Automating supplier invoices and expense claims: where to start

Supplier invoices keyed into both the accounting system and the stock system are one of the most common time sinks in growing businesses, along with expense claims chased on paper and re-keyed at month-end. At a few hundred invoices a month, that alone can run to dozens of staff hours.

Both are very automatable. The trick is to automate the whole flow, not just one step of it.

The four steps of any invoice or expense flow

Every supplier invoice and expense claim goes through the same four steps:

1. Capture: the document arrives and its details are read.
2. Coding: it is assigned to the right supplier, account, cost centre or job.
3. Approval: someone with authority confirms it should be paid.
4. Posting and payment: it is entered into the accounting system, and any other systems that need it, then paid.

Most businesses do all four by hand. Automating just the first step, for example by scanning invoices, often moves the typing somewhere else rather than removing it.

Automating supplier invoices

• One inbox for invoices. Ask suppliers to send invoices to a single address that feeds your capture tool, not to individuals.
• Automatic capture. Invoice capture tools read the supplier, amounts, tax and line items from PDFs and images.
• Coding rules. Most invoices from a given supplier go to the same accounts. Rules code them automatically, and people handle only the exceptions.
• Approval workflow. Route invoices to the right approver based on amount or cost centre, with reminders, instead of chasing by email.
• Matching. Where you raise purchase orders, match invoices to the order and the delivery before approval, and flag differences.
• Post once, everywhere. Integrate so an approved invoice updates the accounting system and the stock system in one go. This is where the double-keying disappears.

Automating expense claims

• Capture receipts at the point of spending, on a phone, instead of collecting them at month-end.
• Card feeds so company card transactions arrive automatically and only need a receipt and a category.
• Policy checks that flag claims outside policy before approval, not after.
• Approval and posting that flow straight into the accounting system.

Keep the controls

Automation should make controls stronger, not bypass them. Keep the separation between who enters an invoice and who approves it, and be especially careful with changes to supplier bank details, which is where payment fraud gets in.

Measure before you start

Count the hours first: how many invoices and claims a month, how long each takes, and how many people touch it. That gives you a baseline, a clear business case, and a way to prove the saving afterwards. Our manual work cost calculator gives a quick first estimate, process by process.

Start with one flow

Pick the flow with the most volume, usually supplier invoices, and automate it end to end before moving on. A single flow done properly beats five half-automated ones.

Our business systems and integration and data, automation and AI work cover exactly this: mapping the flow, choosing tools that fit what you already use, and connecting them so each invoice is entered once.