Example · Finance Ops

Context

Invoices arrive through email and vendor portals, then get re-keyed into accounting, routed by memory, and approved through scattered threads. The work is constant: manual entry, approval chasing, exception handling, and month-end cleanup. When invoices get stuck, teams pay late fees, miss discounts, and lose visibility into what is pending and why.

Why teams choose this over an AP platform

• No new platform required (works with your existing accounting + inbox)
• Approval routing and exceptions match your real rules (entities/cost centers/thresholds)
• Runs in a private environment you control, with audit logs and retention

What we need to scope it

• Accounting system (QBO / Xero / Sage / ERP)
• Rough invoices/month
• 10–20 sample invoices (PDFs)
• Approval matrix (who approves what thresholds)

That’s enough to convert “interesting” into “this is executable.”

What this MVP automates

This demo shows a fixed-scope MVP that turns accounts payable into a reliable workflow:

• Intake from an AP inbox, forwarded invoices, or a simple upload path
• Extract key fields: vendor, invoice number, dates, totals, tax, due date (optional line items)
• Validate and flag issues: duplicates, missing fields, mismatched totals, vendor mismatches
• Route approvals based on your rules: entity, department, amount thresholds, cost center
• Provide an exception queue for safe human review when confidence is low or data is missing
• Export or sync approved invoices into accounting, with audit-friendly logging of every decision

Architecture at a glance

The diagram below shows how we structure the workflow so it behaves like infrastructure: observable, maintainable, and integrated with your existing tools.

How it behaves in practice

1. A vendor emails a PDF invoice: “Invoice #10492, due in 14 days.”
2. The workflow extracts key fields, matches the vendor, and checks for duplicates.
3. Approval routing assigns the invoice to the correct approver based on amount and cost center.
4. The approver clicks approve; the decision is logged with timestamp and identity.
5. The invoice is exported/synced into accounting. Failures route to an exception queue with retry rules.

What success looks like

This MVP is measurable using finance ops metrics most teams already recognize:

• Cycle time: received → approved/postable
• Manual touches per invoice
• Exception rate and top exception causes
• Duplicate invoices prevented before posting/payment
• Percentage of invoices routed correctly without manual triage

Typical delivery plan

1. Map invoice sources and approval matrix
2. Implement extraction, validation, and dedupe on real sample invoices
3. Build approval routing rules and reminder/escalation paths
4. Connect export/sync to accounting and add posting audit logs
5. Launch with real invoices and iterate based on outcomes

Where we fit in

Flowtica builds and hardens this workflow so it is dependable. We start with one clearly defined process, integrate with your tools, and ship an MVP you can operate confidently. Once AP is stable, we can expand into adjacent finance workflows.

Discuss an AP automation MVP