Accounts Payable: OCR, Approvals & ERP Posting
Automated accounts-payable processing for a mid-sized wholesaler: PDFs and scans are classified, data is extracted, approved against budgets, and posted—with traceable status and less manual rework. Built by Groenewold IT Solutions in East Frisia (Made in Germany).
Accounts Payable: OCR, Approvals & ERP Posting
Automation
The Challenge
Inboxes, paper stacks, and double entry
Invoices arrived through many channels: PDF attachments, scans from the mailroom, and occasionally fax. Finance had to re-check amounts, vendors, and cost centres; mismatches with purchase orders caused back-and-forth. A standalone OCR tool without approvals and ERP connectivity would only solve part of the problem.
Compliance and traceability
The client needed clear rules: who may approve up to which amount? which vendors are known? where must deviations from the PO be commented? Every step had to be audit-ready—without overwhelming staff with extra clicks.
Our Solution
Screenshots – process automation
Pipeline from intake to posting proposal
We implemented an orchestrated chain: incoming documents are classified, text and key fields are extracted and matched to master data. Exceptions route as tasks to defined roles; in the standard case a short approval in a web UI is enough before a posting proposal is handed to the ERP.
Stable interfaces instead of manual hand-off
ERP connectivity uses documented REST calls and idempotent operations—so retries and batch runs behave safely. Workers process the queue with backoff on transient errors; critical events are written to an audit log for review and support.
Engineering in Germany
Design and delivery were led by Groenewold IT Solutions in Leer/East Frisia: close collaboration with business and IT, a pragmatic MVP, then extensions for additional vendor and tax scenarios.
Results
Less manual capture, faster cycle times
Most invoices flow without duplicate work in finance; questions focus on true exceptions. Status and ownership replace “who last touched the email?” threads.
Reference for document-driven automation
The project shows how recurring document processes can be automated with OCR, workflows, and ERP connectors—while keeping business teams in control.
Features
Feature overview
- Classification and extraction from PDF and scan
- Matching with vendor and purchase-order master data
- Role-based approvals with threshold logic
- Posting proposals handed to the ERP
- Queues, retries, and monitoring
- Audit log of processing steps
- Delivery by Groenewold IT Solutions (Made in Germany)
Project Details
Project
Handelscontor NordCompleted
Delivery and rollout (reference project)
Technologies
More References
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