# Invoices posted to accounting without retyping

URL: https://mechaneforge.tech/case-studies/invoice-processing-automation/
Sector: Distribution business (representative example engagement, anonymised)

> Supplier invoices arrived by email as PDFs and were keyed into the accounting system by hand. We built a capture-and-match workflow with an approver checkpoint for exceptions.

## Challenge
- Finance retyped invoice details from PDFs, which was slow and error-prone.
- Matching invoices to purchase orders was manual and often delayed payment.
- Month-end closing was a scramble.

## Approach
- **Capture**: Invoices arriving at a dedicated mailbox are read and their key fields extracted: supplier, amount, dates and line items.
- **Match**: Extracted data is matched against open purchase orders. Clean matches proceed automatically.
- **Review exceptions**: Mismatches go to an approver with the invoice, the PO and the difference side by side.
- **Post and notify**: Approved invoices are posted to the accounting system and the approver is notified.

## What we measure
- Invoices needing manual entry: Only true exceptions
- Invoice-to-posting time: Hours instead of days
- Month-end close: Shorter and calmer

Built with: Email ingestion, Document extraction, PO matching rules, Accounting API