Listing invoice processing steps is easy; the useful version attaches to each one the way it actually goes wrong. Each step has a characteristic failure, each failure has a cheap prevention, and most teams are losing time at two or three of the seven without having identified which. Working through them in order usually locates the problem in an afternoon.
Arrival, capture and validation
Arrival fails when invoices reach individuals rather than one monitored address, and the prevention is consolidation. Capture fails when confident wrong values pass unreviewed, and the prevention is confidence thresholds. Validation fails when nobody checks the invoice against what is already known, and the prevention is a handful of cheap rules on supplier, number, arithmetic and date.
Matching and approval
Matching fails through absence, when there is no order or no receipt to compare against, and the prevention is upstream discipline rather than software. Approval fails through waiting, when the invoice sits with the wrong person or somebody away, and the prevention is named approvers, automatic cover and escalation to a named alternative.
Coding, payment and remittance
Coding fails when payables reconstructs an intention that was clear at the point of purchase, and the prevention is coding at the order. Payment fails on bank detail fraud, and the prevention is verification through channels you already hold. Remittance fails by not being sent, which is the direct cause of most supplier chasing calls.
Questions people ask about invoice processing steps
Which step should we fix first?
Whichever your own timing shows costs most. For most teams it is approval waiting, but the arrival channel leak is often bigger and cheaper to close.
How many of these can be automated?
Capture, validation, matching, routing and payment scheduling can. Coding is assisted at best, and exception resolution is a conversation.
Is remittance really a step?
Yes, and it removes work rather than adding it, because it answers the question suppliers would otherwise telephone to ask.