APOC

Impacting touchless accounts payable with APOC

While there are multiple dimensions to the Accounts Payable (AP) process, we are focusing on how companies are responding to the need for improved efficiencies and reduction of manual effort in AP.

Touchless accounts payable, also called touchless invoice processing, means invoices move from receipt to payment approval without manual data entry, coding or matching; people step in only for exceptions. The share of invoices handled this way is measured as the straight-through processing (STP) rate.

“Straight-through Pass” (STP) and “Touchless Processing” continue to be the widely accepted operational metrics for automation in the AP world. Both have had a significant influence in realizing the ultimate business outcome of “Payment on Time” (POT). Companies tend to often work with a myriad of platforms, ERPs, and automation aids, such as robotics, in the process of improving the effectiveness of the STP processes, with varying degrees of success.

But still, what prevents companies from achieving the mythical STP?

Based on our experience of working with over 100 customers, the following are the 4 categories of inefficiencies:

• Lack of digitization at the core, leading to manual interventions
• System fragmentation and lack of integration
• Onerous approval processes
• Upstream issues leading to downstream inefficiencies

Ironing the creases with our next-generation APOC platform

The Infosys APOC (Accounts Payable on the Cloud) is a Cloud-hosted AP platform that allows customers to consume the entire AP process as a service, with flexible “pay-as-you-pay” commercial models. APOC is an enterprise-wide system of transactional engagement for AP. This gives our customers the option of adopting a next-generation platform without having to rip and replace the legacy technology infrastructure. Today, APOC uses agentic AI, with AI agents handling end-to-end invoice processing and data extraction in more than 100 languages.

Digitization at the Core

Manual processes abound in a traditional AP process. APOC platform leverages the best of the digital capabilities available to automate the most frequently used manual interventions. We have highlighted some of them below. For a deeper look at the technology, read about the strategic benefits of AI in invoice processing.

Intelligent document extraction

The intelligent optical character recognition (I_OCR) capability of the platform, combined with an augmented digitalization work desk has been instrumental in digitizing paper invoices in seconds, across more than 100 languages and line levels. This OCR -led data conversion for accounts payable, aided by Machine Learning (ML) has replaced effort -intensive data entry and indexing processes, consequently yielding significant efficiencies for our customers and associates.

Smart matching

One of the many activities that require a human in the loop is the onerous invoicing and receipt process. The ML-based shadow matching algorithm of the APOC platform is helping our customers ease the burden in this highly effort-intensive juncture with autonomous match and post. With AI-powered 2-way and 3-way matching and automatic GL coding, APOC helps customers save up to 90% of the time spent on invoice processing.

Tax coding and withholding tax determination

Traditionally, in areas such as Sales and Use Tax or other taxes such as withholding tax, there is a need to rely on human expertise to determine applicability during the AP process, or later. With targeted training of our AI model on top of the APOC platform, we have been able to determine applicability, and also recommend or present a predictive recommendation to people resources, thereby reducing the need for 100% manual review.

Language neutralization

Effective and accurate translation of language invoices with our APIs and industry-leading translation Clouds have resulted in a better location strategy for customers.

Connected eco-systems

Our philosophy, while designing the platform, was to be able to build on the available network-based efficiencies of e-invoicing without the typical onboarding challenges. Our vision for APOC is a network-of-network model with native integrations to leading e-invoicing platforms. This has enabled suppliers on some of these networks to transact with APOC buyers from day one. This helps make transfers from system to system with zero touchpoints in between. Companies are seeing a 30-50% reduction in data entry efforts with this switch.

System fragmentation and integration

Many customers use more than one instance of an ERP. In addition to this, there are complex procurement platforms mounted on it. Eventually, the problem of master data inaccuracies is compounded by the challenges of integrating all parts of the overall systems - traditional and digital. The number of processes multiplies further with various locations and gamut of systems, aggravating the problem of data and process heterogeneity.

The APOC platform is designed precisely with an understanding of this reality. Our native out-of-the-box integrations with leading ERPs and procurement systems (direct integrations and with leading middleware solutions) help customers use the platform as a single layer of engagement across multiple underlying systems for AP.

Onerous approval processes

Approval systems are a strong safeguard against process slip-ups, especially in a non-PO invoice scenario. While companies leverage several policies to enforce purchase orders, we still see non-POs as a small, but significant, part of the overall AP volumes. Non-PO invoices typically take longer to process and require business context to be able to code the appropriate codes, resulting in a high-touch process.

APOC solves this with an inbuilt model that learns from historical coding patterns and proposes the most relevant codes. This not only brings in higher code accuracy but also reduces approval timelines.

Upstream programs to support smooth downstream AP

While intelligent automation in the APOC platform reduces human intervention in the loop significantly, upstream, or inter-departmental issues could still play truant. A slew of solutions, both on the platform and through holistic domain improvements, such as Unified Support Desks, price approval councils etc., are helping customers solve this issue.

The “pro-active nudge” function of the APOC platform is helping customers with this obscure problem as well. By automatically reminding users of the need to approve with an information-rich decision report, customers are now equipped to accurately visualize the impact of non-approval. The platform has also effectively helped customers extend their ability to re-validate their open goods receipts (GRs) with analytical reports indicating the probability of invoices received to open GRs.

In short, the APOC platform has demonstrated strong capabilities in helping customers cut invoice processing expenses in half, according to the APOC platform page.

Foundational shifts in how technology is adopted across finance, in general, are bound to happen in AP as well. Agentic AI is the latest of these shifts, with AI agents now able to handle end-to-end invoice processing and escalate only true exceptions to people. We continue to learn from our AP experience and from constantly emerging tech shifts, to marry both to automate more effectively. For day-to-day improvements, see our best practices to manage accounts payable.

Watch this space for more…...

Frequently asked questions

How do you implement touchless accounts payable?

Start by digitising invoice intake through e-invoicing or a supplier portal, then clean supplier master data and enforce purchase order policies. Next, automate matching and GL coding, set clear exception rules, and track the straight-through processing rate by supplier and invoice type to target the biggest causes of manual touches.

What is a good straight-through processing rate in accounts payable?

There is no single benchmark. STP rates depend on the invoice mix, the share of PO-backed invoices, supplier e-invoicing adoption and master data quality. Most teams track the rate monthly and raise it by fixing the most frequent exception causes first.

Does touchless accounts payable remove the need for AP staff?

No. Automation takes over routine capture, matching and coding, while AP teams focus on exceptions, supplier relationships, controls and working capital decisions. Their work shifts from data entry to analysis and oversight.

How does touchless AP improve financial controls?

Automated checks apply the same rules to every invoice: duplicate invoice detection, approvals in line with the organisation’s approval matrix, and a full audit trail of who approved what and when. This reduces errors and makes audits easier.