August 22nd , 2025

3 minutes

Accounts payable (AP) is one of the most vital yet complex processes in any organisation. AP is the foundation of sound financial management, whether it is through making sure suppliers are paid on time or keeping correct financial records. Inefficiencies, regulatory issues, and manual errors are just a few of the difficulties that many businesses face while processing accounts payable. Fortunately, AP management across sectors is about to undergo a radical change thanks to automation technologies like Intellect's Purple Fabric Accounts Payable.

Challenges Industry Face in Accounts Payable Management

Visual Summary: Where Industry Experts Face the Most Friction in AP

Over the course of 350 Industry Experts demos, we've categorised and quantified the most common concerns raised at each stage of the Accounts Payable process. The graph below illustrates how these concerns are distributed, weighted by their criticality and frequency.

From a study of 350 Industry experts, the biggest AP pain points are Data Validation, 3-Way Matching, and Compliance Checks, each impacting about 16% of respondents. Supporting areas like Document Ingestion and Workflow Approvals are not far behind. A targeted automation strategy addressing these key stages can drastically reduce errors, improve turnaround time, and enhance audit readiness.

Questions Frequently Asked by Industry Experts During Demos

Over the course of showcasing Purple Fabric Accounts Payable to 350 Industry Experts, we’ve identified common pain points based on the questions they consistently ask. These questions are invaluable in understanding where automation creates the most impact:

  • How do we identify and prevent duplicate invoice payments?
  • Can the system handle multiple formats and languages of invoices?
  • How does the platform manage exceptions and approvals efficiently?
  • What is the accuracy level of automated data extraction?
  • How do we verify compliance (GST, MSME, TDS) on incoming invoices?
  • Can you explain how 3-Way Matching is automated?
  • What’s the typical turnaround time from invoice receipt to posting?
  • How does the system handle unmatched or partial PO line items?
  • Is there a centralised dashboard for approval tracking?
  • Can business rules be customised to fit our AP policy?

Despite advancements in financial systems, several core challenges persist in accounts payable:

1. Dependence on Paper-Based Processes

For approval and payment, many businesses still use paper invoices and manual procedures, which causes major delays, inefficiencies, and tracking issues. Human error infiltrates important data points, paperwork is frequently lost, and approvals are sluggish, all of which have an effect on cash flow management and vendor relationships.

2. Lack of Standardisation

Workflows for accounts payable may vary from department to department or business unit. In the absence of established procedures, businesses are subject to human-dependent decision-making, inconsistent invoice handling, and inconsistencies. Frequent mistakes, missing deadlines, and difficulties with regulatory compliance are caused by this unpredictability.

3. Poor Record-Keeping

Precise documentation is necessary for both audit preparedness and internal controls. Yet, many firms struggle with tracking, reconciling, and reporting financial data due to fragmented record-keeping processes. These gaps often lead to inconsistencies and compliance issues that better systems could have easily prevented.

4. Limited Technology Adoption

Many companies continue to handle invoices, match purchase orders, and reconcile payments by hand, even in the face of advanced technology. Insufficient use of automation technologies results in resource waste, slowed processing speeds, and a dearth of useful data insights for improved decision-making.

5. Complex Compliance Requirements

Verification against GSTN, PAN, TDS, purchase orders (POs), and other compliance norms is difficult and time-consuming. Manual checks put businesses at risk since they frequently result in missed validations, duplicate payments, or regulatory fines.

6. Integration and Data Silos

A major barrier to efficiency is the inability to seamlessly integrate AP functions with ERP systems, accounting platforms, and vendor management systems. Disconnected systems lead to duplicated work, data inconsistencies, and a lack of a single source of truth for financial decision-makers.

The Future is Here: Automating Accounts Payable with Purple Fabric Accounts Payable

To overcome these challenges, organisations are turning to Purple Fabric Accounts Payable, Intellect’s intelligent accounts payable automation platform. Powered by seven AI-based assistants, Purple Fabric Accounts Payable provides a comprehensive, streamlined, and compliant AP solution that transforms how businesses manage their financial operations.

1. Eliminating Paper with the Document Assistant

For approval and payment, many businesses still use paper invoices and manual procedures, which causes major delays, inefficiencies, and tracking issues. Human error infiltrates important data points, paperwork is frequently lost, and approvals are sluggish, all of which have an effect on cash flow management and vendor relationships.

Key Capabilities:

  • AI-driven processing with over 95% accuracy for documents across formats (PDFs, images, scanned files)
  • Automatic classification of documents such as invoices, credit notes, and debit notes
  • Intelligent document splitting for files containing multiple invoices
  • Contextual exception handling for missing or inconsistent data

Business Impact:

  • Reduces manual data entry efforts by up to 80%
  • Accelerates invoice ingestion by 50–70% compared to manual methods
  • Offers operational flexibility via drag-and-drop interface and email-based ingestion

2. Enforcing Standardization with the Orchestrator Assistant

Workflows for accounts payable may vary from department to department or business unit. In the absence of established procedures, businesses are subject to human-dependent decision-making, inconsistent invoice handling, and inconsistencies. Frequent mistakes, missing deadlines, and difficulties with regulatory compliance are caused by this unpredictability.

Features:

  • Maker-checker processes based on rules that can be adjusted by quantity or entity.
  • Using invoice metadata (e.g., department, location, and value thresholds) to guide multi-level approval routing.
  • Integrated system for reminders and alerts regarding pending approvals.
  • SLA monitoring for processing that has a deadline.

