How to Process E-mail Invoices

Suppliers are sending more invoices via e-mail these days.  Handle them with ease.

Years ago, when electronic data interchange (EDI) was in its infancy, accounts payable automation was in the context of an EDI data stream.

As things turned out, EDI saved vendors time and paper. But the technology was expensive to set up and maintain, and adoption was low.

Suppliers needed a different approach to invoicing.

Today, EDI has largely been replaced by invoices sent as e-mail attachments, typically PDFs.

E-mails are far less expensive for all parties and are more widely adopted among AP departments.  In fact, e-mail is the fast-growing delivery channel for invoices in the United States, according to the Institute of Finance and Management (IOFM).

The growth of invoices that arrive via e-mail has had a dramatic impact on accounts payable operations.

For example, a major hospital system recently partnered with Edenred Pay for an AP automation system.

The project started with only a handful of supplier invoices received via e-mail every month, compared to 15 percent from EDI. Within a year, 50 percent of the hospital’s total invoice volume was received as e-mail attachments.

This hospital’s experience is not unique!  E-mail is the new postal service for sending invoices. And the ability to automatically process, organize and extract data from those e-mails is critical.  The thing is that many AP departments have inefficient processes for handling those e-mails.

To illustrate, in most accounts payable operations, e-mail invoices are easily lost in an overloaded inbox. Invoice data is still “locked” in email, PDF, Word and Excel files. It’s not automatically integrated or loaded into your AP application. Believe it or not, the e-mail and attachments are often printed on paper and manually routed. In other cases, the invoice is copied and saved to the desktop or server. Then, it’s either captured electronically or manually entered – a situation that is time-intensive, costly and prone to errors and inconsistencies.

What is invoice processing software?

Invoice processing software can help organizations of all sizes across all industries automate AP, no matter where their staff work.

Our invoice processing software automatically flows e-mailed invoices into your AP system just like EDI. It’s hands-off, cost-effective and completely automated. Payment pre-approvals, payment post-approvals, complex coding, routings and allocations – our unique blend of technology, invoice management experience and complex capture rules can handle it all.

It’s not just about invoices in email attachments, either. Our AP automation software can be customized to transfer data from any invoice – no matter how it arrives – directly into leading ERP systems, like Oracle, SAP, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, Lawson ERP and Microsoft Dynamics as well as many others.

No matter what your accounts payable system looks like today, Edenred Pay can make it 100 percent digital. The results? Vastly reduced transaction costs, Six Sigma-quality data accuracy, slashed invoice processing time, a fully auditable document flow and true back-office scalability.

The way that AP departments receive invoices is changing fast.

With the Edenred Pay AP automation solution, your department is ready!

Having problems processing invoices received as e-mails?  Let’s chat!

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Edenred Pay, an Edenred Company, is the global leader in invoice-to-pay automation. Our integrated platform connects businesses with suppliers, ERPs, banks, FinTechs, and payment rails to automate, optimize, and monetize the entire B2B payments lifecycle – from invoice receipt through payment reconciliation. Edenred Pay’s efficient, integrated solutions create a frictionless process and help deliver value to the enterprise by enhancing visibility and monetizing AP.

Visit www.edenredpay.com or contact us to learn more.