How to Use Robotic Process Automation in Accounts Payable for Efficiency

Why accounts payable is ready for automation

Accounts payable (AP) is one of those areas in finance that's always busy, always juggling, and always a little stretched. In mid-sized companies, AP teams tend to be lean, managing dozens or even hundreds of vendors, all sorts of invoice formats, and a pile of deadlines. And they're doing all this with a toolkit that often includes spreadsheets, emails, and, believe it or not, sometimes paper. to Use Robotic Process Automation in Accounts Payable for Efficiency

Why accounts payable is ready for automation

Accounts payable (AP) is one of those areas in finance that’s always busy, always juggling, and always a little stretched. In mid-sized companies, AP teams tend to be lean, managing dozens or even hundreds of vendors, all sorts of invoice formats, and a pile of deadlines. And they’re doing all this with a toolkit that often includes spreadsheets, emails, and, believe it or not, sometimes paper.

If you’ve ever spent your morning trying to track down a missing invoice, or had to match it by hand to a purchase order, you already know where the headaches are. Maybe a key person was out on holiday and a payment was delayed, or someone made a typo that threw off the month-end. The inefficiencies are right there in front of you, every single day.

AP teams know exactly where the bottlenecks are. The problem isn’t a lack of awareness, it’s that fixing them often means asking IT for help or getting budget approval for a big new system. And for most mid-market companies, those things are rare.

That’s what makes AP such a natural fit for **automation:**

• The work is repetitive and rule-based.
• There are clear triggers and expected outcomes.
• Mistakes can be costly, both in money and time.
• The efficiency gains show up right away.

If you can automate even a piece of your AP workflow, you’ll get back time, make fewer mistakes, and the whole finance team becomes more resilient.

You don’t need to reinvent AP. You just need to stop doing it all by hand.

The real meaning of robotic process automation (RPA) in finance

“Robotic process automation” sounds like something only IT people talk about, or something you’d see in a vendor’s glossy brochure. But for finance teams, it’s actually pretty simple.

RPA is software that copies the way a person would do a task on a computer: opening files, clicking, copying, downloading, updating, and saving... but it does it automatically, and it never calls in sick.

In a finance context, that means things like:

• Reading data off an invoice PDF.
• Matching it up with a purchase order from your ERP system.
• Validating totals and checking for duplicates.
• Entering payment data into your bank or ERP.
• Filing the invoice and noting the approval.

These are all things your team already does by hand, week after week, because someone has to. RPA just takes those predictable, repetitive steps and gets them done without changing your process or needing a developer to jump in.

In big companies, RPA projects can drag on for months, with lots of meetings and custom code. But in mid-sized businesses, especially where IT support is limited, what you really need is:

• No-code or low-code tools.
• Quick setup and minimal hassle.
• Clear results, fast.

That’s the promise: keep your process, let the tech handle the repetitive clicks.

And just to be clear, this isn’t about cutting jobs. It’s about making sure your team spends their time on work that matters—analysis, strategy, building relationships with vendors, instead of playing “human robot.”

There’s no magic here... Just smarter delegation to software that never gets tired, never loses track, and never misreads a number.

AP workflows you can automate right now (without knowing code)

A lot of people think automation only works for huge companies with big IT budgets. But the truth is, most AP workflows follow a set of rules and don’t change much from week to week. That’s exactly what makes them automation-friendly, even if you’ve never written a line of code.

Here are some AP processes that mid-sized finance teams are automating right now, using tools and AI:

Extracting invoice data

When invoices land in your email (PDFs, images, or whatever), someone on your team opens them, pulls out the key info, and types it into a spreadsheet or ERP. It’s slow, and it’s easy to make mistakes.

What you can automate:

• Pulling out vendor name, invoice number, due date, and amount from attachments.
• Checking if the invoice is a duplicate or already paid.
• Saving the invoice in the right place or system.

Matching purchase orders

Matching invoices to POs sounds easy, until you have to do it by hand. Different formats, line items, and systems make it a time sink.

What you can automate:

• Pulling the related PO from your ERP automatically.
• Checking totals, quantities, and dates.
• Flagging any mismatches so a person can check them only when needed.

Approval workflows

Approvals can get stuck in email threads or ignored in Slack. Automation makes approvals consistent and traceable.

