Industrial Conglomerate: Invoice Processing Automation
We developed an intelligent invoice automation solution that extracts data from varied invoice formats, validates against purchase orders, generates Goods Receipt Notes, and updates the ERP platform in real-time—transforming a manual, error-prone process into a streamlined digital workflow.
Indian Industrial Conglomerate
Manufacturing
Client Partner
A large industrial conglomerate in India, overseeing multiple manufacturing plants with complex supply chains and high-volume vendor relationships.
The Challenge
The client faced significant operational bottlenecks in their accounts payable processes:
Manual Data Entry
- Finance team members manually keyed data from each invoice into their ERP platform (e.g., invoice numbers, item descriptions, tax details), often leading to transcription errors.
- The process was slow, especially given the varied invoice formats and inconsistent quality.
Cumbersome Purchase Order (PO) Validation
- Matching each incoming invoice to its corresponding purchase order consumed significant time.
- Any data mismatch required back-and-forth checks, further delaying invoice approval and payment cycles.
Delayed Goods Receipt Note (GRN) Creation
- Once an invoice was validated, generating a GRN demanded additional manual steps, causing further lags in the overall purchase-to-payment process.
Lack of Real-Time Visibility
- Finance teams struggled to gain immediate insights on outstanding invoices and liabilities because of the slow, manual workflow.
- The absence of automated updates to the ERP platform meant decisions often relied on outdated or incomplete data.
Our Solution
AI-Powered Invoice Capture
- Leveraged Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) to intelligently process and extract critical information (invoice number, PO reference, tax details, etc.) from invoices of varying formats and quality.
- Used traditional OCR technology as a validation layer to cross-verify the AI-extracted data, ensuring maximum accuracy.
- Implemented automated error-checking logic to reduce transcription mistakes and boost data accuracy.
- Built adaptive learning capabilities to improve recognition accuracy over time, especially for recurring vendor invoice formats.
Auto-Matching & GRN Generation
- Developed a rules-based engine to compare extracted invoice data with existing POs in the ERP system.
- Automated the creation of Goods Receipt Notes (GRNs) for matched line items, while flagging mismatches for quick human review.
- Implemented validation workflows with configurable approval thresholds based on discrepancy levels and invoice values.
Real-Time ERP Integration
- Built secure API connections to enable seamless data exchange between the automation system and the client's ERP platform.
- Ensured authorized invoices and GRNs synced directly into the ERP system, enabling near-instant reflection of financial liabilities and inventory movements.
- Implemented comprehensive audit trails and transaction logs for compliance and troubleshooting purposes.
Analytics & Reporting Dashboard
- Created a centralized dashboard to provide real-time visibility into invoice processing status, outstanding liabilities, and exception cases.
- Implemented KPI tracking to measure system performance and financial metrics (e.g., processing times, approval rates, payment cycles).
- Developed customizable reports for management oversight and operational optimization.
The Impact
| Key Metric | Approx. Improvement |
|---|---|
| Processing Time | Over 50% faster turnaround |
| Error Reduction | ~80% drop in data entry mistakes |
| Financial Visibility | Daily ERP updates |
| Staff Efficiency | 30-40% reduction in repetitive tasks |
By automating the invoice-to-GRN workflow and integrating with the client's ERP platform, we significantly enhanced process efficiency, data accuracy, and financial oversight. The implementation resulted in over 50% faster turnaround for invoice validation and approvals, approximately 80% reduction in data entry errors thanks to automated OCR and matching, daily ERP system updates providing near-instant insights into outstanding liabilities, and 30-40% reduction in repetitive tasks, enabling finance teams to focus on strategic work. The solution not only streamlined the immediate invoice processing workflow but also improved vendor relationships through more timely payments and provided management with better financial data for decision-making.
"The invoice automation system has transformed our finance operations. What used to take days now happens in hours, with far fewer errors. Our team can finally focus on financial analysis instead of data entry, and we've gained unprecedented visibility into our payables across all our manufacturing units."
Finance Director
Indian Industrial Conglomerate
In a nutshell
We replaced a slow, error-prone process with a digital solution that automatically captures invoice data, validates it against POs, generates GRNs, and updates the ERP in real time. By reducing manual involvement, the partner's teams can focus on higher-value tasks, and the organization gains a more transparent view of its financial commitments.
