Invoice processing is the series of steps and activities involved in handling and managing invoices received from suppliers. It includes invoice validation, data entry, approval workflows, and payment processing. Your accounts manager can carry out all these functions and tasks without technology, but they become considerably easier and faster with our world-class Zahara invoice processing software.

Automated invoice processing is absolutely crucial for businesses because it helps ensure accurate and timely payments to suppliers, which of course means you’ll maintain good supplier relationships. It also helps in tracking and expense management, reducing errors, and improving overall financial efficiency. Your financial health is a top priority, and correctly managing accounts payable is a core component of this. We know that the payables team are the unsung heroes of any organisation, so we’re here to help facilitate the smooth running of their daily lives.

Common challenges in invoice processing include manual data entry errors, invoice discrepancies, delays in approval workflows, existing slow paper invoice-based processes, and difficulties in matching invoices with purchase orders or receipts. Even with the best will in the world, top-level finance teams will still inevitably make mistakes. Automation and technology are often used to address these challenges and make the tasks speedier with less friction. Lots of these challenges can be costly, but even with the initial investment, savings can be made when software like Zahara minimises errors.

Yes you can. Zahara is an all-in-one purchase order system, and we have invoice matching against Zahara orders. However, with our range of connectivity tools and settings, we can also import purchase orders from third-party systems you may already be using. This means Zahara can be used by anyone, provided that there are connectivity methods or importing methods to move data in and out of Zahara. Please book a call with one of our consultants if you’re unsure whether Zahara will work for you.

Most likely, yes. We can work with a variety of ERP systems and finance software. We have a number of ways to export invoice data from Zahara. Can your finance system import Purchase Invoices? If you can import using CSV or Excel then that is a great starting place. We will be able to serve up the invoice data in a format you can use. The only bottleneck will be your system importing the data. During a demonstration we can discuss creating a plan according to your system and requirements, and how Zahara can best facilitate you. Call us to find out more.

Similarly to the question above, the answer is most likely, but let’s discuss it further.

Can your Job Costing system import purchase invoices?

If you find out if this is possible and then book in with us for a call and demo, we can consider all the possibilities. We can then weigh up your options and discuss connecting up your system and the workflow you need. We can work with a number of systems in a variety of ways, so the more information you can provide us with the better so we can create a plan to bring Zahara into the mix.

A key component of an invoice processing platform is the ability to route invoices for approval from your managers. It could be that the finance team cannot pay without a stakeholder or budget holder’s approval first. Our AP Automaton solution, with invoice processing, will handle invoice approvals for you as well as part of multi-step invoice approval workflows. We understand that depending on the situation you might need certain levels of approval from a variety of people. You can set different approvers for every scenario, which means you can bring management into the mix when it’s necessary, but you don’t need to bother them when you need to quickly grab a pint of milk for the office, for example.

Yes, completely. Unless you’re a one-person-band, Zahara can help you make time and cost savings. Here are the top four major reasons why we recommend you automate the process sooner rather than later:

You can make significant time savings

Automation reduces how long it takes your team to complete time consuming tasks like invoice data capture and processing, so they can dedicate those hours to higher impact work. It’s a win-win because they have more time to develop their higher level skills, and you experience a happier team.

You will experience far fewer errors

Accounts payable management systems help reduce the risk of manual errors that can occur with highly repetitive tasks like invoice processing. Human error is unavoidable, but automated machine learning means mistakes are far less likely.

You will improve your vendor relationships

Spending less time on processing means your vendors are more likely to receive timely payments and reduce frustrating errors. An overlooked perk of improving your supplier relationships is that you may even receive discounts for prompt payments, saving you more cash in the long run.

You'll manage cash better

As well as unlocking early payment discounts, you’ll also avoid duplicate payment errors, and have better visibility over cash outflows to optimize payment timing for both your company and your vendors.

In its simplest form, Zahara can be up and running within 30 minutes. For more sophisticated structures, our Zahara specialists can take you through setting up Zahara and help onboard you and your team. From initial kick-off to full go-live typically takes between 6 to 12 weeks, but this will include setup, training, and initial tweaks and assistance that crops up through using a new system for the first time. If time is a concern, it’s worth considering that the time will pass anyway. You can spend 6 weeks getting perfectly set up on the system, or you can find yourself still using a manual system 6 weeks from now. It’s worthwhile investing that time to set future you up for success!