You probably recognize this
You are a financial employee or controller at an SMB. Every week dozens, maybe hundreds of incoming invoices arrive — by mail, via email, as pdf or as scan. Each invoice you must check manually, enter into your accounting package (Exact Online, AFAS, Twinfield), match with the correct purchase order, and send for approval to the right person.
Imagine: it's Monday, your mailbox is full of invoices from last week, your email is full of attachments and your suppliers are calling again for payment confirmation. Meanwhile, you still have a quarterly report to prepare.
What this costs you
| Activity | Time per week | Costs per year |
|---|---|---|
| Manually entering invoices | 6 hours | €9,000 |
| Checking and matching with purchase order | 3 hours | €4,500 |
| Following up approvals and forwarding | 2 hours | €3,000 |
| Processing corrections and duplicate entries | 1.5 hours | €2,250 |
| Total | 12.5 hours | €18,750 |
*Based on a full-time employee at €30/hour*
How AI tackles this differently
With AI-driven invoice processing, you automatically process incoming invoices — from receipt to booking.
1. Automatic recognition: AI reads vendor name, invoice number, date, amount and VAT details directly from the invoice — whether it's a pdf, scan or e-invoice (UBL/XML). Accuracy: 95–98%.
2. 3-way matching: The software automatically matches the invoice with the corresponding purchase order and goods receipt in your system (Exact Online, AFAS, Twinfield). Does everything match? Booking proposal is complete.
3. Smart approval workflow: Invoices that fall outside the norm — too high amount, unknown vendor, missing purchase order — are automatically sent to the right person for approval. The rest, the system processes itself.
4. Self-learning system: The more invoices the system processes, the better it becomes. It recognizes recurring vendors and booking patterns and applies them automatically.
> Expert tip: Combine AI invoice processing with a digital approval workflow. That way you also have your audit trail in order — helpful for the accountant.
What it delivers
How other controllers in SMBs use this
A financial controller at a wholesale company processed 300 incoming invoices weekly. Two employees spent about 15 hours a week on this. After implementing AI invoice processing (linked to Exact Online), this dropped to less than 1 hour — for the exceptions that require human review. The freed-up time is now used for supplier analysis and cash flow optimization.
Frequently asked questions
*See FAQ section below*
Ready to start?
Want to know what AI invoice processing could mean for your organization? Schedule a free demo and see live how your invoice flow can be automated. No lengthy implementation, no IT project — operational within weeks.
[Request a demo](/demo) or [get in touch](/contact).