The Q4 release for SAP Business Network includes the new PDF invoice conversion capability, Intelligent Invoice Conversion.

This new feature converts PDF invoices into SAP Business Network invoices. Suppliers who generate PDF invoices from their back-end accounting or financial systems no longer have to re-create invoices on the network or email PDF invoices to their customers.

With invoices being converted from PDF invoices to SAP Business Network invoices, both buyers and suppliers can achieve:

• Improved operational efficiency: suppliers no longer have to manually key in invoices on the network, and buyers’ accounts payable teams reduce the need for manual validation with the network’s business rules
• Increase invoice status visibility: suppliers can see the status of their invoices and payments through the trading partner portal
• Accelerate invoice payments: faster payment cycles as buyers can reduce the manual effort of reconciling PDF invoices with orders

The Intelligent Invoice Conversion feature leverages artificial intelligence and annotation capabilities, enabling suppliers to create custom invoice templates based on their customers’ specific invoice requirements. Annotation capabilities allow suppliers to map fields from their PDF invoice to the SAP Business Network invoice. Templates they created will be applied for any PDF invoice uploaded for a specific buyer.

Invoices are automatically enriched with purchase order information for ease of buyer reconciliation. This guided onboarding simplifies the set-up process for suppliers, they can upload samples and test their invoice templates prior to uploading their PDF invoices.

Watch this short video to see the Intelligent Invoice Conversion feature in action.