Smarter Week

How to automate it

How to automate “key vendor invoices into the accounting system”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today and, for AI fixes, a prompt to copy.

60 min
typically, every day
80%
of the time can be automated
Easy
to set up

Fix 1 of 2

Software featureBest fix

Turn on automatic invoice capture in your bills tool

Vendors email invoices to one inbox address and the tool reads the vendor, amounts, dates and line items for you. You check and approve instead of typing.

Typically saves about 60% of the time1 h to set up
  1. 1Check what you already have: BILL, Ramp Bill Pay, Tipalti, Stampli, Dext, Hubdoc, or the bills inbox built into QuickBooks Online, Xero or NetSuite.
  2. 2Set up the dedicated invoice email address and ask vendors to send invoices there.
  3. 3Turn on vendor defaults so each vendor's GL code and approver fill in automatically.
  4. 4Review the captured fields for the first few weeks and correct them so the tool learns.
  5. 5Keep checking totals and bank details on anything new or unusual.

Tools: BILL · Ramp Bill Pay · Tipalti · Stampli · Dext or Hubdoc · QuickBooks Online or Xero bills inbox

Fix 2 of 2

AI

Have AI pull invoice details into an import file

If you do not have invoice capture yet, an approved AI assistant can read a batch of PDF invoices and give you rows ready to import.

Typically saves about 45% of the time10 min to set up
  1. 1Use only your company-approved AI account; invoices contain bank and vendor data.
  2. 2Upload a batch of PDF invoices (10 to 20 at a time works well).
  3. 3Paste the prompt below with the columns your import template needs.
  4. 4Spot-check every total and invoice number against the PDF before importing.
Prompt to copy
Read the attached invoices and return a table with exactly these columns: Vendor name, Invoice number, Invoice date, Due date, PO number, Currency, Subtotal, Tax, Total, Line description. One row per invoice (or per line if I say [PER LINE]). Leave a cell blank if it is not on the invoice. Do not guess. After the table, list any invoice where the line items do not add up to the total.

Tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot (company-approved account)

Quick wins

Have you tried…

Have you turned on automatic invoice reading in your bills tool?
Tools like BILL, Ramp, Dext and the QuickBooks or Xero bills inbox read invoices that vendors email in and fill in the bill for you. You check and approve instead of typing.

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

AP / AR specialist

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Other common tasks for AP / AR specialists