OCR invoice processing is everything that happens after a tool has read a supplier invoice: checking the data, matching it to what you ordered, getting it approved and handing it to the payment run. This article answers what most guides skip: once the fields are extracted, how do you stop invoices piling up in an approval queue? Reading is the easy, automated part. Approval is where days are lost, and you can run that part on the levelpartner.ai platform with a pipeline, tasks and reminders, whichever tool does the reading.
Reading is fast, deciding is slow
A capture tool turns a PDF into fields in seconds. Then the invoice waits. The approver is out, or unsure what the invoice relates to, or busy. Finance chases by email. The supplier chases finance. Late payment damages relationships you depend on, and in the UK it can also carry statutory interest.
So the useful measure is not how fast OCR reads. It is how many days pass between an invoice arriving and it being approved for payment.
The four stages after extraction
- Check. Someone confirms the extracted fields match the document, especially totals and tax.
- Match. The invoice is compared with the order, contract or agreed quote.
- Approve. The budget holder confirms the work or goods were received and the price is right.
- Post. Finance records the invoice in the accounts and schedules payment.
Exceptions are any invoice that fails a stage: wrong price, no order, unknown supplier. Exceptions need their own owner and their own clock, or they sit forever.
Before you start
- A capture method for the fields, whether a reading tool, a form or manual entry.
- Approval limits per manager, written down.
- A target for days from receipt to approval, for example five working days.
- Access to Opportunities and Automation on the platform.
How to run approvals on a pipeline
- Go to Opportunities, select Pipelines and click Create new pipeline. Name it Supplier invoices and click Save.
- Enter each Stage Name and click Add stage: Received, Checked, Awaiting approval, Approved, Exception and Posted.
- Add each new invoice as an opportunity, from your intake form or by hand, assigned to the approver with the amount as its value.
- Go to Automation, then Workflows, and create a workflow from scratch.
- Click + Add New Trigger, choose Pipeline Stage Changed and set In Pipeline to Supplier invoices and Pipeline Stage to Awaiting approval.
- Add a Send Internal Notification action for the assigned approver.
- Add a Wait Step of three days, then a second Send Internal Notification as the reminder.
- Build a second workflow with the same trigger set to the Exception stage and an Add Task action for the finance lead.
- Save both workflows and switch them to Publish.
- Review the pipeline board every Monday and clear anything older than your target.
Using a pipeline as an approval board looks unusual, but it gives you a visible queue with values, owners and ages. Everyone can see what is stuck and with whom.
Say the brokerage processes about 80 supplier invoices a month from lead providers, software vendors and compliance services. Approval takes 14 days on average, mostly waiting on one of three directors. With a pipeline board, automatic reminders on day three and a Monday review, five days would be a realistic aim. Suppliers would then have far less reason to call about late payment. Illustrative figures.
What it replaces and the time it takes
The board replaces approval emails, shared spreadsheets of outstanding invoices and finance chasing people at their desks. Setting it up takes two to three hours. Running it takes the Monday review, about 20 minutes, plus a minute per approval.
The mistake most people make
Sending every invoice to the same senior person. Directors become the bottleneck for minor software bills. Set limits: line managers approve small, routine invoices; directors see only the large or unusual ones. Your OCR or capture tool can route on amount if it supports rules; on the platform you route by assigning the opportunity to the right approver.
When this is not the right setup
If your accounting system already has a built-in approval flow that your managers use, keep it there. One approval process is better than two. And if you process a few invoices a month, a weekly sit-down between finance and the owner is simpler than any board.
Troubleshooting
Invoices sit in Awaiting approval for weeks. The approver is wrong or absent. Reassign and set a cover approver for holidays.
Exceptions are never resolved. Nobody owns them. Give the finance lead every exception with a deadline.
The board drifts from the accounts. Someone posts without moving the stage. Make moving to Posted part of the posting routine.
Duplicates slip through. Check supplier and invoice number before creating the opportunity. The guide to invoice data capture rules lists the checks.
Related guides
For the front of the process, see scanning invoices for OCR. For the whole buying cycle from request to payment, see procure to pay improvements for a growing firm. If you are comparing reading tools, start with the basics of invoice OCR.
Frequently asked questions
Does OCR invoice processing remove the need for approvals?
No. It removes typing. Someone still has to confirm the goods or work were received and the price is right.
What is three-way matching?
Comparing the invoice with the purchase order and the delivery or receipt record. Services firms often use two-way matching: invoice against the agreed quote or contract.
How long should approval take?
Set a target your suppliers can live with, usually within a week. Then measure it. The board shows the age of every invoice at a glance.
Can approvals happen on a phone?
Yes. Approvers can open the opportunity in the mobile app, see the attached invoice and move it to Approved.