Reading invoices automatically: 4 reasons to choose digitization

Most invoices today come in via the digital route. Many organizations have created a special e-mail address so that all purchase invoices arrive in one invoice mailbox. In the traditional way, you print out these invoices piece by piece to make the rounds to all involved. Reading invoices automatically works differently. An automation solution picks up the incoming invoices from the mail, after which it makes sure that they end up directly in your ERP package. Exactly how this is done depends on your preferences. Invoices can be automatically read in two different ways:

1. You have your entire invoice mailbox read by a tool like the SMART Email Handler. This handles the pre-sorting and editing process for incoming messages (including customer emails and spam). This process is always running: not only during working hours, but also on nights and weekends. Therefore, when you enter the office in the morning, you will find a very “clean” mailbox.
2. You handle the pre-sorting of invoices yourself, because you like to have a little more control over what is and is not read into the ERP package. This means that you drag all incoming invoices to a subfolder, from where the automation solution picks them up. Other emails, such as customer inquiries or spam emails, you handle manually.

If you find option 1 a bridge too far, you can start with option 2. When your organization has become completely accustomed to the process of automatically reading invoices, you can always “upgrade” to option 1!

The process of automatically reading invoices has become somewhat clearer to you by now. But why book a purchase invoice via the digital route? We list the 4 most important reasons for you.  

1. Get rid of overtyping

With an automation solution, boring, repetitive overtyping work is a thing of the past. Smart OCR software has a high recognition rate and is self-learning. This means that you need to do very little to process procurement invoices digitallyYou get a controlling role and keep space for tasks that offer you more challenge and development. Should it happen that you need to change something while checking, simply click in the invoice and the selected field will be filled in. This minimizes the possibility of making typing errors.  

2. No searching for invoices during the processing process

When you print out and manually process all purchase invoices, an invoice frequently gets lost during the processing process. If it’s buried under a stack of papers or gathering dust in a desk drawer, your search can take a long time. If you start reading and processing invoices automatically, you also benefit from a digital archive. If you want to know where an invoice is, you can find out at the push of a button. This is useful, for example, when a creditor calls you to ask why an invoice hasn’t been paid yet. After all, you can find out immediately by entering the invoice number and viewing the status of the invoice. This not only saves you time, but also makes a more professional impression.  

3. Smooth approval process with workflow software

If you choose to read invoices automatically, then you should actually embrace the digital approval process as well. This way you achieve optimal results: you can work paperless and you save time and money. To have the approval of invoices run digitally, you need good workflow software software. You can usually set this up very flexibly. In case of illness, for example, you can easily set up a replacement. If you want an invoice above a certain amount to go to another approver, you can set this up. And if you need to add a note to an invoice, you can do this very easily. Incidentally, with workflow software you can also prevent fraud with invoices – an essential advantage!  

4. Processed invoices pull up in a flash

Good riddance. But you shouldn’t store processed purchase invoices so well that you can’t find them again. Because sometimes you need to check certain information weeks or months later. For example, because you want to book a second invoice from a certain creditor in the same way as the first one. Or because you want to have insight into the costs in response to internal questions. Previously, in such cases you would run to the (dreaded) closet full of folders. With an automation solution, this is no longer necessary. In the digital archive, you simply enter a project number or creditor name to bring up the relevant invoice. You immediately see who approved the invoice, how it was booked and from which budget the costs were deducted. How convenient!