The Challenges of Manual Invoice Processing in Construction Any accounts payable (AP) team is familiar with dealing with too many invoices.
The nature of construction projects involves managing a high volume of invoices, often with variations in vendor formats, payment terms, and billing structures. When managed manually (a common approach), this can introduce inefficiencies that cost both time and money, such as:
Redundancy and Rework: Manually entering invoice data leads to repeated tasks, especially when errors occur or information is incomplete. Correcting these mistakes adds to the workload and delays payments.Lengthy Delays: Processing invoices by hand often results in slower payment cycles (upwards of 90 days in construction). This delay impacts relationships with vendors and subcontractors, especially when timeliness is critical for maintaining project schedules.High Costs: With an average processing cost of $16 per invoice due to labor-intensive activities, manual handling becomes a significant financial burden, especially for organizations managing thousands of invoices monthly.These inefficiencies hinder productivity and expose businesses to risks, including late payment penalties and strained vendor relationships.
Manual AP triage is one of the biggest bottlenecks for finance teams within construction. For companies striving to streamline operations, eliminating manual triage would dramatically expedite invoice payment times and volume processing.
And with AI automation, you can.
The Solution: AI Invoice Triage with Symphona Flow With Symphona Flow,
Here’s how Symphona Flow revolutionizes invoice triage for AP teams:
1. Seamless Integration with Existing Tools Symphona Flow integrates effortlessly with commonly used systems like Microsoft Outlook or other email platforms, allowing teams to create automated workflows directly from their existing processes.
For instance, incoming invoices received via email can be automatically read, sorted, and categorized without the need for manual intervention.
2. Advanced Keyword Analysis for Accurate Sorting Flow employs sophisticated keyword analysis to quickly understand and categorize invoices by vendor, project, budget codes, and more. AP teams can customize what keywords are prioritized, ensuring Flow triages emails appropriately.
This ensures that invoices are routed to the appropriate approvers or systems instantly, reducing the time spent manually reviewing and organizing documents.
3. Automatic Service Ticket Creation You can set up Flow to automatically generate tickets with your ticketing platform of choice, be it Symphona Serve
With Serve ’s intelligent ticket assignment feature, you can further automate ticket assignment by having Serve assigne tickets to the most suitable AP team members, ensuring that all AP items have owners.
4. Duplicate Task Elimination Manual processes are prone to errors such as duplicate payments, which can result in wasted money and strained vendor trust. Symphona Flow’s automation capabilities include intelligent duplicate detection to prevent these issues. By cross-referencing invoice details like amounts, vendor information, and invoice numbers, redundant tasks or payments are eliminated at the source.
Quantifiable Benefits for AP Teams in Construction The impacts of implementing Symphona Flow in invoice triage are practical and measurable. By automating repetitive tasks and optimizing workflows, construction businesses can unlock benefits such as:
Reduced Invoice Processing Costs: With AI automation, companies can reduce the cost of processing a single invoice from $16 to as low as $3. For organizations handling thousands of invoices annually, this equates to over thousands of dollars in cost savings. Optimized Time Utilization: Automation tools save thousands of hours per year by eliminating manual data entry and approval routing. AP teams can redirect this time toward more strategic financial initiatives.Improved Accuracy and Compliance: Automated workflows reduce the risk of errors and ensure invoices are handled according to pre-set business rules, helping maintain financial accuracy and regulatory compliance.Transform Your Invoice Process with Symphona Flow Manual invoice triage is no longer a necessary bottleneck for AP teams in the construction industry. By adopting Symphona Flow, businesses can achieve streamlined, cost-effective invoice management, offering both immediate and long-term benefits.
From reducing costs to enhancing team efficiency, this AI-powered platform empowers organizations to focus on delivering successful construction projects rather than being buried under administrative tasks.
Ready to revolutionize your invoice triage process? Maximize your team’s efficiency while cutting costs with Symphona Flow. Get started for free today with Symphona check out our other offerings for construction.
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