Use Case 3:

Automating Supplier Invoice Processing

The Challenge: Chloe’s Invoice Pile-Up

Chloe works in the Accounts Payable department of a busy manufacturing firm, and for her, the beginning of every week often means facing an intimidating stack of supplier invoices. They arrive in a relentless stream and in every conceivable format – PDFs attached to emails, scanned documents, and even the occasional paper invoice that lands on her desk. Each one requires her careful attention to manually extract key information: invoice numbers, dates, PO numbers, line-item details, and totals, all of which must be meticulously typed into their AP system and then cross-referenced with the company's ERP. It's a slow, exacting process, and the risk of a typo leading to an incorrect payment or a delayed one is a constant worry. "Sometimes it feels like I'm just shuffling paper and typing numbers all day," Chloe has remarked. "And if we miss an early payment discount because an invoice got held up in the manual process, it impacts our bottom line."

How M8 Can Potentially Solve This

For AP departments like Chloe's, burdened by varied invoice formats and manual entry, M8 delivers an intelligent automation solution focused on streamlining the entire supplier invoice lifecycle. M8 employs advanced data capture and workflow automation to process invoices from various formats with speed and precision, significantly reducing manual effort.

M8 transforms this challenge into a solution by:

  • Providing Intelligent Data Capture: It can automatically extract key information (like invoice number, date, vendor, line items, totals) from diverse invoice formats (PDFs, scans, etc.) using optical character recognition (OCR) and AI.

  • Automating Data Validation & Entry: M8 can validate the extracted data against existing purchase orders or vendor records and then automatically populate this information into your Accounts Payable (AP) and ERP systems.

  • Streamlining Approval Workflows: It can also be configured to route invoices digitally for necessary approvals based on predefined business rules, accelerating the entire process.

The Potential Outcome for AP Departments Like Chloe's

Imagine Chloe starting her week without that daunting pile of invoices demanding manual attention. With a solution like M8, companies could dramatically reduce the time and cost associated with manual invoice processing. This can lead to faster processing cycles, much higher accuracy, improved supplier relationships due to timely payments, and better capture of early payment discounts. AP teams could then redirect their efforts from tedious data entry to more value-added activities such as vendor management, cash flow optimisation, and process improvement, enhancing overall financial control.