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From Bottleneck to Breakthrough

Leveraging AP Automation to Conquer Exception Handling and Drive Strategic Value

While most conversation around AP Automation focus on invoice capture and approvals, real ROI is often buried in how well your system handles the unexpected – price mismatches, missing POs, discount or terms discrepancies, additional charges or surcharges (including tariffs), duplicate invoices, and more.

Key Takeaways:

  • Understand the 5 AP invoice processing exceptions that cause the most disruption and why the persist
  • Learn how AI-enabled robotic automation with advanced ERP integration reduces resolution time from days to minutes
  • Quantify the impact of AP automation on your bottom line, from cost savings, to risk reduction, and more
  • Gain a new perspective on how AP automation can transform the reactive process of exception handling into a proactive strength and eliminate friction where it matters most

Why You Need This Guide to Conquering Exception Handling

When things don’t go smoothly, exceptions happen. According to a report by Ardent Partners, 22.5% of all invoices require AP staff to manually address errors or discrepancies.

But consider this: your choice of automation solution is a significant determining factor in the amount of work required to handle exceptions, as well as the impact on processing time, costs, and supplier relationships.

The most robust and effective AP automation solutions are AI-enabled, incorporating intelligent workflows that continuously learn and become more efficient over time. These solutions leverage advaned, real-time-two-way integration with your ERP to intelligently deduce and match invoice details with existing ERP data. Without these hyperautomation features, a less sophisticated automation solution might simply halt upon encountering an exception, reverting to manual exception handling by AP processors. This not only slows down the entire payment process, costing you time and money, but if exceptions are fequent, the expected ROI from AP automation’s labor savings could fall far short of your expectations.

This guide illustrates the practical implications of intelligent AP automation by showing how five of the most common exceptions encountered in AP processing are handled by AI-enabled robotic automation on IntelliChief’s hyperautomation platform. The exceptions include:

  • Purchase Price Variance: When the invoice price differs from the purchase order price.
  • Unplanned Charges: Unexpected line items or charges not included in the original PO or contract.
  • Unit of Measure Discrepancies: When the unit of measure on teh invocie (e.g., “each” vs. “case”) doesn’t match the PO.
  • Duplicate Invoices: Receiving the same invoice multiple times, leading to potential duplicated payments.
  • Item Number Mismatches: Discrepancies between the item numbers on the invoice and those in your system.

Don’t Let Exceptions Drain Your AP Efficiency

By choosing a sophisticated, AI-powered hyperautomation solution like IntelliChief, you’re not just investing in technology; you’re investing in a future where you AP and other departments drive strategic value, rather than simply process transactions.

Have questions or want to see IntelliChief in action? Contact us today to speak directly with one of our experts or book a demo to explore how AI-enabled AP automation works inside your ERP.