Despite significant improvement over the past few years, invoice approval remains a common issue for many accounts payable professionals today. Too many organisations are still using spreadsheets or paper documents. Recent research commissioned by Yooz found that one in five businesses across mainland Europe still use manual processes for invoice approval - equating to millions of companies around the world.
What’s more surprising is that just 18% of EU businesses currently use some form of automated digital invoice processing software. The issues surrounding manual invoice approval - such as approval errors, delayed/lost invoices and late payments to name a few - have long been documented. So why are organisations still stuck in their old ways and not adopting paperless accounting processes?
Automating invoice approval workflows can help. Here’s how.
Manual processes, such as emailing vendors to chase invoices, inserting data into Excel spreadsheets, or sending and archiving paper documents, are boring, old-fashioned and costly. Not just in monetary terms either, as mistakes and late payments caused by human error can also cause fractured relationships with customers, suppliers and even employees.
It’s clear that businesses need a better solution for their invoice approval needs. The use of digital invoice approval software has taken away the pre-existing reliance on individuals within the organisation, such as the accounts payable professional, the financial director or the CFO. Invoice approval workflow software essentially automates key steps within the traditional process to produce faster, better and more accurate results.
The technology behind the solution, a combination of machine learning and artificial intelligence, may sound complicated, but digital invoice approval software is generally easy to implement and quickly understood by finance teams.
It all starts with a simple scan of a document, such as a digital invoice in need of approval and payment. Once scanned, the system automatically matches the information with supporting documents such as purchase orders and receipts and then logs the data into the system records.
Line items such as purchase order number, supplier name, address, invoice number and even VAT are automatically registered, meaning there’s no need to spend hours inserting data into a spreadsheet.
From here, the digital invoice approval software works with your chosen ERP solution to provide accounts payable staff with a complete view of the status of work, receive real-time notifications and approve any outstanding invoices - all at the click of a button.
The use of automated invoice approval workflows is transforming the way accounts payable staff operate. It’s no longer about just crunching the numbers, but becoming a key focal point in improving communication, collaboration and relationships with suppliers and customers.
Remote work employees or those on the go can also approve or reject invoices from anywhere, at any time using a mobile device, making the solution entirely flexible.
From a company point of view, you want to make sure that any new piece of software is reliable and secure. Invoice approval software provides full visibility and traceability of documents, giving accounts payable staff the capability to easily identify and resolve any bottlenecks with a complete trail of approval history.
It’s also completely secure, as only nominated members of the team have access to the platform, which is password-protected with two-factor authentication, even on mobile devices.
But the benefits to the wider company can also be seen in a sharp increase in productivity. Accounts payable staff are liberated from having to spend a lot of their time working on menial, labour-intensive tasks, leaving them more availability for strategic, value-added projects.
| Benefits | Description |
| Efficiency and Speed | Automates key steps, reducing approval times from weeks to hours. |
| Accuracy | Minimises errors and reduces the risk of lost or delayed invoices. |
| Cost Reduction | Decreases processing costs by up to 80%, eliminating manual data entry and errors. |
| Enhanced Visibility | Provides full visibility and traceability of documents, with a complete trail of approval history. |
| Security | Offers secure access with password protection and two-factor authentication, even on mobile devices. |
| Improved Collaboration | Facilitates better communication and collaboration among accounts payable staff and suppliers. |
| Flexibility | Allows remote approval of invoices from any location using mobile devices. |
| Productivity Boost | Frees up staff to focus on strategic tasks instead of manual processes. |
| Integration with ERP Systems | Seamlessly integrates with existing ERP systems for streamlined operations. |
| Scalability | Adapts to businesses of all sizes, handling various invoice volumes efficiently. |
| Real-Time Notifications | Provides real-time updates and notifications, improving workflow management. |
| AI and Machine Learning | Utilises AI and machine learning to continuously improve accuracy and efficiency. |
| Cloud-Based Solution | Enables secure, cloud-based storage and access to invoices, facilitating remote and hybrid work. |
| User-Friendly Interface | Easy to set up and use without extensive training, with support available if needed. |
| Market Recognition | Trusted by businesses and recognised with prestigious awards for its innovative solutions. |
For over fourteen years now, our team of experts have been working, learning and fine-tuning our technology to make it one of the most powerful on the market today. Over that time, the Yooz platform has scanned, captured and registered more than 200 million invoices from over a million different vendors. Yooz has learnt from every single document it has processed, to continuously improve and provide the fastest, simplest and most secure digital invoice approval platform. For example, even with the number of different formats, document types and templates used for invoices - from Word docs to PDFs - Yooz still understands and learns from every single invoice.
Using a combination of automation, AI and machine learning, we take away all of the hours spent on menial, repetitive tasks - meaning most invoices don’t ever have to be touched or processed by a human. Our customers can typically expect to see around an 80% reduction in processing cost per invoice, as well as paperless invoice approval system times going from weeks to just hours.
Accounts payable staff can perform a quick search across different office locations, accounting departments and geographies, and have results in front of them quicker than a Google search. In addition to this, as it’s a cloud solution, it can be used on smartphones wherever employees are based - useful in a world of remote and hybrid working.
Yooz automation for accounts payable makes invoice approval easy, enabling teams to take advantage of productivity benefits never seen before. It’s about time others got on board and experienced the transformative power of automated invoice processing, streamlining operations and unlocking new levels of efficiency across the finance department.