Graip.AI Experts Reveal Details on Invoice Scanning Software

Graip.AI experts – product lead Karyna Mihalevich and business data analyst Elena Devyatkina – share their vision for invoice scanning software in 2023 and expectations for 2024.

What is the state of the invoice scanning software market in 2023?

Karyna Mihalevich:

“Best-in-class enterprises have leveraged this technology and automated manual processes with significant results. Considering the Tungsten Network report, there has been a 3.2x higher rate of touchless invoices in 2023 that has become a technological advantage. Moreover, corporate invoice scanning software is evolving to foster income capabilities throughout the organisation.

Such areas as automated invoice data capture, automated reconciliation process, and automated matching of payment information to invoice are the main steps for account payable automation.

While at first, it may seem hyperbolic, finance automation and the software used to implement it have the great potential to change the trajectory of a company. They impact the most fundamental component of business – money.

By automating critical functions like reconciliation, finance departments don’t need to waste time tracking down coding information or receipts at the month-end close.

One of the most important benefits of invoice scan software is the ability to view data in real-time. Purchases are recorded automatically at the moment they occur. Business leaders and finance professionals can report in real-time on the health of a business. Also, how much money is coming in or out.

This level of transparency is critical in the finance sector that historically operated on a monthly schedule to measure performance against targets.

Today, more accounts payable (AP) departments use invoice scan software to process invoices. For example, optical character recognition (OCR) technology can convert an image or PDF into a machine-readable format. Also, business rules engines help execute company policies. They can route invoices to the appropriate people within an organisation for review and approval. Unfortunately, in many companies document processes are not fully automated. The recent survey by the Institute of Financial Operations & Leadership (IFOL) found that 54% of global AP teams are partially automated, and only 9% of AP teams are fully automated.”

Why do your customers start using specialised invoice scanning software? What problems do they solve with this solution?

Elena Devyatkina:

“Customers use specialised invoice scanning software mostly because they want to automate internal end-to-end processes to make them more efficient and accurate.

Invoice scan software brings companies the following benefits:

• minimise manual routine work of accountants and increase their motivation;
• reach better accuracy of financially sensitive data recognition;
• speed up the invoice processing cycle;
• reduce the risk of critical human errors, risk of late payment penalties, and negative relationships with customers, vendors, or suppliers due to missed payment deadlines;
• reduce the risk of erroneous payments thanks to automatic financial reconciliation or 2-way/3-way matching opportunities;
• help to focus on other higher-value accountant work;
• provide faster changes in the process as well as training of new employees;
• make an audit process easier.”

Which companies would benefit from invoice scan software and why?

Karyna Mihalevich:

“Various businesses – big corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – can benefit from intelligent document processing (IDP).

SMEs that operate at least 100-300 invoices per month will also benefit from automated invoice processing software. With this volume savings offset an invoice scan software cost.

AP automation can help SMEs to increase cash flow and solve such challenges as:

• slow and manual document processes;
• the ability to scan files but being unable to search for specific data in them;
• invoice data that you cannot match to purchase orders or received documents;
• human errors due to manual data input.

It seems that AP automation is expensive for a one-person accounting firm. On the other hand, it can be constructive for small companies that process enormous amounts of invoices.”

What criteria do you recommend for choosing invoice scanning software in 2023?

Karyna Mihalevich:

“Here are some of the most important features to pay attention to while you are looking for invoice scan software:

1. Easy to use. You need to consider No-Code or Low-code platforms.
2. Customisation options. Every business has its specific requirements. The resistance to new technology adoption will be lower if you can customise this solution to your needs.
3. Integration with other software. You should think not only about your current IT landscape. It is crucial to keep in mind your IT strategy.
4. The cost of invoice scanning software. Choose an appropriate pricing model based on the number of documents you process during the month or year.
5. Level of security. Incoming invoice processing is subject to strict legal requirements.
6. Well-organised informative dashboard and analytics.
7. Updates and upgrades. Find out in advance what support the solution developers provide with updates and upgrades.”

What types of invoice scanning software do exist in 2023? What are the differences between them?

Elena Devyatkina:

“1. There are account payable solutions that require manual data entry.

2. There are various invoice processing solutions that capture invoice data, set up verification, support document matching, and approve workflows. Also, you can integrate them into accounting or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. There you make final payments and go through data management stages.

3. There exist account payable solutions and platforms that serve end-to-end AP process automation. They work with invoice data capturing and recording, verification, purchase order matching, vendor and supplier lists, general ledger (GL) accounts, setting up custom workflows to make payments, data storage or archive, and reporting.

4. There are intelligent document processing and OCR solutions. They capture invoice data and have integrations with accounting software and account payable solutions where recognised data goes for further processing.”

What features are critical in invoice scanning software?

Elena Devyatkina:

“In our opinion, the most important features of invoice scanning solutions are:

• high data security approved by certificates;
• high accuracy of intelligent data capture;
• classification of invoices among other incoming documents;
• identification of document types;
• high scalability of invoice scan software;
• recognition of specific information like sender or receiver credentials and other industry-specific data;
• recognition of digital burn or scanned documents;
• work in a team landscape with various access permissions;
• setting up validation rules and flag anomalies;
• setting up approval workflows;
• integration with accounting systems.”

What are your forecasts for the invoice scanning software market in 2024?

Karyna Mihalevich:

“The invoice processing solutions market is expected to be worth € 5.6 billion by 2023. The market growth can be attributed to the increasing adoption of invoice processing solutions by small and medium-sized companies. Artificial intelligence technology will be at the center of many AP improvements.

IDP solutions will allow AP departments to reduce the amount of manual work. Routine task reduction may help AP teams focus on higher-value activities, such as investigating anomalies.”

Conclusion

Summarising our study, invoice scanning software became the most relevant and necessary technology for business development in 2023. It optimises various document processes – from data capture to payments – inside a company.

It is important to note that invoice scanning implementation is effective for companies that work with at least 100-300 invoices per month. As a result, companies starting from small and medium sizes can receive savings even after a month of software usage.

Invoice scanner software is the most useful for companies focusing on document processing. The lines of businesses that actively implement these solutions are accounting, legal, logistics, banking, insurance, retail, and even manufacturing.

There are different types of invoice scanning software which you can choose depending on your business needs and abilities. They start from solutions that still require manual data entry and end up with fully automated intelligent software. The advanced software works in 6 main steps that can be customised considering your technological capabilities. The technology benefits are time-savings, high accuracy, reduced manual errors, and increased effectiveness.

Noticeable income expectations for the invoice scanning market are based on the previous years results. Artificial intelligence will be the key technology worth keeping an eye on for the next few years.