Invoice Processing & Approvals

The problem

Supplier invoices arrive by email, get keyed by hand, then sit in somebody's inbox waiting for an approval nobody can see the status of.

The ones that are wrong are found late, usually after payment has run, and the ones that are right still take a fortnight because six people had to be asked in order.

How it works

Invoices are captured from the inbox or a shared folderThe supplier sends what they always send. Nothing changes at their end.
Each one is read and the fields extractedSupplier, dates, line items, VAT, totals and your reference. Read, not retyped.
It is matched against the purchase order and your tolerancesQuantity, price and total, to the thresholds you set. Anything outside them is held.
It is routed to the approver your rules nameBy cost centre, value, supplier or site — and chased on age if it sits, so nothing waits in one inbox.
A person approves, and only then is it postedThe approval is recorded as it happens, with who, when and against which version.

What you get

A visible queue — what is waiting, with whom, and for how long
Extracted data against every invoice, with the original attached
An approval trail — who approved what, when, against which version
An exceptions list — everything held, with the reason it was held
Portal access — every run, every exception, and the monthly statement

What we need from you

A mailbox or folder the invoices arrive in, and access to read it
Access to the accounting system — read-only to match, and write scope only for posting, opened after you have watched it run
Sample invoices — fifty or so, including the awkward suppliers
Your approval rules and tolerances, and a named person for sign-off

What stays with your people

Every approval decision
Setting and changing the tolerances
Anything a supplier disputes
Whether a held invoice is paid, queried or rejected

Nothing posts to your ledger without a person approving it. The write scope stays closed until you have watched the system run read-only and signed it off.

Timeline

Day 1–2: Audit and scope. We look at the real files and agree what the system will and will not do, in writing.
Day 3–10: Build. Connected read-only to your own data, with the rules agreed as we go.
Day 11–13: You watch it run. Against live data, still read-only, and you sign off what it produces.
Day 14: Live. Write scope opens only where you have agreed it.

Works with

It is built into the finance software you already run. No migration, and no vendor switch.

Price

Setup: —
Monthly: —per month, rolling

The monthly fee includes:

—

This system is part of the Finance & Reporting suite. One system is the suite's Essentials tier, two to four are its Growth tier, and all five together are Full Finance Operations.

Prices exclude VAT. The audit and scoping before any of this costs nothing.

Pairs well with

Payment Chasing Overdue invoices chased on schedule, in your wording. Audit Preparation Evidence that files itself, all year.