--- title: Accounts Payable Automation: Questions Answered | Aavenir url: https://aavenir.com/accounts-payable-automation-solution-faq/ description: Answers to the questions finance teams ask about accounts payable automation: who it fits, how it differs from optical character recognition, and setup. updated: 2026-11-07 --- [Home](https://aavenir.com/) / [Blog](https://aavenir.com/blogs/) / Accounts payable automation questions Accounts payable automation # Accounts payable automation: the questions finance teams ask Who it fits, how it reads invoices, how matching works and what it takes to get started. NJ **Nitisha Jain**Jun 25, 2021 ยท 4 min read When we first wrote about accounts payable automation on ServiceNow, the questions came quickly: does it fit our volume, how is it different from the scanning we already do, how do we implement it, and how much data does the AI need? This updated guide answers them for 2026. The short version: accounts payable automation reads invoices in any layout, pulls out every field you need, matches them against purchase orders, receipts and contracts, and routes the result for approval. People handle the exceptions and approve the payments. Key takeaways - Automation pays off when you have many suppliers, many invoice layouts and manual data entry - Optical character recognition turns images into text; machine learning works out what the text means - Invoices can arrive by email, portal, mobile photo or scan and land in one queue - Two way and three way matching run automatically, within tolerances your team sets - Accuracy improves with your own historical invoices, but you can start without training data ## Who is accounts payable automation right for? If you answer yes to any of these questions, automation is likely to help: - Do you want to control costs by analyzing what you spend and with whom? - Do you need consistent two way and three way matching to stay compliant? - Do you have hundreds or thousands of suppliers sending many invoices a year? - Do invoices arrive in many layouts, with line items in different columns and addresses in different places? - Do you capture only a handful of fields from each invoice because manual entry is slow, error prone or both? Teams with low volumes and a few regular suppliers may get more from cleaning up their approval rules first. Automation multiplies a good process. It does not fix a broken one. ## We already scan our invoices. How is this different? This is the most common question. Optical character recognition (OCR) converts an image into text. It is useful, but it does not tell you what the text means. It cannot tell you which number is the tax amount, which is the purchase order reference or where the line items start. Machine learning does that part. It learns the patterns in invoices and identifies each field without being told where to look, even when a supplier changes its template. Character recognition is still used when an invoice arrives as an image. The value starts after it, when the text becomes structured data you can match and approve. ## How do invoices get into the system? ### Email Suppliers send invoices to one shared mailbox, such as an invoices address on your own domain. Each invoice is picked up, read and turned into a record with every field you need, not just the three or four people usually type in. ### Supplier portal Suppliers can submit invoices and check payment status through a portal, which cuts down on inquiries and missing information. ### Paper Paper invoices can be scanned or photographed. The data is extracted and shown to a user to check and submit. ### Historical invoices Automation is also useful for spend analysis. Point it at a folder of past invoices and it extracts the data in a format your analytics tools can use. ## How does matching work? Once the invoice data is stored, a comparison engine matches it against the purchase order in a two way match, and against the purchase order and goods receipt in a three way match. Your team sets the tolerances, for example how much a price or quantity may differ before an invoice goes to a person. | Match type | Compares | Catches | | Two way | Invoice and purchase order | Wrong prices, wrong items, invoices without an order | | --- | --- | --- | | Three way | Invoice, purchase order and goods receipt | Billing for goods not received, short shipments | | Contract check | Invoice lines and contract terms | Rates above the agreed price, missed discounts, expired terms | In [Invoiceflow](https://aavenir.com/solutions/accounts-payable-automation/), Aavenir AI also checks invoice lines against the contract that governs them, which catches overbilling that a purchase order match can miss. See [invoice to contract compliance](https://aavenir.com/use-cases/invoice-to-contract-compliance/). ## Does it run on ServiceNow? Yes. Invoiceflow uses ServiceNow as its system of record, so invoice data sits in your instance with ServiceNow reporting, dashboards and workflows available. It can also run standalone. Licensing depends on your setup, so ask us what applies to you. ## How is it implemented, and how much data does the AI need? Implementation covers three things: configuring your approval and matching rules, connecting your enterprise resource planning and payment systems, and training the extraction model on your invoices. Machine learning improves with the data it learns from. You can start with no training data, but accuracy will be lower at first and will improve as the model sees your invoices. If your suppliers use similar