Have you noticed that some processes in your SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) are slow and take a lot of time? Do the accountants always seem to be behind and drowning in work? Then AI could help – especially when it comes to processing documents such as invoices. Here are 5 signs that there is potential for using AI in document processing.
You are spending too much time on manual data entry
The first sign seems obvious, but many accountants are still following processes that were implemented a long time ago. One might argue that the “few documents they need to process” are not worth automating, but when you add up the total time spent on manual data entry, the situation looks different. Even if it’s only an hour or two per month, that time could be spent much more effectively than manually processing data from documents. So, automation could be a good solution.
Your processes are prone to errors
Mistakes are human and can happen to anyone. But when it comes to finance, even small errors can have serious consequences, leading to financial discrepancies, compliance issues, and reputational damage. Manual data entry, invoice processing, and reconciliation tasks are particularly susceptible to human error because they often involve processing large volumes of data under time constraints.
A simple typo on an invoice, a missed decimal point, or a misclassified expense can lead to costly errors that impact budgeting, forecasting, and financial decision-making. AI-driven document processing can significantly reduce the likelihood of human error, especially since human accountants can still overlook the work that AI has done.
You struggle with scaling your operations
Growth is essential for most businesses to remain competitive. But growth also means change, because processes designed for small businesses with a few employees often do not scale to larger enterprises. As a result, a company may have difficulty scaling its operations, which hinders growth. Of course, they could hire more people to do the increasing amount of manual work, but that costs money and it’s limited in volume.
With AI tools, the amount of data to be processed can be unlimited. AI can help your SME scale easily without having to change every process every year.
Your team is constantly chasing missing or displaced documents
Another sign that your business could benefit from using AI is poor organization: If you have a lot of different documents to deal with, it’s easy for some of them to get lost. Maybe an employee had a different idea of how to store the documents and you can no longer find them, or the documents are stored on different computers or laptops.
Another problem could be that some documents are completely digital, while others are physical files. AI software like Nobel RPA helps your company to be more structured, especially when it comes to larger amounts of documents. It allows you to store all documents in one place and organize them as efficiently as possible.
Inefficient approval workflows
As an organization grows, its structure becomes more complex. When a new invoice comes in, it often requires the approval of at least one manager before payment can be made. Often these managers have busy schedules, so it can take hours to get their approval. Clearly, such a workflow is not very efficient, and the time it takes to get all the necessary approvals could be used in a much more productive way. Once again, this is a sign that you should consider implementing AI into your process to automate approvals. To make sure you’re not getting scammed, you can set a maximum amount that can be paid automatically.
Nobel RPA as a solution
Do some of these signs apply to your SME? Then Nobel RPA may be the solution! The AI software allows for easy implementation into daily financial processes and processes documents in no time – no technical expertise is required. The use of AI can not only reduce human errors, but also improve processes and create economies of scale.
