Accelerate and optimize financial processes

Invoice processing with Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Invoice processing is time-consuming and error-prone. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) makes this process more efficient, faster and more accurate. RPA software helps you process invoices without manual operations. As a result, you and your finance team have more time for strategic work. Read on to discover how RPA can improve your invoice processing and the benefits it offers.

The benefits of RPA for invoice processing

RPA offers numerous benefits to your invoice processing process. Here are some of the most important:

1. Faster processing time

RPA processes invoices automatically, which is much faster than manual entry. Within seconds you have the invoice processed, instead of hours or days.

2. Lower costs

By having to perform fewer manual tasks, you reduce staff costs of invoice processing. RPA also minimizes human error, which also saves costs in the long run.

3. Better accuracy

RPA ensures accurate data processing, which significantly improves the quality of your financial data. No more human errors causing problems or financial losses.

4. Better compliance and auditing

With RPA, you keep a complete audit trail. This makes it easy to comply with regulations and gives you better insight into your billing process, which is useful for audits and controls.

5. Scalability and flexibility

RPA grows with you. Are you experiencing fluctuations in the number of invoices or are you expanding? With RPA, you easily adapt the system to respond to changes in your business.

How does RPA for Invoice Processing work?

RPA can automate several tasks in your invoice processing process. Here you can see the main steps an RPA system performs:

Reading invoices
RPA automatically reads invoices from various sources, such as emails, PDFs or scanned documents. The system retrieves relevant data, such as vendor information, amounts and invoice numbers.

Data validation
The RPA software automatically checks the data entered. Consider recognizing duplicate invoices, matching them to orders and detecting discrepancies.

Data entry into ERP systems
RPA enters all information into your ERP or accounting system, such as SAP, Oracle, Dynamics 365 or any other system you use.

Power Automate helps set up Robotic Process Automation

Approval workflow
RPA forwards invoices to the right people for approval, based on the rules and hierarchy in your organization.

Payment Processing
After approval, RPA starts the payment process. This helps you meet payment deadlines and get discounts by paying on time.

Implementing RPA for Invoice Processing

Want to deploy RPA for invoice processing? Here's how to get started:

1. Understand needs

Inventory your processes: Identify and assess processes that would benefit from automation. Consider tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming and error-prone.
Make a business case: Calculate the potential for cost savings, quality improvement and productivity.
Engage stakeholders: Speak to key people, such as process owners, IT department and end users to determine which processes have the highest priority.

2. Analyze and optimize processes.

Perform a process analysis: Go deep into the processes to be automated to fully understand all the steps, decision points, and exceptions.
Optimization of processes: Look for steps that can be improved or even removed before they are automated. Automating inefficient processes often does not yield the expected benefits.

3. Design workflows

Create workflow templates: Use Power Automate to design a workflow template, taking into account process variables and integration points.
Documentation: Document each step in the workflow to make future changes and maintenance easier.

4. Testing and validating workflows.

Step-by-step testing: Test the workflows incrementally to make sure they work correctly. Identify any errors or logic issues.
User testing: Have real-world users test the automated processes so they can verify that they match the actual processes.

5. Production and scaling

Going live: After successful testing, the workflow can be rolled out in a production environment.
Scale up: Evaluate which workflows could potentially be implemented on a larger scale in the future or expanded to other departments.

6. Monitor and optimize

Monitoring and maintenance: Monitor workflows to detect any problems. Power Automate provides built-in reporting capabilities to analyze the performance of automations.
Continuous optimization: Make periodic improvements based on feedback and performance data to further optimize automations.

7. Change management and employee training

Communication Plan: Make sure employees are aware of the changes in their work processes.
Training and support: Provide training so employees can work effectively with the new automated processes and understand the role of RPA.

Frequently asked questions about RPA for invoice processing

What companies is RPA suitable for?

RPA is flexible and can help both small businesses and large organizations operate more efficiently.
What does an RPA implementation cost?

The cost of an RPA implementation varies by project and the amount of automation required. Generally, the cost is also tied to ROI. When the cost of the implementation is high, there is often so much automation that you see it reflected in the savings.
How safe is RPA for my data?

RPA systems use strong security measures such as encryption and access control to keep your data safe. Peacock works with Power Automate. This automation solution from Microsoft is equipped with the most up-to-date technologies to keep data safe.