subject: Invoice Scanning, Beneficial For Businesses [print this page] Many organisations receive hundreds, if not thousands of supplier invoices everyday that must be entered into an accounting system, which is both time consuming and costly. According to IBM, Gartner and Aberdeen Group, between 75-80% of invoices are still processed manually, despite the advent of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). There are however invoice processing systems that are helping businesses improve the processing of their supplier invoices.
By scanning invoices and automating the process, business are able to reduce the time it takes to process their invoices, whilst also cutting costs.
Documation"s invoice scanning module is a sophisticated solution that enables businesses to scan any invoice in any format. Invoices come in a multitude of formats, layouts and styles, but with invoice scanning software such as Documation"s Invoice Management Solution, all of these can be effectively scanned and processed. The software can cope with invoices in multiple languages, currencies and will adhere to specific tax and financial rules; all helping to improve business performance and ROI"s.
Benefits of invoice scanning as part of a wider invoice processing solution:
1.Time Savings: Scanning invoices into an invoice management system can provide huge time savings, compared to manually entering them into the system
2. Reduced Data Entry: Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can be used to automatically read the invoice and populate the data into the system
3. Better Customer Service: When suppliers contact the AP department with queries, the invoice and all accompanying details can be instantly retrieved, saving time and removing cost of calling them back.
4. Improved Control Over Key Business Processes: Invoices are coded, matched or authorised and become ready for payment much faster than with a manual process.
5. Improved Productivity: Automating many of the processes enables AP staff to concentrate on more strategic tasks.
6. Improved Level of Service to Internal Departments: Authorised users outside the AP department can view the invoice and status in order to answer supplier queries without referring to the AP team.
7. Improved Access & Visibility: All scanned files can be easily accessed from any computer at any time, eliminating time spent searching for important documents and saving money on document storage space.
8. Enhanced Security: Access can be granted on different levels so only people with the right level of security can gain access. Additionally documents are backed up, so in case of an emergency (such as a fire) all documents remain safe and secure.
In a recent report by AIIM, titled The Paper Free Office: Dream or Reality?, found out that on average, organisations using scanning and capture consider that it improves the speed of response to customers, suppliers, citizens or staff by 6-times or more. 70% estimate an improvement of at least 3-times and 29% see an improvement in 10-times or more. These statistics reflect how invoice scanning can change the way a business runs, for the better.
