Switch to automatic invoice retrieval in just 3 steps: yes, yes, it's possible!
If you run a business, you know only too well: retrieving invoices from email attachments and from your various customer areas in order to centralise them takes up an incredible amount of your time. Your days are already full, so it's high time you switched to automatic invoice retrieval!
Far from being magic (though?), it's made possible by the increasingly widespread use of paperless invoicing and artificial intelligence in software.
How does this work? What software can help you make the transition to automatic invoice recovery without the headache? Find the answers in this article.
Step 1 - Identify the location of your invoices
If you're doing this every month, you're beginning to know where to collect your supplier invoices. That's a good start!
Start by taking stock of where you can find the invoices your suppliers send you, whether they are :
- that you receive in paper format at the same time as a delivery,
- in PDF format attached to an order confirmation email,
- that you retrieve by logging on to your supplier customer area (or web invoicing).
💡 Did you know? A web invoicing system is a supplier portal with a customer account where you can view and download your invoices.
👉 So make an inventory of the various invoices you want to centralise automatically.
Step 2 - Paperless invoicing
Dematerialising invoices is a process that involves switching from paper supplier or customer invoices to digital format, in compliance with tax standards.
You may still receive a few paper invoices from some of your suppliers, but you should be aware that from 2026 it will be compulsory for the majority of businesses.
➡️ In the meantime, you can scan the invoices you receive in paper format and have them available in digital format. However, you should be aware that a scanned paper invoice has no evidential value in law. So you need to keep the paper proof in case of an audit (we can't wait for total dematerialisation!).
Stage 3 - Getting the right software for automation
Finally, the most important step is to equip yourself with software, whether it's an accounting and financial management solution or a dematerialisation platform. This is the type of tool that will automate the retrieval of your invoices.
⭐️ What are the advantages of this software?
- A tenfold increase in productivity: all tedious tasks with little added value are delegated to the software. You can spend more time on what really generates value.
- Lower costs: delegating invoice collection to software saves you money (we know that your time is precious and will be better spent elsewhere).
- Payment deadlines respected: the speed of processing by artificial intelligence means you can react and pay your invoices more quickly (and at the same time maintain good relations with your partners).
- Greater reliability: automation means you can avoid handling errors and double entries. By using software, you'll be more confident about your compliance.
Here are a few examples of high-performance software:
🛠 With Factomos invoicing software , managing supplier invoices has never been easier or more intuitive. The solution allows you to record purchase invoices and expense receipts in real time directly in your space. You can then let your chartered accountant retrieve them at the click of a button, thanks to free access.
🛠 iPaidThat software has combined artificial intelligence and machine learning in its solution, so that it automatically retrieves an e-invoice as soon as it arrives in your inboxes or is deposited in your customer space on your suppliers' websites. OCR video-coding technology is capable of reading any information on your invoices (amount, VAT, date, etc.) to extract and integrate them into your accounts.
🛠 Yoozsoftware goes further than just retrieving your invoices: it's a complete solution for dematerialising the supplier invoicing process. It also enables invoices to be recorded automatically thanks to AI, Machine Learning and RPA (Robotic Process Automation). You can also set up customised workflows to speed up invoice validation. The result: you save time and reduce your management costs.
Automatic invoice retrieval in a nutshell
Gone are the days when you spent an inordinate amount of time collecting and centralising all your invoices yourself. Switch to automatic invoice retrieval using software!
- Take stock of the inboxes where you receive your invoices by email, as well as your suppliers' online customer areas;
- Dematerialise the invoices you still receive in paper format;
- Use accounting software to automatically collate all your invoices and easily extract the data for integration into your accounts.
So, when are you going to automate the retrieval of your invoices?
Article translated from French