutes and a few cents.
Machine Learning Powered by Artificial Intelligence
But state-of-art Accounts Payable automation doesn’t stop there, thanks to the next layer called machine learning, which is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI). Simply put, it means that Yooz remembers the data it has seen and will keep populating it into the correct data fields each time it sees this type of information again. In short, it’s hard to stump the system.
No matter how different invoices from supplier A to supplier Z may look or are formatted, machine learning gets each variation and reduces errors. More importantly, it learns over time and improves. No end-user is ever involved to “teach” the software. Instead, your back-office staff is freed from both manual data entry and third-party verification. And since Yooz has been working on this intelligent Accounts Payable automation solution stack for over a decade and “read” millions of invoices, we continuously teach our software new tricks that instantly benefit every one of our users.
While all this decoding of business transactions is happening thousands of times every day, it does more than just save time and money. Accounts Payable automation gives companies of any size the big picture.
The Cloud
Yooz uses a Cloud-hosted platform with highest level of security to not only store your invoices electronically but also to reduce fraud and meet regulatory compliance standards. Automatically detect and reduce fraud in real time with solutions like YoozFakeDetection while meeting audit standards such as timestamps, legal archiving and an audit trail for each invoice processed.
You can store all of your documents electronically in our digital filing cabinet eliminating the need for files worth of paper invoices. No more spending hours searching for one specific invoice. With a Cloud-based Accounts Payable automation software like Yooz you can utilize a Google-like search feature to quickly find the document you are looking for.
Because all of your Yooz platform is completely in the Cloud you are able to access it anytime and from anywhere you have an internet connection. No more needing to be in the office to process an invoice. Now you can log into your Yooz account from any computer or our Yooz mobile app to approve invoices and locate documents from home, your favorite coffee shop, and of course from your office.
Automatic Invoice Processing Systems
Accounts Payable automation software like Yooz combines all of those layers of technology into one easy to use automatic invoice processing system. Through OCR Yooz is able to read all types of invoice and document formats from emails to PDFs. With smart data extraction Yooz takes the data it reads and places it into the correct corresponding fields automatically. Machine learning powered by AI allows Yooz to get smarter the more you use it.
By leveraging these top technologies Yooz reduces errors form manual data entry, eliminates paper and the need for rows of filing cabinets, cuts invoice cycle times from days to hours, and ultimately saves you around 80% on your Accounts Payable process.
Another area where these smart technologies can improve your invoice process are by automating your workflows and making the approval process more efficient. Yooz enables dynamic workflows to be created specifically for the approval process of your team and organization. Management is also able to gain visibility into what stage of the process documents are at in real-time. Understanding what flows through your Accounts Payable department almost in real-time provides the knowledge to better manage your working capital, mitigate risk, and make more strategic decisions.
We think that’s exactly the kind of thing humans deserve recognition for.
When you are evaluating solutions to automate your Accounts Payable and invoice process you should not only ask what technologies they are using but if they have a completely automated solution that leverages OCR, smart data extraction, machine learning, and the Cloud. With this combination of advanced technologies Yooz is the smartest, most powerful, and easiest to use invoice processing automation solution on the market.
If you’re ready to hear more about our combination of advanced technologies and how Yooz can help your company automate it’s invoice processing to save time and money you can schedule a discovery call with one of our automation specialists here.