Business Impact:

  • 60–70% shorter approval cycle time.
  • Automated reminders to guarantee that no escalations are overlooked.
  • Improved audit traceability and enforcement of internal policies.

3. Ensuring Record Accuracy with Document & Insights Assistants

Precise documentation is necessary for both audit preparedness and internal controls. Due to disjointed record-keeping procedures, many firms have trouble tracking, reconciling, and reporting financial data. Better systems could have prevented the financial inconsistencies and compliance problems that result from this.

Document Assistant features :

  • include a centralised digital invoicing archive.
  • For accessibility, the vendor code, GSTN, PO number, and other metadata have been indexed.

Insights Assistant Features:

  • Include real-time analytics dashboards that show pending approvals, vendor-wise spending, and invoice aging.
  • DPO (Days Payable Outstanding), exception rate, cycle time, and other custom KPIs can be configured.
  • AP, Finance, CFO, and Procurement all have role-based perspectives.

Business Impact:

  • Complete transaction traceability and 100% audit readiness.
  • Rather than relying on reactive reporting, real-time insights enable proactive decision-making.
  • enhanced vendor negotiations through the use of expenditure trend data.

4. Modernising Processes with the Data, Verification & Orchestrator Assistants

Data Assistant automates data extraction and early-stage validation, while the Verification Assistant performs master data checks, duplication control, and procurement validations. Together with the Orchestrator Assistant, these tools eliminate manual dependencies and enhance processing speed.

Data Assistant Features:

  • Line items, taxes, and totals are extracted from invoices using AI/ML.
  • Critical fields (GST, PAN, invoice date, and quantities) are automatically validated

Verification Assistant & Orchestrator Assistant Features:

  • Include PO number lookup, GSTN/PAN validation, and vendor master checks.
  • Date/value analysis and fuzzy logic are used to detect duplicate invoices.
  • Reduces the need for human intervention by automatically initiating workflow based on verified inputs.

Business Impact:

  • At the data validation step, the error rate is reduced by up to 90%.
  • protects working capital by preventing fraud and duplicate payments.
  • Opens up time for processing exceptions by reducing the workload of AP staff by more than 70%.

5. Automating Compliance with the Compliance Assistant

The Compliance Assistant automates critical checks such as GSTN validation, PAN verification, MSME classification, and TDS compliance. Built-in exception handling ensures that potential risks are addressed before they become regulatory issues.

Features:

  • Verification of PAN and GSTN numbers against official databases.
  • TDS deduction checks according to the kind of vendor.
  • Identification of MSME vendors to guarantee on-time payments in accordance with governmental regulations.
  • Automated verification of QR codes for electronic invoices.
  • Regulatory rule sets that are specific to a nation or industry.

Business Impact:

  • Audit penalties and reputational risks are decreased with no missed compliance checkpoints.
  • Ensures compliance with MSME Act deadlines and Indian tax requirements (GST, TDS).
  • Reduces the effort required for manual compliance checking by 5–10 hours each week.

6. Enabling System Integration with Seamless Architecture

Purple Fabric Accounts Payable is built for seamless integration with ERP systems, payment platforms, document management solutions, and identity systems. This eliminates data silos and ensures a unified, synchronised financial environment.

Features:

  • Plug-and-play API-based connections with ERP platforms such as MS Dynamics, SAP, and Oracle.
  • Compliant with document repositories, identity access management, and payment gateways.
  • Invoice status, payment confirmation, and PO data are consistently updated across systems thanks to two-way sync.

Business Impact:

  • 50% decrease in the amount of manual system reconciliation work.
  • Allows for effective financial planning by removing data silos.
  • The delay between processing invoices and payment is decreased through real-time integration.

7. Simplifying Reconciliation with the Reconciliation Assistant

This assistant automates 3-way matching between invoices, purchase orders, and goods receipt notes. It manages PO header and line item validations, quickly resolving mismatches to accelerate payments and maintain vendor satisfaction.

Features:

  • Three-way matching is automated: GRN, PO, and invoice.
  • Verification of amounts, prices, taxes, and totals at the line level.
  • Matching rules that are based on tolerance to deal with acceptable deviations.
  • Mismatches are automatically sent for stakeholder resolution.

Business Impact:

  • 80% fewer reconciliation errors.
  • Ensures the legitimacy of the invoice, preventing duplicate or excessive payments.
  • Improves vendor relationships by quickening payment cycles.

Seamless Integration Across Systems

Purple Fabric Accounts Payable is designed for modern enterprises. It easily integrates with ERP systems, payment hubs, identity management and security platforms, and document management systems, ensuring a cohesive and comprehensive approach to financial operations.

Conclusion: A New Era for Accounts Payable

Although accounts payable presents many difficulties, they can be overcome with the correct technology. AP is transformed from a manual, error-prone process into a streamlined, strategic function by Purple Fabric Accounts Payable's comprehensive, intelligent solution.

In addition to automating AP, Purple Fabric Accounts Payable is reinventing its function in modern enterprise finance by resolving inefficiencies, enforcing compliance, and facilitating data-driven decision-making.

Businesses are setting themselves up for long-term development, accuracy, and agility in an increasingly digital world by investing in intelligent AP automation today.

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