Maximise automation for PO-based invoices for complex use cases

Most P2P providers can accomplish a 3-way match of POs, invoices, and goods receipts information on a basic level, but how often are your invoices straightforward and basic? If you are like most companies in our customer base, some of your processes related to invoices are simple and some require more involvement. At Basware we believe in applying automation to as many invoices as possible, regardless of how simple or complex they are by nature.

In this blog, you learn about 5 use cases of how you can leverage advanced matching technology to further automate your invoice processing to become truly touchless.

Your goal for every PO-backed invoice is to be automatically ingested into your process and matched to the PO and a goods receipt without manual intervention – this is what enables your AP team to shift away from the day-to-day handling of every single invoice to focusing on only invoice discrepancies.

The foundation of advanced matching capabilities

Basware has grown up in the AP space – we get the nuances and intricacies of the AP process. Our advanced matching engine, ‘smart’ technology, and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) work behind the scenes to get you automated matching for the majority of your invoices. Here are some examples of where we stand out to empower you with touchless processing capabilities.    

1. Match invoices to POs generated in other purchasing systems

Basware is not a jealous provider. We have built a technical foundation on the concept of integration and ‘plug and play’ solutions. If you are using a different procurement solution to create POs or generating POs from your ERP – that’s no problem at all. Our superior integration capabilities will pull that PO data into Basware and automatically match your invoice to it. Other providers on the market require you to use their procurement tool to get that automated match, but at Basware, we prefer to minimise the impact on your business. We believe in getting you automation for all your invoices, providing visibility over your direct and indirect spending, and fitting into your existing IT landscape.

2. Cover all invoice matching scenarios

It is not just about matching one invoice to one PO. You need automation for all the ways your suppliers invoice you:

• One invoice that spans multiple POs
• Multiple invoices for one PO
• Many invoices across many POs

However, if your suppliers invoice you, we will properly match those invoices to the right POs without bothering anyone in AP or the business.

3. GET THE MATCH EVEN WHEN INVOICES AND POS ARE NOT IDENTICAL

Sometimes suppliers do not copy the lines of your PO identically to the invoice – or maybe they change something on their end – like a product code. But the invoice you receive still matches the PO you issued, and you should get an automated match. Because Basware collects the data from your POs and goods receipts, we can look at data points like date and quantity details to get the automated match for that invoice. Not only does this mean more touchless invoices, but it also keeps your AP team from working on what we call “erroneous exceptions.” The invoice matches the PO – there is no need for human attention on it.

4. AUTOMATICALLY IDENTIFY AND CODE ADDITIONAL COSTS

Sometimes invoices arrive with costs that you do not account for on a PO, like taxes or freight charges. These charges are legitimate, so why should someone in AP have to work on the invoice? With Basware’s keyword recognition, we can automatically recognise and properly code the costs according to your business rules. You can even set tolerances to make sure if the costs exceed a specified threshold, the solution alerts a person to approval.

5. GO BEYOND 3-WAY MATCHING

Maybe you also require a quality inspection for certain items, or maybe you want to associate the invoice to contract terms. With Basware, you can make these requirements part of your matching process – we can add as many matching points as you need to meet your business rules and ensure the invoice is approved for payment.

How does that drive value for your Accounts Payable team?

You realise significant efficiency gains, on-time (or early) payments, and more accuracy by automatically matching the bulk of your PO invoice volume. You can shift your AP team to managing by exception only to resolve invoice discrepancies much faster.

When you are going through a vendor evaluation, make sure to understand how these advanced matching scenarios are handled, so you ensure your chosen solution can cover all nuances and intricacies of the AP process to become truly touchless.

Reach out and speak to one of our solutions experts, if you want to learn how your AP department can leverage these benefits.