Accounts payable at a mid-size manufacturer. 2,400 vendor invoices monthly.
The process: Invoice arrives. AP clerk manually enters data. Matches to PO. Processes payment.
The problem: At volume, errors slip through. Duplicate invoices. Price discrepancies. Quantity mismatches. Wrong payment terms applied.
Annual loss to invoice errors (estimated): $400K.
Built a three-way match validator.
Invoice arrives. System extracts all line items, prices, quantities, terms. Pulls corresponding PO data. Pulls receiving data. Compares all three automatically. Flags any discrepancy over threshold.
First quarter results:
- 7,200 invoices processed
- 847 discrepancies flagged
- $127K in incorrect charges caught before payment
- 23 duplicate invoices blocked
The $127K breaks down:
- Price increases not in PO: $67K
- Quantity overbilling: $34K
- Duplicate submissions: $19K
- Incorrect payment terms: $7K
AP team now reviews exceptions instead of checking every invoice.
What's leaking out of your payables process?