AI-Powered Automated Invoicing from Relish

Today's post is written by guest author Paul Recchia, Head of Product at Relish. Prior to Relish, he spent nearly two decades in e-Procurement research, design, development, and deployment. Relish is a certified CoupaLink Technology Partner that delivers scalable solutions that maximize enterprise application value. Relish has built two apps for Coupa customers to enhance their experience and workflows.

The ever-increasing demand for innovative digital technologies is shaping the future of work. These advancements significantly elevate productivity, fuel growth, and drive profitability. It is imperative that companies embrace modern applications that help enhance the human experience and improve employee workflows. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a crucial technology for all industries moving forward, as it offers vital solutions to enhance employee performance and boost effectiveness within their teams. The key to success is using an autonomous solution smart enough to know when it needs human interaction, because it's not about AI completely taking over the job. It's about creating a seamless Human-AI experience.

AI thrives on sorting and analyzing data as it becomes a partner in streamlining processes. SEM Rush reports that 20% of businesses say automating tasks such as invoicing is the "second most crucial use of AI." However, many companies still struggle with the first step of invoice intake because vendors deliver various invoice formats or file types for processing and payment.

Stop scanning or manually keying invoices by using Machine Learning (ML)

While thought-leading companies embrace fully electronic invoicing methods enabled by Coupa's Business Spend Management (BSM) platform, many still receive paper invoices and invoices sent via email with attachments. Why should you have to enter invoices into your system manually? Why do you have to touch each one? The truth is — with Relish Invoice AI for Coupa — you don't.

To better understand how AI helps enterprise platforms, we must first understand what AI is and how it shapes our world. AI is a broad term that refers to systems or machines that mimic human intelligence to perform tasks — like processing paper and email invoices. Different types of AI power different sectors of industry and culture, and the business sector requires a distinct form of purpose-built AI to maintain efficiency. The most important branch of AI driving enterprise today is machine learning (ML) which helps businesses quickly process large amounts of raw data to perform complex, data-rich tasks. AI can analyze inputs, make decisions, and deliver outputs, but it best serves businesses when it focuses on thousands of inputs to recognize repeatable patterns and improve workflows.

Relish Invoice AI for Coupa works as an autonomous intake channel. It actively monitors the AP inbox and the mobile app and receives any invoice format via email, then reads, enriches, optimizes, and validates it against Coupa invoice/master data or directly with the supplier without human interaction. Relish Invoice AI learns your unique invoicing process for each supplier and flags invoices for human review that do not meet defined business rules.

AI makes OCR templates obsolete

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) was a great technology that helped alleviate manual invoice processing, but the templates are limited and the setup very time-consuming. Invoice AI is the next phase in the evolution of OCR technology. Its advanced OCR reads and extracts all text from an electronic file — without templates. It then observes and learns the human behavior associated with processing an invoice from a supplier. The next time this supplier sends an invoice, Relish Invoice AI remembers and knows where to look to gather pertinent information and how to process it accordingly.

How does this work? ML reads and processes documents, accurately extracting text, handwriting, tables, and other electronic data. This capability enables companies to automate invoice intake and immediately operationalize the extracted information by sending it to Coupa, ready for processing. Furthermore, the ML process happens in seconds, not in hours, days, or weeks. It's fast, accurate, and doesn’t require human effort.

Boost human power with AI for maximum value

One of the main reasons for adding AI processes to your enterprise solution is to increase productivity and operational efficiencies. An SEM Rush report states that 54% of executives say that "implementing AI in their workplace has increased productivity." AI reduces human error, especially in rote tasks. Machine learning improves accuracy and saves time and money by automating and optimizing routine processes and manual tasks. AI and ML are transforming how businesses can deliver more value in a shorter time without the potential for human error.

By integrating Artificial Intelligence into your Coupa BSM invoicing process with Relish Invoice AI, you can expect to boost efficiency and enhance current operations. Instead of making a profound change to your business model, trust the system and allow purpose-built AI tools to input and analyze data where it is repeatable.