Revolutionise Invoice Processing

From reading and analyzing information from PDF, to inputing the data in SAP, discover how you can augment your workforce and ensure to deliver the most time-efficient results using UiPath.

While RPA can be applied to a number of finance and accounting operations, invoice processing is a prime example of the technology’s potential for driving efficiency.

RPA software robots can automate data input, error reconciliation, and some of the decision-making required by finance staff when processing invoices. At the same time, automation is able to limit errors in such processes and reduce the need for manual exception handling.

Let’s take a look at how the UiPath Enterprise RPA Platform can be used end-to-end to move an invoice from receipt to payment in a matter of minutes.

Invoice receipt

UiPath RPA software robots are able to constantly monitor a dedicated folder where invoices are saved by employees (or other software robots) in PDF format. Once robots detect the presence of an invoice in the folder, they begin to extract information from the document. 

Information extraction & transfer

Using intelligent optical character recognition (OCR) and natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, software robots are able to read out the information that is visible on the invoice. After robots extract the key information from each invoice, they use their credentials to open the company’s database or enterprise resource planning system, if not already open. The robots then start processing the invoices one-by-one by transferring over the relevant invoice information.

Email notification

After successfully registering each invoice, the software robots are then able to send posting notifications in the form of emails to the responsible employee or to the vendor in question. An email is also sent to the responsible party in case of an exception.

Other background activities

During this whole process, the software robots are also running background activities such as monitoring the dedicated invoice folder or its email address, performing basic checks to see if the company’s database is open, and verifying whether vendor information (e.g. VAT number) on the invoice matches what is already in the database.