What you can automate:

• Routing invoices to the right person for approval, based on value, department, or vendor.
• Sending reminders if approvals are pending.
• Logging who approved what, for audit and compliance.

Entering data into ERP / accounting systems

Typing invoice details into tools like Sage, Netsuite, Totvs orSAP is tedious and often repetitive.

What you can automate:

• Filling in invoice data automatically in the right fields.
• Managing multiple formats or systems.
• Updating payment status after processing.

Vendor notifications and filing

After payment, many teams still send proof of payment and file records by hand.

What you can automate:

• Creating and sending payment confirmation emails to vendors.
• Organizing invoices and receipts in the right folder structure (by month, vendor, etc.).
• Updating your internal trackers or spreadsheets.

These aren’t just ideas, they’re workflows being automated today by finance teams all over Brazil and LATAM.

No need to change your entire finance stack. You just need a tool that connects to it and rules that fit how your team already works.

Before and after: what an automated AP process looks like

Automation isn’t about chasing trends or adding buzzwords to your tech stack. It’s about making your everyday work easier. Let’s compare a typical AP process before and after RPA.

Before automation

Example: Brazilian importer with a two-person finance team.

1. Invoice arrives by email → Someone opens it, downloads the PDF.
2. Manual data entry → They type the invoice number, vendor name, date, and value into Excel.
3. PO matching → They look up the PO in the ERP, check quantities and totals, and compare by hand.
4. Approval → They forward the invoice for approval by email. Sometimes it gets lost and requires follow-up.
5. System entry → Once approved, they enter it into Omie and set a reminder to pay.
6. Payment confirmation → After payment, they email the vendor and save the receipt, unless they forget.

• Total time: Roughly 15–25 minutes per invoice
• Stress level: High, especially at month-end
• Error rate: Manual mistakes about 1–2% of the time

After RPA

1. Invoice arrives by email: Automation detects and downloads it instantly.
2. Data extraction and PO match: Bot reads the invoice, extracts the important info, finds the PO in the ERP, and checks totals.
3. Approval: If all matches, it’s auto-approved (within thresholds). If not, it gets routed to the right person for review.
4. ERP entry: Bot enters the data into ERP on its own.
5. Vendor confirmation and filing: Bot sends the confirmation email and files everything in the correct place.

• Total time: 2–4 minutes, almost no human involvement
• Stress level: Low
• Error rate: Close to zero on routine tasks

This shift isn’t just about time savings. It gives your team space to focus on more strategic work (like spend analysis or cash flow forecasting) instead of chasing details.

And the best part: you can do all this with no coding, no heavy IT project, and without ripping out your ERP. For example, **Mercos** was able to cut 70% of their AP manual workload with automation, halving processing times for invoices.

Real-world challenges (and how to handle them)

Automation looks easy in theory, but anyone who’s tried it in a finance team knows the real story: it’s as much about people as it is about technology.

Here are the most common roadblocks for mid-sized teams, and some ways to get around them.

Challenge 1: “We’re too busy to set up automation.”

💬 “We’re already overloaded. Learning a new tool feels like more work.”

How to handle it:

• Pick one repetitive workflow to automate, like extracting invoice data.
• Use a tool that’s easy to set up, with no IT needed.
• Measure the impact on that one task, then build from there.

Challenge 2: “Our process is too messy to automate.”

💬 “Some invoices come from marketplaces, others from service providers. Some have POs, others don’t…”

How to handle it:

• Automate the standard flow, not the exceptions.
• Most of AP follows patterns, even if 20% of cases are special.
• Automating the 80% that’s repeatable will save you hours.

Challenge 3: “We’re worried about losing control.”

💬 “If a bot makes a mistake, how do we know?”

How to handle it:

• Choose tools that show clear logs of every step.
• Set up notifications for exceptions—so nothing goes unnoticed.
• Keep key approvals and payments with people until you’re confident.

Challenge 4: “Whose job is this anyway?”

💬 “Is this for IT, Finance, or Operations?”

How to handle it:

• Treat automation as a finance project.
• Assign someone in finance to lead it—ideally, someone close to the pain point.
• Pick tools designed for finance users, not just IT teams.

Automation isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Teams that succeed treat it as a skill they develop over time.

