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Aavenir Atlas early access is open Contractflow on the ServiceNow Store since 2019 Runs on ServiceNow, or standalone ProcureTech100 2025/26 Pioneering Digital Solution ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certified, SOC 2 Type 2 compliant

Glossary

What is accounts payable automation?

Accounts payable automation uses software to capture supplier invoices, extract their data, match them to orders and route approvals with little manual entry.

Schedule a Demo All Glossary Terms

How it works

  1. Capture. Invoices arrive by email, portal or scan and are read with optical character recognition and AI.
  2. Extract. Supplier, amounts, dates and line items become structured data.
  3. Match. The invoice is compared with the purchase order and receipt, and ideally the contract.
  4. Approve. Clean invoices move on automatically, and exceptions go to the right person.
  5. Pay and post. Approved invoices go to payment and the finance system.

Why it matters

Manual invoice handling is slow and error prone: rekeyed data, lost paper, duplicate payments and late fees. Automation replaces those steps with a digital workflow, so accounts payable staff spend their time on exceptions and supplier questions rather than data entry. Suppliers get paid on time, and finance sees liabilities sooner.

How Aavenir handles it

Invoiceflow captures invoices from email and the supplier portal, matches them to the purchase order and receipt, and checks rates, discounts and tax terms against the signed contract. Exceptions go to a person before anything is paid.

What to look for

  • Capture from every channel suppliers use
  • Matching against the contract as well as the purchase order
  • Clear exception handling with the reason shown
  • Connection to your finance system and supplier portal

Keep reading

Invoice data extraction Invoice data extraction is capturing supplier invoice details, such as number, supplier, amounts and lines, as structured data that can be checked, matched and paid.Read more Invoice approval Invoice approval is reviewing and authorizing a supplier invoice before it is recorded and paid, to confirm the goods or services arrived at the agreed price.Read more Accounts payable Accounts payable is the money a business owes suppliers for goods and services received but not yet paid, shown as a liability, and the team that pays it.Read more

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Common questions

What does accounts payable automation software do?

It captures invoices, extracts their data, matches them to orders and receipts, routes approvals and passes approved invoices to payment, with less manual work. Read about invoice data extraction.

Does accounts payable automation remove people from the process?

No. It handles routine matching and routing so people can focus on exceptions, disputes and supplier relationships. A person should still approve anything unusual. Read about invoice approval.

Why check invoices against contracts?

Purchase orders can carry the wrong rate. Comparing invoices with the signed contract catches overcharges and missed discounts that two or three way matching misses. That is where much of the savings from sourcing is protected. See Invoiceflow.

Have a question we have not answered? Ask the Expert

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.