The moment the financial year-end arrives, you end up discovering numerous weaknesses or gaps in your accounts payable process. What’s worse is that these discrepancies never surfaced before, even though you probably ran multiple audits. From invoices being scattered across invoices to approvals still in pending status or suppliers chasing overdue payments, you get surrounded by so many issues, all at the same time.
Rushing through the backlog creates a completely different story. That’s why the smartest move will be to invest in invoice processing automation to clear accounts payable, and not rely on conventional manual practices. So, let’s explore how you can establish this strategy and reduce the burdens before the fiscal year-end.
Identify what’s holding up the backlog
A long invoice queue can never tell why work is stuck. Some invoices remain buried in shared inboxes, while others wait for approvals. Some even fail to move forward due to missing POs or supporting documents. So, instead of treating every invoice the same way for accounts payable automation, you should:
- Compare your AP system against shared inboxes, supplier portals, and paper submissions to uncover unrecorded invoices
- Group outstanding bills by status, including those awaiting for approvals, missing documentation, or dispute resolution
- Prioritize overdue payments, high-value liabilities, and bills that need to be recorded in your accounting system
Automate invoice capture and data entry
Processing slows down, and documents pile up once your employees start manually transferring invoice numbers, supplier details, tax amounts, and totals into an accounting system. So, if you want to automate invoice data entry, it’s best to use an OCR- and AI-based extraction tool. By doing so, you can free your team from repetitive work and easily pull information from supported documents. Below are some of the key tasks you should get done beforehand.
- Routing invoices from emails, supplier portals, and scanned documents into one unified processing workflow
- Extracting key fields, including invoice numbers, dates, supplier details, totals, and purchase order references
- Flagging unreadable fields, missing information, and unusual amounts for further review
Match invoices against POs
Most often, invoices need to be vetted against what your company exactly ordered and received. However, if you continue comparing all these documents manually, not only will time get consumed unnecessarily but also you could end up with complex discrepancies. Now, here invoice processing automation will help you separate straightforward invoices from those that need further review. Here’s what to do!
- Compare all the invoice details with the purchase orders and goods receipt records through three-way matching
- Configure acceptable tolerances for minor differences while flagging significant price or quantity mismatches
- Send pricing discrepancies to procurement and delivery issues to receiving teams instead of leaving every query with your AP
Speed up delayed invoice approvals
Some invoices remain unpaid even when their details are perfectly correct. It usually happens when the designated approver was unavailable, the approval request got overlooked, or the invoice reached someone without the authority to approve it. These delays become harder to manage when your teams are occupied with year-end responsibilities. So, before outsourcing invoice processing services, make sure to:
- Route the bills according to department, cost center, transaction value, and authorized approval limits
- Set reminders and escalation rules for requests that remain pending beyond the agreed timeframe
- Configure authorized delegation for employee absences without bypassing approval limits or segregation-of-duties controls
Find liabilities missing from your accounts
Clearing the payment queue won’t guarantee that your year-end accounts will be completed. You might receive the goods before the final date even though your team didn’t receive the supplier invoice. In such cases, using automated invoice processing will be a smart move. However, for this, you need to:
- Review open purchase orders, goods receipts, and service confirmations for completed transactions
- Contact suppliers and internal teams to confirm the value and timing of unbilled obligations
- Assess whether accruals are required under your accounting policies
Conclusion
With automated invoice processing solutions, you can move routine documents forward, address the cause of delays in approvals, and preserve financial controls throughout the fiscal year. This means your team won’t be burdened with unnecessary manual overloads at the end of the financial year.