Finance teams using Zahara Autopilot process their invoices 9 times faster than those who don’t
Invoice processing is a crucial function within the accounts payable department. Traditionally, this process has been cumbersome, involving manual data entry. Many paper invoices are created which need to be matched with purchase orders, resulting in constant filing. This maddeningly inefficient system is further complicated by invoices arriving through various channels like mail, fax, and email.
Accounts payable departments increasingly use automated invoice processing solutions to overcome these challenges. These advanced systems employ artificial intelligence and machine learning to revolutionize the traditional approach, significantly streamlining and improving invoice processing efficiency.
Take a moment to imagine a month end where you're not chasing and nudging your colleagues to enter or approve invoices. A world where the accruals figure is readily available. A system that’s totally paperless and can be easily customised at your whim. That's Zahara - an invoice processing solution designed for modern finance teams, that approvers and managers also get on with.
The days of manual keying-in invoices are in the past, but having 4 different apps to cover your accounts payable process isn’t the answer either.
You can be rid of the ‘app stack’ for good by keeping it all in one place with Zahara’s 4-in-1 solution. We’ve got you covered all the way from purchase orders, to invoice processing, to approvals, and finally payments.
Zahara means easier approvals, smoother payments and no more keying in. We help you not only make the payables job far more enjoyable, but this sophisticated system also relieves the tension associated with manual processes. Boost the morale of your whole payables team, they’ll never want to go back to the way it was.
Accelerate Your Invoice Processing 
Zahara has an Invoice Inbox where all supplier invoices are received and read by our recognition engine. Suppliers are identified, invoice and line-item details are read, and the data extracted. Any corresponding purchase orders will be linked and matched. 3-way matching is the strongest method of making sure you never waste money paying duplicate invoices and helps protect you against fraud.
Now invoices can be created on AutoPilot and sent into workflows with approval rules, or processed by finance staff with just a few clicks. Invoice PDFs are securely filed away and can be exported over to the finance system, or into online storage spaces like DropBox.
Zahara is all about faster and easier approval workflows. We’ll help you save time without compromising on quality. As your company grows, the time needed to classify and approve purchase invoices naturally increases too. Coupled with a work from anywhere culture, older processes involving copying and emailing simply aren’t convenient anymore. It no longer makes sense to rely on a system which falls to pieces when your staff aren’t in the office. We’re proud that Zahara is incredibly user-friendly, designed with your experience in mind, and can be used whether you’re you’re entry-level or head of a department.
With Zahara you can:
Pay outstanding bills more easily with less effort on your part. With Zahara you can track every invoice all the way from receipt to approval, and then export them into your finance system for payment. You can gain unprecedented control and oversight of your processes.
You never have to wonder again which step is holding up the process.
Let’s be real: processing invoices at the end of the month can be a total faff. Each bill needs to be checked, keyed in, double-checked, filed, and finally paid. And even with all those checks, we’re only human and mistakes will still happen. However, using intelligent software means you don’t have to leave your success up to chance.
Zahara’s OCR invoice processing software makes the whole ordeal a breeze by automating the manual tasks. This allows you to focus on financial decision making and monitoring, ultimately reducing headaches, and giving you more time to spend on what you love. We’ll carry the heavy (manual) load so that you don’t have to.
Zahara’s invoice processing software isn’t just about improving the way your finance department operates. The same tools that streamline your accounts payable process will also keep your business safe.
This is partly because automating invoice processing reduces the kind of filing fatigue that leads to human error in something like spotting a fraudulent invoice, but also because our tech is top of the line...
Zahara software uses AI and OCR to scrutinize every invoice, then check it against the database of all other invoices, purchase orders and GRNs you’ve run through it to notice tiny differences that indicate fraud. Something looking fishy? You’ll get flagged before any money leaves your account. Until that time, you can rest easy knowing your assets are safe.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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!
Most likely, yes! If you have specific concerns such as surrounding your existing apps and integrations, then let’s talk about it. There are very few situations and set-ups we can’t excel with.
If you’re experiencing high volumes of AP invoices (generally considered to be in the range of hundreds to thousands of invoices processed per month) we encourage you to bring on invoice processing automation sooner rather than later.
If you want to crack down on unnecessary spend, we also encourage you to get in touch. Including purchase order approvals as the first step in your invoice processing is the easiest way to stop spend before you’ve committed to it. We can help you get that system set up.
Zahara is designed for businesses of all sizes, and we’re equipped to handle your growth and changes to your organisation. Every business has unique needs and priorities, but at Zahara we’re proud to have highly customisable invoice processing software. Organise a call with our experts and see where we can fit into your business and facilitate the best possible processes. We want to make Zahara work for you, not change your processes to fit Zahara.
The best time to bring Zahara’s assistance on board is before you need it, but the second-best time is now!
We've covered a lot of Invoice Processing details on this page. However, there is much more detail in our free Invoice Processing guide. Download it below and share it with your team.
Download our free guide to Invoice ProcessingMartin Peirce - CEO & Founder of Zahara Software talks through the 3 key benefits of using Zahara - controlling costs, better visibility and efficiency.