How to pick the right automation tool (if you don’t have IT support)

Picking an automation platform without technical backup can feel overwhelming. Here’s how to make it manageable:

1. Choose tools that use your language

If you open a product and see a wall of Python or JSON, it’s probably not for you. Look for:

• No-code or visual tools, using plain language.
• Easy interfaces: drag-and-drop, “if this, then that” type flows.
• Integrations with your existing systems: ERP, email, shared folders.

You shouldn’t have to “learn automation.” The tool should adapt to you.

2. Look for solutions made for finance, not IT

Some RPA tools were built for developers and IT teams. Powerful, but complicated. You want software designed for finance, with:

• Pre-built templates for AP automation.
• Workflows that match real invoice cycles.
• Finance-specific features (due dates, approvals, vendor matching).

Bonus points for supporting common ERPs and banks in your region.

3. Start with one workflow, not all of them

Forget “digital transformation” plans. Those usually mean big spending and little progress.

• Automate a single pain point first.
• Pick a tool that lets you expand gradually.
• Get quick wins, then build momentum.

4. Demand transparency and control

Automation shouldn’t be a black box. Make sure any tool you pick:

• Shows clear logs of every action.
• Lets you override or intervene when needed.
• Doesn’t lock you in with hard-to-exit workflows.

Automation should give you more control, not less.

5. Don’t get dazzled by vendor promises

If someone says they can automate your AP “end to end,” be careful. Real AP always has exceptions.

Look for:

• Honest scoping of what can and can’t be automated.
• A phased rollout you can test in the real world.
• Vendors who listen to your needs, not just their sales script.

If a tool feels like a partner instead of a project, you’re headed in the right direction.

Measuring success: what to look for

You don’t automate AP just to be modern. You do it to win back time, reduce errors, and focus on things that matter.

So, what does success look like?

The hard numbers

These will show up on your dashboard:

• Time saved per invoice: From 20+ minutes to 3–5 minutes (multiplied across the team, this is huge).
• Lower processing costs: Less labor per invoice, especially during crunch times.
• Fewer errors: Fewer duplicates, fewer mismatches, fewer missed or late payments.
• Faster payment cycles: Quicker processing helps with vendor relationships and early payment discounts.
• Higher team productivity: Same team, more invoices handled, less overtime.

The soft wins

These may not be in a spreadsheet, but you’ll hear them in meetings:

• “I don’t have to chase invoices anymore.”
• “Month-end is calmer, less stressful.”
• “Now I can focus on forecasting, not just data entry.”
• “We’re not reliant on that one person who knows the ERP.”
• “Auditors liked how clean our process is.”

Success in AP automation is about building momentum, one visible win at a time.

First steps: start small, build confidence

If you’re reading this, you probably believe automation makes sense. The real question is how to start without causing chaos.

Here’s a straightforward way to begin:

Step 1: Pick one repetitive task

Don’t try to automate everything at once. Start with a task that:

• Happens a few times each week.
• Follows the same steps each time.
• Involves clicking, copying, or entering data.

Example tasks:

→ Copying invoice info into a spreadsheet.

→ Matching invoices to POs.

→ Filing invoices.

→ Sending out vendor confirmations.

Ask your AP analyst: “What’s something you do every day that feels like a waste of time?” That’s your candidate.

Step 2: Write out the steps

Describe the task in plain language:

“When an invoice arrives, I open the email, save the PDF, open the spreadsheet, copy the info, check the PO in the ERP, and send it for approval.”

This gives you a clear starting point for automation.

Step 3: Automate just that workflow

Choose a no-code tool that works with your ERP, email, or folders. You’re not aiming for perfection, just a working proof of concept.

• See if it works.
• Check if your team understands it.
• Measure the time saved.

You can try out ready-made workflow templates tailored for finance teams even if you have zero coding experience.

Step 4: Share your results

Once that workflow is up and running:

• Show the team how much time you saved.
• Document the process so others can try it.
• Use that win to automate more steps, one at a time.

When people see the benefits, they’ll start suggesting other points to automate.

Step 5: Keep momentum

Don’t let your automation journey stall. Keep it moving:

• Review AP processes regularly.
• Look for new bottlenecks.
• Automate, test, adjust, and repeat.

Strong finance teams get better not with giant leaps, but with small wins that add up.

Final thought

You don’t have to be a tech expert to make your AP process modern.

Let go of broken routines.

Start small, stay practical, and let your results build confidence for the next step forward.