Improve processing efficiency

AP Essentials measures automation in invoice processing using the verification touch rate, which you can see in Analytics. The "zero touch" rate indicates how often documents required manual verification. A zero-touch rate of 100% indicates the document was processed without manual verification.

Straight-through processing

Straight-through processing (STP) is a configuration choice designed to reduce manual intervention by skipping the verification step. If you set the Data verification setting to Never, all documents skip verification, regardless of their quality. This setting ensures a zero-touch rate of 100% but removes the opportunity to review and correct errors. Some administrators choose straight-through processing for systems where the incoming documents are XML and there is little risk of interpretation error.

Straight-through processing only applies to bypassing manual data verification. It does not include invoice approval, which takes place after verification.

There are two main settings that control bypassing manual verification.

Data verification
Allow complete documents to bypass verification

Data verification settings

Data verification settings apply to all documents for all buyers/sellers and determine when documents require manual verification.

Never - Enables straight-through processing. Documents always skip verification. Since documents are not verified manually, the zero-touch rate is always 100%.
On field error - Documents only go to verification when interpretation values are in doubt. With the right configuration and good-quality input, you can achieve a 100% zero-touch rate here while still retaining error checks.
Always - All documents require manual verification. The zero-touch rate is fixed at 0%.

Allow complete documents to bypass verification

The Allow complete documents to bypass verification setting applies to specific suppliers/customers and determines whether documents without validation errors are sent directly to the target system without verification. The setting applies to each supplier (accounts payable) or customer (accounts receivable) individually, and you can change it via AP Essentials Office, Admin Center, and master data.

User privileges

Use caution when implementing straight-through processing, as it removes the opportunity to review and correct errors. Use privileges to restrict who can override standard verification steps.

Change bypass verification setting – Lets AP Essentials Office users change the bypass verification setting for suppliers when document capture is accurate.
Change lock online learning setting – Lets AP Essentials Office users change the Lock online learning setting for suppliers or customers. This privilege is especially valuable when suppliers submit documents that use multiple layouts. By locking the learning process to the most common layout, the system avoids unnecessary relearning and maintains consistency in document processing.
Update online learning – Determines whether user interactions during verification affect online learning. Disable this privilege to prevent new or inexperienced users from having a detrimental effect on documents that have high identification and extraction rates. This privilege does not override the Lock online learning setting.

Further considerations to improve straight-through processing

Improving straight-through processing rates requires a strategic blend of buyer classification, master data management, supplier validation field optimization, and smart field configuration. The most critical factors are unique identifiers, optimal field selection, and automation of field population and validation.

Document quality

The Advanced extraction engine can handle handwriting and low-quality images, but higher-quality, clear images improve the likelihood of documents passing straight through.

Buyer classification

AP Essentials can automatically or manually assign documents to the correct buyer or seller organization. Enable buyer/seller classification in the Classification service settings.

Tips for accurate classification:

Add unique identifiers to each buyer in the company profile.
Use separate email addresses for inter-company invoicing to prevent misclassification.
A subset of buyers can share one input email address to reduce risks of incorrect routing.

Supplier validation

Supplier master data is used to match an incoming document to a supplier. Six supplier fields in the master data are used to validate the identified supplier and set the matched supplier field as complete. The fields are checked one by one, in the order listed below. If a match is found, subsequent fields are not be used. Ensure that at least one of these master data fields matches the content in the document.

Supplier name
Street
Telephone number
Organization number
Tax registration number
Bank account(s)

Master data management

Use the Master data upload setting to determine whether you upload master data at the customer or buyer level.

Setting	Use case	Benefits
Master data on customer account level	When buyers under a customer receive similar documents and need shared learning	Efficiency, unified view, reduced duplication, shared learning
Master data on buyer level	When buyers require different fields or formats, or have unique business rules	Customization, granular control, tailored extraction and validation

Changing this setting deletes all existing learning.

Page separation

Incorrect page separation settings can lead to manual intervention.

Payment terms

If a due date is missing, payment terms can calculate it based on predefined rules. Payment terms can be created manually or imported from supplier master data.

Payment terms can:

Calculate the due date if none is extracted, or override extracted values.
Use a specified number of days from the invoice date or end of the month.

Validation rules

Default validation rules–such as duplicate checks, maximum allowed amount, prevent total amount of zero, and allowed tax rates–are enabled by default.

Recommendations:

Enable only the rules necessary for your workflow to minimize warnings.
Custom validation rules can be created.
Rules can be applied at the partner or customer level and selected per document type.

Verification settings

For manual verification, consider the settings below to streamline the process.

Allow account coding during verification - Enabling this setting will require manual intervention on every invoice. Consider performing the account coding in the approval step instead, where several options exist to automate the coding selections. This setting is only available when the Workflow service is enabled.
Display validation errors in a pop-up dialog that requires user interaction - Forces user interaction for overrides, reducing accidental errors.
Use autocomplete when typing field values - Speeds up data entry and reduces learning time.

Field configuration

Each document type can be configured with specific fields and settings. Field settings allow for tailored extraction, validation, and auto-population to maximize STP rates.

Conditional visibility

There are two to hide fields that optional or only needed for specific senders.

Use the Accept empty value for optional fields to prevent a warning if the field is empty.
Hide fields not needed for every document. You can hide fields in two ways.
- Select Accept empty value and Empty and hidden by default. The field will be hidden for all senders by default and can be made visible during manual verification.
- Change the field visibility in AP Essentials Office.

Field format

You can apply a regular expression (regex) to improve extraction confidence and reduce errors.

Custom fields

Custom fields offer more configuration options than standard fields.

If a code or keyword is required, use the Use default value setting to specify the value.
If different codes or keywords are used for different suppliers, select Save default value per supplier. The default value is used initially, and when the value is replaced during manual verification, the sender-specific value is saved and used for future documents.

XSLT auto-population

Use XSLT to auto-fill fields, set default values, and apply conditional logic. This is especially useful for fields with low presence rates or static values.

Other ways to improve touch rates

If you do not use straight-through processing, you can improve automation and reduce manual work by addressing common factors that lower the zero-touch rate.

Extraction - Select the Advanced engine as your Extraction method in the Extraction service settings. The Advanced extraction engine offers higher interpretation accuracy, which leads to less manual verification.
Document quality - Low resolution documents can cause interpretation issues which require manual intervention.
Document selection - When uploading documents, incorrect buyer/seller or document type selection reduces automation.
Field settings - Poorly defined fields with incorrect or ambiguous formats can result in low interpretation rates.
Document separation - Incorrect document separation can increase manual verification, resulting in lower zero-touch rates.
Online learning - If online learning is locked , interpretation quality will not improve for that supplier. Unlock learning on suppliers with poor performance to improve results over time. Conversely, you can lock online learning for suppliers that already have good performance.
Bypass verification per sender - If enabled, documents from that sender skip verification, which can boost zero-touch rates. Consider bypassing verification on senders with 100% zero-touch rates.

Other considerations

In some cases it is impossible to achieve high zero-touch rates. For example, if you use Workflow services, and Allow account coding during verification is enabled, coding an invoice during verification counts as a "touch." Likewise, manual line-item paring adjustments count as touches.