How Yokoy is Powering Finance Transformation Through AI-Powered Invoice Processing

Every finance leader understands the need to streamline their invoice processing — after all, it’s all too often a very manual process that takes time, can lead to errors, and is an added cost to many already overstretched operations. Today’s invoice processing tools are providing an answer for many, with advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabling them to meet the challenge head-on.

Software like Perk Invoice can not only reduce manual workload when processing invoices but also enhance accuracy and reduce the risk of fraud of non-compliance with company policies or external regulations. This is driving a significant transformation in how companies manage their finances, paving the way for greater efficiency and strategic decision-making.

Unleashing the power of AI technology with an invoice processing tool

Manual invoice management often faces challenges such as data entry errors and invoice routing and approval delays. In some organisations, it also includes printing, handling and archiving physical invoices that could lead to increased fraud risks, difficulty in invoice matching, vendor management complexities, compliance issues, or limited data analytics capabilities.

With the move towards electronic invoicing, AI processing tools can now be leveraged across all a company’s invoices, to help in:

• accurate data extraction,

• automating invoice workflows for faster processing,

• detecting anomalies for fraud prevention,

• automating invoice matching,

• improving vendor management through database integration,

• ensuring compliance through automated checks,

• and providing advanced analytics for actionable insights.

To put it simply, AI invoice management enhances efficiency, reduces errors, improves compliance, and facilitates better financial decision-making in invoice management and processing.

How Perk’s artificial intelligence works

Perk’s platform integrates predictive and prescriptive AI throughout the spend management process, covering invoices, expenses, and payments. Predictive AI analyses historical data to understand invoice formats, interpret new invoices when they come in, detect anomalies and gaps, and then structure the data accordingly.

Prescriptive AI meanwhile recommends the next action to take, whether it’s the right workflow for each invoice, or offering actionable insights to optimise your invoice processing workflows.

Developed internally by our AI lab, it’s specialised in invoice, expense, and payment management. This focused approach allows it to deliver specialised efficiencies and insights that directly meet the challenges faced by your finance team.

Perk’s AI continually evolves through adaptive learning, prioritising human interactions to enhance its capabilities. It develops a deep understanding of document nuances by assimilating insights from thousands of invoices, expenses, and payment records. This dynamic learning ensures the AI aligns closely with your organisation’s workflows and preferences, becoming increasingly effective and personalised over time.

AP automation for modern finance teams

Perk employs AI-powered verification to simplify Accounts Payable processes by automating invoice matching, detecting fraud through anomaly detection, reducing the risk of non-compliance with policies and regulations, minimising manual errors, and providing actionable insights for better financial management.

Perk first extracts data from invoices, therefore, minimising the need for manual entry. The platform then validates and matches invoice details against purchase orders and receipts using AI, ensuring significantly more accuracy. Automated workflows route invoices to the right approvers while machine learning assigns the correct expense categories and account codes.

Perk automatically records the details in every invoice, providing dynamic, real-time reports and analytics so finance teams can access an audit trail of every invoice coming into the company.

Because it does this automatically, it streamlines your AP processes by cutting out repetitive manual work, instead using AI to take on tasks like capturing, verifying, and authorising the invoice. SO that means your people can spend more time on the big, strategic projects rather than spending hour after going through and manually processing each.

Benefits of streamlining invoice processing with AI

Adopting AI for invoice processing can transform your business operations by streamlining complex tasks and delivering actionable insights. AI-powered automation reduces manual data entry and error rates and enhances compliance and real-time data for financial visibility. This empowers finance teams to shift their focus from routine administrative work to strategic initiatives, optimising overall efficiency and cost management across your organisation.

• Simplifying and accelerating manual processes: AI automation reduces the need for repetitive tasks like data entry and invoice routing. This streamlines workflows and allows finance teams to focus on more strategic activities, reducing time spent on approval flows.

• Integration with payment data: POS systems capture transactional data at the point of sale. This data includes details such as purchase amounts, dates, and sometimes vendor information.

• Reducing human error: By using technologies such as OCR and machine learning, AI minimises mistakes, ensuring accurate data extraction and validation from invoices, minimising costly errors.

• Achieving cost savings: Automation cuts operational expenses by maximising functionality and reducing manual labour. Additionally, AI systems can optimise payment schedules to avoid late fees and capitalise on early payment discounts, leading to better expense management and overall cost efficiency.

• Ensuring accurate tax compliance: AI automatically applies correct tax codes and formats and ensures invoices adhere to tax regulations. This guarantees precise VAT returns and reduces the risk of penalties associated with incorrect tax filings.

• Expediting approval workflows: AI automates invoice approval and invoice routing to the appropriate team, speeding up the approval process. Automated notifications and reminders help maintain the flow, preventing typical bottlenecks and ensuring timely payments.

• Gaining real-time financial insights: AI provides real-time visibility into spending by delivering up-to-date information on invoice statuses and payment cycles. This enables better budget management and quick responses to financial anomalies.

• Streamlining global processes: For multinational operations, AI efficiently manages invoices across different regions, currencies, and languages. Custom workflows can even be integrated within an API. This harmonises invoice processing worldwide, supporting cohesive and effective global business practices.

• Maintaining regulatory compliance: With an automated system that continuously monitors and applies compliance rules to transactions, flagging any suspicious and non-compliant activities. This proactive approach ensures all invoices meet regulatory and internal standards, reducing legal risks and supporting audit readiness.

Perk is your AI-powered invoice-processing tool

Using a holistic spend management tool like Perk to automate invoice processing with the power of artificial intelligence offers fundamental advantages across multiple dimensions of business operations. Let’s see how Perk Invoice works:

Capture the invoice

Easily capture supplier invoices in Perk from various sources: through manual upload, data entry, email upload, or API for e-invoices via our partners. Afterwards, seamlessly integrate Perk with your accounting software for complete, end-to-end automation.

Extract data with AI

Utilise our AI technology to scan the entire invoice, extracting both header and line item fields. The system also suggests GL coding automatically for streamlined processing.

Verify the invoice

With Perk, ensure the accuracy and completeness of all invoice data, preventing errors, duplicates, and fraudulent items. The tool performs automatic 2- or 3-way matching for an error-free process.

Authorise the invoice

Route documents for approval based on company-specific workflows, considering factors such as cost object, supplier, or line manager. In cases of mismatches between invoices, POs, and goods receipts, Perk triggers automatic notifications to prevent unapproved payments.

Audit-proof your process

Prevent late payments, easily track payments, and ensure your process is audit-proof. With direct ERP connections, Perk books the invoice document directly in the ERP, including all necessary accounting data and an audit trail of the approval process.

With its robust AI-driven capabilities, Perk empowers businesses to streamline their finance processes, optimise costs, and stay agile in a highly competitive market.

Next steps

If you’re ready to revolutionise your finance process, discover Perk’s AI-powered invoice management and how it can save time, reduce errors, and boost your bottom line. Perk offers a transformative solution for your finance teams aiming to embrace digital-first strategies. From invoicing to expenses and payments, Perk’s platform ensures end-to-end automation, delivering fast and accurate finance data. With a cloud-based infrastructure and smooth integrations with over 50 systems, Perk supports rapid implementation and compliance with global regulations. Trusted by over 600 companies worldwide, including Breitling and ISS, Perk streamlines workflows and enhances efficiency, making it the ideal choice for modern finance teams seeking innovation and reliability.

Do you want to experience how seamless, automated invoice processing can transform your business operations? Get to know our solution firsthand.