formats, a modest sample of past invoices is a good start. Most companies already have years of history they can use, and the model keeps learning as you correct its output. **See your own invoices processed**Send us a sample batch. We will show extraction, matching and approval in Invoiceflow, with your team reviewing the exceptions. Schedule a demo ## What should you measure after go live? Agree a baseline before you switch anything on, then track the same measures every month: - **Cycle time:**days from invoice receipt to approval, and from approval to payment. - **Touchless rate:**the share of invoices that pass extraction and matching with no manual step. - **Exceptions by cause:**price differences, missing receipts, unknown vendors, so you can fix the root cause with suppliers or buyers. - **Duplicates caught:**invoices stopped before payment. - **Early payment discounts:**how many you were offered and how many you captured. These numbers tell you where to tune rules, which suppliers to move onto the portal and when to expand to the next business unit. ## What else connects to accounts payable? Accounts payable works best when it can see the rest of the source-to-pay process. Contracts set the prices and terms invoices should follow, supplier onboarding sets up the vendor record and bank details, and obligation tracking records the service credits and discounts you are owed. Aavenir runs these on one platform, so the invoice is checked against all of them. See [Contractflow](https://aavenir.com/solutions/enterprise-contract-management-software/). ## The bottom line Accounts payable automation reads every invoice, matches it against orders, receipts and contracts, and leaves your team to handle exceptions and approve payments. Start with your highest volume suppliers, train on your own history and measure against your current cycle time. ### In this article - Who is accounts payable automation right for? - We already scan our invoices. How is this different? - How do invoices get into the system? - How does matching work? - Does it run on ServiceNow? - How is it implemented, and how much data does the AI need? - What should you measure after go live? - What else connects to accounts payable? **See Invoiceflow on your invoices**Bring a sample batch. We will show extraction, matching and approval. Share [in](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Faavenir.com%2Faccounts-payable-automation-solution-faq%2F)[X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Faavenir.com%2Faccounts-payable-automation-solution-faq%2F&text=Accounts%20payable%20automation%3A%20the%20questions%20finance%20teams%20ask) Frequently asked questions (FAQ) ## Frequently asked questions ### ### How is accounts payable automation different from optical character recognition? Optical character recognition converts an invoice image into text. Accounts payable automation uses machine learning to work out what that text means, such as which number is the tax amount or the order reference, then matches the data and routes it for approval. Learn about [invoice data extraction](https://aavenir.com/glossary/invoice-data-extraction/). ### ### How much training data does invoice extraction need? You can start with none, although accuracy will be lower at first. If your suppliers use similar formats, a modest sample of past invoices is a good start, and the model keeps improving as your team corrects its output. Most companies already have enough history. See [Invoiceflow](https://aavenir.com/solutions/accounts-payable-automation/). ### ### What is the difference between a two way and a three way match? A two way match compares the invoice with the purchase order. A three way match adds the goods receipt, so you only pay for what arrived. Invoiceflow also checks invoice lines against contract terms to catch rates above the agreed price. Read about [invoice matching](https://aavenir.com/glossary/invoice-matching/). Have a question we have not answered? [Ask the Expert](https://aavenir.com/contact/) ## Keep reading [Accounts payable automation Touchless invoice processing on ServiceNow with AI How touchless invoice processing works on ServiceNow: AI data capture, automatic two way and three way matching, and approvals that need people only for exceptions. Read more](https://aavenir.com/ai-enabled-touchless-invoice-processing/)[Accounts payable automation Accounts payable workflow 101: the steps, the problems and the fixes The accounts payable workflow step by step: capture, approval, payment authorization, payment and supplier management, plus the problems automation fixes. Read more](https://aavenir.com/accounts-payable-workflow-101/)[Accounts payable automation Artificial intelligence in accounts payable: what it does and where it helps What artificial intelligence does in accounts payable: reading invoices, matching orders, routing approvals and spotting risk, with people handling the exceptions. Read more](https://aavenir.com/artificial-intelligence-in-accounts-payable/) Schedule a demo ## See your contracts run on one record. - **1****A 30 minute walkthrough**Built around your team, whether that is procurement, legal, IT or finance. - **2****Your contracts, not ours**Bring a few sample agreements and watch Aavenir AI extract and review them. - **3****ServiceNow or standalone**We show the deployment that fits the systems you already run. Prefer to talk first? [Contact the team](https://aavenir.com/contact/). The form did not load. [Contact the team](https://aavenir.com/contact/) instead, or refresh the page.