What is AP automation?
AP automation uses software and AI to capture supplier invoices, extract and code the data, match it to purchase orders, route approvals and prepare payment with minimal manual entry.
In more detail
The usual stages are capture (email, portal, EDI), extraction, coding to GL accounts and cost centers, matching against POs and receipts, approval routing, posting to the ERP and payment-run preparation. Automation pays off most on high-volume, repetitive invoices and least on one-off, complex ones. Controls matter as much as speed: duplicate detection, alerts on changed bank details, and separation between who approves and who pays. Many companies keep their ERP and put an automation layer in front of it rather than replacing it. Our guide to automating invoice processing walks through the stages in order.
Example
A team receives about 2,000 supplier invoices a month in a shared inbox. The system extracts fields, suggests coding from prior invoices, matches to POs and sends mismatches to the budget owner. The controller approves each payment run.