In the previous articles, we have seen how traditional and template-based OCRs drastically failed the idea of setting up a paperless AP automation. The impact of template-based OCRs was so horrible that the employees literally switched their Google searches back to “how to convert PDF to Excel manually”!
Accounts payable (AP), being an important department in an organization, has faced some of the scariest experiences with OCRs. Since traditional OCR solutions are dependent on a set of rules and unable to interpret data or understand its context, employees had to perform all these tasks manually. After converting the scanned documents to spreadsheets, employees manually check and verify all the documents for data integrity and then route them for stakeholders’ approval.
If OCR solutions are unable to deliver the promised value, how to achieve paperless AP automation?
To your surprise, OCR scanning is not outdated, yet. Instead, it can be integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce a better way to paperless AP automation. When AI combines with OCR scanning, the data extraction software doesn’t depend on rules or templates. AI provides OCR engines with the ability to scan documents intelligently and interpret the document fields rather than depending on their positions.
The process is referred to as intelligent document automation wherein the AI-enabled OCR solutions understand the context of data before extraction, irrespective of the document (invoice) format, layout, and structure. Therefore, the use of templates reduces to zero percent making the paperless AP automation processes entirely seamless. It also makes the AP department free of performing repetitive, yet important tasks of maintaining templates, validation and verification of scanned invoices.
Benefits of Intelligent Document Automation in Accounts Payable
Apart from this, intelligent document automation also provides some other benefits to the organizations. Let’s take a look.
1. Saves time and money
With AI-enabled OCR solutions, employees don’t have to spend time creating thousands of templates for every other invoice structure. They just feed the invoice into OCR and the latter itself learns from the data set to extract relevant field data from the invoice. Moreover, the time invested in manual verification and approval of invoices is no more a heavy burden.
Similarly, you won’t have to spend money on employee training. Since, human intervention is significantly reduced in case of intelligent document automation, labor costs reduction becomes a by-product.
2. Improves accuracy and productivity
AI-enabled OCRs are self-learning ML models that do not require manual validations to confirm data integrity. Since they can interpret and understand the context of data, there is no room for errors. The in-built intelligent document decision support system automatically looks for errors and rectifies them.
Owing to a decrease in manual invoice processing, the AP department can now focus on other important financial matters, while AI-enabled OCR solutions do the needful. It enhances the overall productivity of the workforce by delegating repetitive tasks to OCR solutions.
Hence, the next time you search, “how to convert scan to Excel automatically,” focus on intelligent document automation instead of plain OCR scanning.
How to achieve paperless AP automation with KlearStack’s Intelligent document automation solution?
When it comes to implementing paperless AP automation in your organization, KlearStack is your go-to solution.
KlearStack is a cloud-based data extraction / data capture software that integrates the power of template-less, end-to-end automation, and document decision support with OCR scanning. It enables businesses to harness the power of intelligent document automation by leveraging computer vision, text analytics/NLP (Natural Language Processing), and adaptive learning.
When one of our clients asked us, “how to convert scan copy to Excel without human intervention,” here’s how KlearStack came up with a solution.
The Client’s Problem
The AP team at the client’s company was processing invoices at an approximate rate of $12 per invoice. Considering the number of invoices processed per month to be a thousand, nearly $12,000 on an average were invested in mere invoice processing.
Further, template creation and manual verification of invoices led to late payments and the client missed out on early payment discounts.
Guess what was the worst of all! The client’s business reputation was at stake as they received 36% vendor calls and emails for payment reminders.
KlearStack’s Intelligent Document Automation Solution
The client subscribed to KlearStack as a means for intelligent document automation. We gave them our very simple image-quality prerequisites so KlearStack can interpret the text with high accuracy.
Since KlearStack is entirely template-less and uses adaptive learning to understand the context of data, the client could insert all types of invoices in the AI-powered OCR and the latter scanned and converted the invoice into spreadsheets effectively. The client used KlearStack APIs to seamlessly integrate invoice data in their end-to-end AP workflow.
As a result, the client observed a 200% improvement in the AP team’s productivity, 20 times reduction in setup costs, zero capex, and 100% interoperability with REST APIs.
The best part is, we could achieve 90-95% accuracy in invoice processing and ~70% reduction in manual efforts within 90 days of implementing KlearStack’s intelligent document automation solution for the client.
If this is something you are willing to accomplish for your organization, book a consultation call with us today. We will tell you more about how KlearStack is a best fit for your invoice processing needs.
