Invoice processing is a crucial part of managing business transactions. It refers to the cycle of receiving supplier invoices for goods or services delivered, establishing a remittance date, paying the received invoice, and recording the transaction in a general ledger.
Improper invoice processing management, such as late invoice payment or not recording the invoice in the ledger, could affect the whole business process. But with the many invoices a business could receive, doing it manually would take too much time and resources.
OCR technology aids in invoice processing through an automated invoice reading. OCR converts and extracts necessary information from an invoice and puts them into a single system that is easy to access.
For invoice processing to be successful, the automated invoice reading should be able to extract unstructured or semi-structured original invoices from multiple sources or formats. Moreover, the OCR should have integrated security to safeguard sensitive and confidential information, especially since it is handling finances. Lastly, it should be backed up by other technologies, such as AI or machine learning, for more accurate results.
With an effective invoice reader system, a business or organization can maximize it to integrate other business management systems, such as enterprise resource planning, accounting, and data analytics, for subsequent processing.