Invoice Processing Automation Case Study

Shipa is a global digital logistics platform powered by Agility, one of the world’s largest logistics providers with operations in over 100 countries. With strong operations across the Middle East and GCC region, Shipa manages complex supply chain operations including freight forwarding, e-commerce fulfillment, and last-mile delivery.

Processing 500+ vendor invoices monthly in various formats and languages, their manual invoice processing system created bottlenecks that rippled throughout their entire operation – delaying payments and straining vendor relationships across their global supply chain.

The company received approximately 500 invoices per month from vendors across the region, sent to multiple employee email inboxes in dozens of different formats. Each invoice required manual validation of the sender, verification of an open purchase order, data extraction, format conversion, and entry into their NetSuite ERP system.

The manual process to automate invoice processing took 1-2 weeks per invoice and involved multiple handoffs:

• Employees had to check if senders were authorized vendors
• Verify that valid purchase orders existed for each invoice
• Manually extract data from invoices in different formats and languages
• Reformat the data to match NetSuite requirements
• Enter the information into the ERP system
• Chase down errors and missing information

The pain points were crippling operations:

• 1-2 weeks per invoice meant vendors waited months for payment
• Manual data entry was highly error-prone, requiring rework and corrections
• No centralized intake system – invoices scattered across multiple inboxes
• Different invoice formats from regional vendors made standardization impossible
• Processing delays cascaded throughout the supply chain
• Staff burnout from repetitive, high-stakes data entry work

The company needed a system that could automate invoice processing while handling the complexity of multi-format, multi-language invoices – eliminating delays and errors that were damaging vendor relationships and operational efficiency.

Custom AI-Powered System to Automate Invoice Processing

Midnight Flow designed and implemented an end-to-end invoice automation system that handles everything from initial receipt through ERP integration, with intelligent validation and exception handling at every step.

After researching multiple invoice processing systems, we selected Parseur for its superior ability to handle different invoice formats and languages – critical for a global logistics operation dealing with diverse vendors across multiple regions.

How it works:

1. Centralized Intake: All vendors now send invoices to a single monitored email inbox, eliminating the scattered inbox problem
2. Sender Verification: The system automatically verifies that the sender is an authorized vendor before processing
3. Attachment Validation: Checks that invoice attachments are present and in processable formats
4. PO Validation: Queries NetSuite to confirm a valid purchase order exists for the invoice. If no valid PO is found, the system automatically denies processing and sends a notification to the vendor explaining why
5. RFQ Procurement: For valid invoices, the system procures a Request for Quotation (RFQ) from the ERP
6. Multi-Format Parsing: Using Parseur, the system extracts data from invoices regardless of format or language differences
7. Data Standardization: Extracted invoice data is converted to a single standardized format that NetSuite understands
8. ERP Submission: The parsed and formatted invoice is automatically submitted to NetSuite for processing

Key components:

• Gmail integration for centralized email monitoring
• Parseur for intelligent multi-format invoice parsing
• NetSuite integration for PO validation and invoice submission
• AI Agent with custom tools for decision logic and vendor communication
• Automated validation gates at each processing step
• Exception handling with vendor notifications

The solution was built entirely on the FlowRunner platform, which allowed for rapid development during the 3-month implementation period and easy future modifications as business requirements evolved.

The automation runs autonomously 24/7, processing invoices as they arrive without manual intervention. The system that once required multiple full-time employees now operates with near-perfect accuracy and speed, transforming a major operational bottleneck into a competitive advantage.

Processing Speed:

• Before: 1-2 weeks per invoice processing time
• After: Minutes per invoice processing time
• Improvement: 99%+ reduction in processing time

Cost Savings:

• 4 full-time positions freed up from manual invoice processing
• Staff redeployed to strategic activities instead of data entry
• Eliminated overtime costs related to invoice backlog management

Accuracy & Quality:

• Error rate: 0.002% (99.998% accuracy)
• Zero human-in-the-loop requirements for standard invoice processing
• Eliminated delays caused by manual errors and rework
• Consistent processing regardless of invoice format or language

Operational Impact:

• Vendors now receive payment confirmations in days instead of months
• Processing delays have been eliminated across the entire supply chain
• Improved vendor relationships through reliable, fast payments
• Scalable system handles volume increases without additional staff
• Centralized intake provides complete visibility into invoice status

The client emphasized that the ability to automate invoice processing across dozens of different formats and languages – while maintaining 99.998% accuracy – was transformational for their operations. What once created bottlenecks throughout their supply chain now runs autonomously 24/7, allowing their team to focus on strategic vendor relationships instead of manual data entry.