You stop keying supplier invoices that arrive by email into the ERP by connecting the AP inbox directly to the ERP through an AI layer that identifies the supplier, checks each invoice against the purchase order and goods receipt, and enters it only after it matches. A scanner or OCR tool alone does not get you there, because it removes the typing but leaves the checking with your team.
Every accounts payable team processes supplier invoices. Few do it well, because the invoice arrives as a PDF in someone’s inbox and from there it is manual. Open, download, find the PO, key the lines, check the total. This article explains what has to change for the keying to stop, how supplier invoice processing looks when it starts at the inbox, and what you keep doing by hand.
Why the keying does not stop with a scanner
The scanner does not know the PO
OCR reads the invoice and pulls out fields. It has no idea whether the price matches the purchase order, because it never looks at the purchase order. Someone still checks.
Every supplier sends something different
A clean PDF, a photo of a printed page, an invoice in another language. Tools that need a template per supplier break every time a supplier changes their layout.
Errors show up late
When an invoice is entered without a check, the mismatch surfaces at month end. Then it is a credit note, a hold and a call to the supplier. That is why supplier invoice processing still fails in teams that already bought a scanner.
What has to be true for the keying to stop
The invoice is read where it lands
From the AP mailbox, with nobody forwarding it, saving it or uploading it.
The supplier is identified without a template
From the sender and the document itself, including a supplier you have never seen before.
The invoice is checked against the ERP first
The purchase order, the goods receipt, lines, quantities, prices, totals. Three-way matching done before entry, not after. Anything that does not match stops with a plain reason.
The entry is a real ERP record
A supplier invoice matched to its PO, in the usual AP screen. Not a spreadsheet someone imports later.
How it works with DOConvert
DOConvert is the AI layer for the ERP. It connects directly, to Priority through the DOConvert Priority connector, to Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP and to Infor M3, with no middleware, and the data stays in your environment. Here is one invoice.
The invoice arrives
In the AP mailbox, as a PDF, a scan or an attachment.
DOConvert identifies the supplier
From the sender address and the document. No template. A new supplier works from the first invoice.
DOConvert finds the PO and the receipt in the ERP
Through its bi-directional connection, even when the invoice does not quote the PO number.
The check
Lines, quantities, prices, currency and totals against the PO and the receipt. A mismatch stops with a short reason, for example a quantity invoiced that was never received.
The entry
Only when everything matches, the invoice is entered as a supplier invoice matched to the PO. The AP team handles only the exceptions. That is how supplier invoices into Priority ERP run today, and how Amtel went from email to SAP without keying.
What your team still does
Decides on exceptions
An invoice with no PO, a price that differs, a quantity not received. The team sees a short list with reasons and decides. That is the work that needs a person.
Approves and pays
Approval workflows and payment runs carry on in the ERP as they are. They just start from an invoice that has already been checked.
Who it fits
- AP teams receiving dozens to thousands of supplier invoices a month by email
- Controllers and VPs of Finance who want every invoice checked against the PO and receipt before it is in the ERP
- IT and IS managers on Priority, Oracle Fusion or Infor M3 who want a direct connection with no middleware
- Companies of 200 to 5,000 employees, and larger groups that start with one subsidiary
Questions and answers
How long until the keying actually stops?
A typical DOConvert implementation is about 10 business days. You can start with one mailbox or one group of suppliers and extend from there.
What happens to an invoice with no purchase order?
It stops with a reason and the team decides. Nothing is entered into the ERP until it passes the checks you set.
Do suppliers need to do anything differently?
No. They keep emailing PDFs. There is no portal and no template to set up for them.
Does the invoice data leave our environment?
No. The connection to the ERP is direct, and DOConvert can run in the cloud or on your own servers.
Want to see it on your own documents? Book a Demo or Get Started