This is an illustrative example: it describes how a typical implementation of this kind unfolds, not a project for a specific client.

Challenge: invoices stuck in a manual workflow

A B2B services company (an illustrative example) received an average of 200 supplier invoices a month – by email, by post and through supplier portals. An accounts team member retyped every invoice into the system by hand, assigned it to the right expense account, and then printed it or emailed it to a manager for approval.

This process caused three recurring problems:

  • processing a single invoice took several days on average,
  • some documents got lost or duplicated across email inboxes,
  • errors from manually retyping amounts and account numbers led to accounting corrections at the end of the month.

Solution: automation from document receipt to posting

The team automated the entire invoice journey before an invoice reaches an accountant:

  1. A single point of entry – invoices from email, supplier portals and paper scans all flow into one document management system.
  2. OCR and data capture – the system automatically reads the invoice number, amount, due date and supplier details, with no manual retyping.
  3. Automatic coding – based on the supplier and past invoices, each invoice is assigned to the right expense account and cost center.
  4. Approval workflow – the invoice is routed electronically to the right approver according to amount thresholds, with an automatic reminder if it isn’t approved within a set time.
  5. Posting and payment – once approved, the invoice goes automatically to the accounting system and the payment schedule, with no further data entry.

Sample timeline: 5 weeks from design to a working process

  • Week 1 – Document workflow audit: mapping where invoices come from and how they are currently approved.
  • Week 2 – OCR setup: connecting email, supplier portals and the scanner to a single system.
  • Week 3 – Coding rules: agreeing with the accounts team how expense accounts are assigned.
  • Week 4 – Approval paths: configuring amount thresholds, approvers and reminders.
  • Week 5 – Testing and team training: a pilot on a share of invoices, training for the accounts team, full rollout.

What results to expect

Specific numbers depend on the starting point, so before implementation we measure the time from receiving an invoice to posting it, the number of corrections and the share of invoices paid on time, and afterwards we compare the same metrics. The direction of change is usually as follows:

  • Invoice processing time: shorter, because manual retyping and waiting for a printout to be approved disappear.
  • Errors and corrections: less frequent — data is captured automatically and checked (tax IDs, amounts, duplicates).
  • Lost documents: the status of every invoice is visible from receipt to payment.
  • The accounts team’s time: less data entry, more time for exceptions and analysis.

Where people make the decisions

Approving a cost always remains a human decision — the automation routes the invoice to the right person and reminds them about it. Invoices with an uncertain reading or outside the coding rules go to the accounts team for review instead of moving on automatically.

Takeaways

Invoice automation isn’t about replacing the accounts team; it’s about removing manual data entry before an invoice even reaches the system. The biggest impact comes from combining three elements: a single point of entry for documents, automatic data capture and an electronic approval workflow with clear amount thresholds.

If your company still enters invoices into the system by hand, and accounting corrections regularly pile up at the end of the month, that’s usually the first sign it’s worth starting with an audit of your document workflow.