In this blog series, we focus on Procure to Pay (P2P) documents that enterprises process in the P2P process. Next-generation Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) enables the automated processing of the most common P2P documents and the delivery of structured data, allowing enterprises to significantly increase the efficiency of their accounts payable processes.
After comparing the various offers, an enterprise places a purchase order with the desired supplier, who then sends an order confirmation back to the enterprise. The order confirmation then has to be entered and matched with the purchase order. This is still done manually at enterprises, where EDI interfaces to suppliers are lacking. To close this gap, enterprises need a simple and effective solution.
Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) is exactly this effective automation solution. It enables enterprises to automatically capture order confirmations, extract the data from them, and automatically match them against purchase order data. This ensures maximum efficiency and cost savings in the Procure to Pay (P2P) process.
In the third part of the P2P blog series, we looked at automated processing of offers in enterprises.
The order confirmation a key document in the P2P process
In the P2P process of enterprises, the order confirmation is an important document. However, it often triggers manual processes because automation solutions are missing. For example, if a supplier sends the order confirmation to the enterprise via e-mail as a PDF, this often results in the data from it having to be captured manually and entered into the ERP system before it can then be matched with the purchase order. Or the order confirmation is sent in paper form and – again manually – compared with the purchase order.
This is not only time-consuming and costly and prevents employees in the P2P process from doing other important work, it also causes delays in the entire process. As a result, order confirmations in enterprises are only randomly compared with the purchase order. In the event of discrepancies and errors, this very quickly leads to a costly chain reaction that, depending on the case, can extend all the way to accounts payable.
Extract order confirmations automatically with Intelligent Document Processing
In order to make a detailed comparison of the order confirmation with the purchase order, enterprises depend on exact line item data. Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) makes this possible instantly.
As shown in the photo of the Parashift IDP platform, all the necessary data is extracted automatically. This means that not only the header data such as the order number, but also the actual line item data is extracted from the order confirmations. As can be seen in the photo from the Parashift IDP platform, all the necessary data is read automatically. This means that not only the header data such as the purchase order number, but also the actual line item data is extracted from the order confirmations. As with purchase orders, structured and accurate position data is essential for order confirmations so that enterprises can match them efficiently and accurately:
Line item data: Title, description, article number, unit, quantity, amount per unit, total amount, etc.
When matching the order confirmation with the purchase order, the Parashift IDP platform detects discrepancies in the line item data in real time. This enables direct and targeted action to be taken, planning to be adjusted or, if necessary, other suppliers to be contracted in a timely manner. At the same time, enterprises can not only reduce the effort with IDP to an absolute minimum, but also optionally skip the data validation in the P2P process completely. The result: Best quality for workflows and satisfied customers.
Customize P2P document types within minutes
To give large enterprises full flexibility, P2P documents can be easily customized to meet their own needs. By deleting or adding fields, they can be customized. With the user-friendly, no-code IDP platform, large enterprises can also create their own document types in no time at all.
In the fifth part of the P2P blog series, we will go into detail about the automated capture and processing of delivery notes with Intelligent Document Processing.
