Top 5 AP Automation solutions for Business Central

Accounts Payable (AP) automation is freeing up precious time for SMBs compared to those who rely on manual invoice processing.

Implementing AP automation enables finance teams to digitize invoice processing. This includes automatically entering data into your ERP or finance system, matching supplier invoices to purchase orders and receipts, and chasing managerial approval for the spend.

This frees up time for AP professionals, reduces the risk of human error and increases the level of control AP teams have over the buying process. It’s no wonder so many companies are turning to AP automation.

In this blog post, we compare some of the most popular AP automation solutions that integrate with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, to help you identify which will be the best fit for your business.

Does Business Central offer AP automation?

Business Central is a comprehensive business management system from Microsoft for small and medium sized businesses. It does not offer AP automation. However, there are several third-party AP automation add-ons available that integrate with Business Central. These vary in the level of integration, range of features and simplicity of use.

Top 5 AP automation integrations for Business Central

Zetadocs Capture AP Automation

Zetadocs Capture AP Automation enables you to accelerate your invoice processing with next generation AI-driven document capture, automated data entry and order matching, enabling you to focus on what matters most to your business.
Benefits include:

• Immediate time savings are available: No vendor templates are required to be set up. This means you can get started within hours, not days.
• The risk of human error is reduced: Zetadocs Capture AP Automation uses document OCR to extract data from invoice and automatically enter it into Business Central.
• Ongoing time savings: Time that is usually spent manually entering data can be reclaimed, with Zetadocs offering up to 50% time savings for AP teams.
• The technology learns as you go: GL account or Item codes on a specific invoice line are always remembered for future use.
• Greater control over payments: Zetadocs Capture AP Automation offers 3-way PO matching, automatically matching purchase invoices to purchase orders and receipts. This ensures accurate and timely payments to vendors. Finance teams have greater control over when payments are made (i.e. only after goods or services are received), with instant visibility of the related orders and receipts available on screen.
• Check the documents being approved: Finance teams benefit from the original purchase documents being accessible on screen, allowing you to check the amount you are approving against the actual supplier invoice, without having to leave Business Central.
• Enhanced document access: Zetadocs centrally archives original vendor documents securely in SharePoint in Microsoft 365, with file copies of documents accessible via the Zetadocs FactBox on the relevant Business Central record to enable verification of the invoice being approved.
• Simple pricing: Prices are based on a per invoice basis, so it’s easy to get started without a large upfront commitment. Volume discounts are available to reduce the cost per invoice. There is no need to choose an additional AP module, as both editions of Zetadocs Capture include all AP features.

Paymerang SimplyAP

SimplyAP for Business Central runs in the cloud using AI-based OCR to streamline invoice capture and eliminate data entry. It has automatic purchase order matching and can create Purchase Invoices automatically in Business Central.

OCR is used to capture invoice data electronically, with the level of accuracy highlighted. Once invoices have been automatically matched, they are routed for approval and created in Business Central (it is up to the user to manage any exceptions). Invoices can be managed based on their type, status and approval limits. Invoice documents, workflow history, comments and audit trail can be accessed from within Business Central or SimplyAP.

Datahaven 365 Business Central

Datahaven offers increased visibility of invoices and supporting documents, thanks to their workflow and document access on the relevant Dynamics transaction (this includes Purchase Invoice, Purchase Credit Memos, Purchase Orders, Purchase Return Orders, Vendor Ledger, Payment Journals, General Journals).

Datahaven workflow queues are flexible, allowing members of the AP team to work together on similar documents or divide work into separate work lists.

All associated purchase documents, such as credit memos and vendor invoices, can be accessed via the Payment Journal Datahaven FactBox. This saves valuable time during the payment journal review process. More details on the associated transactions can be accessed quickly as required, and with the Datahaven workflow being used to send the Payment Journal for approval.

ExFlow Accounts Payable Automation

ExFlow automates the entire invoice process, while staying within Business Central. This includes the capture of invoice data, validating and then pre-coding the data, automatically matching invoices to purchase documents, approving, before final posting and archiving in Business Central.

This offers AP and finance teams greater efficiency, transparency and control over their AP process. Various types of invoices are supported, whether in paper, PDF and or other electronic formats, and these are all pre-coded. Following the 3-way matching of invoices to purchase documents, the approval workflow is determined by the invoice data. For example, if there is a discrepancy between the data on the invoice and the related purchase documents, ExFlow can route the approval to a specific user.

Continia Document Capture

Continia Document Capture offers an end-to-end alternative to manual invoice processing. Data capture, order matching, approval workflow and a digital archive are just some of the features available with their AP automation solution.

The software captures data by recognizing text in an invoice and placing it into the appropriate fields in Business Central. 3-way matching then matches data on the invoice to the relevant purchase order and receipt. Approval workflows are automated, before all relevant data is stored in Continia’s digital archive, enabling users to index and preserve their data.

Ready to take the next step?

If you’re ready to take your search for an AP automation solution to the next step and arrange demonstrations from some providers, we’d love for you to consider Zetadocs Capture AP Automation.

We can provide a free, online demo. If you like, we can personalize this for you by using real invoices your company has received. Just let us know and send a couple of examples in advance of the demo. Simply fill in this form and one of our friendly team will be in touch to arrange your demonstration.