Are manual financial processes consuming way too much of your team’s time? If you’re nodding your head yes right now, you’re definitely not alone. One way you can free up time is by using the built-in automation tools in Acumatica, the cloud ERP. Let’s start by taking a closer look at bank reconciliation and AP document processing.
Once you have an idea of which processes can be automated in your business, give our experts a call and they can help get things in motion for you.
The Bank Rec Blues
We’ve all been there, right? It’s month-end closing time. Your desk is covered with printed bank statements. You’re meticulously checking off transactions one by one, wondering if there’s a better way to spend your Thursday afternoon.
The Old-School Approach
If you’re still doing bank recs the traditional way in Acumatica, your process probably looks something like this:
- Downloading statements from your bank portal
- Attaching them as files in Acumatica
- Manually reviewing each line item
- Checking off cleared and reconciled items one…by…one
- Creating adjustment entries for any discrepancies
- Hoping you don’t miss anything in the process
It works, sure. But in 2025, “it works” isn’t really good enough anymore, is it?
Enter Automated Bank Reconciliations
Here’s where Acumatica really shines. Their automated reconciliation feature is like having a dedicated assistant who never complains about repetitive tasks. And honestly, who wouldn’t want that?
The system can import your bank transactions directly from multiple file formats:
- Excel spreadsheets (XLSX)
- OBX files
- QBO files (QuickBooks Online format)
- QFX files
You may ask, “how does it know which transactions match up?” Acumatica uses customizable transaction matching settings that you control. You can set parameters like:
- How many days before or after the bank transaction date to look for matches
- Whether to match by reference number, document date, or other criteria
- Relevance calculation settings for different transaction types
The really cool part is that you can define rules to completely automate handling recurring transactions. Those monthly bank fees that always post on the 15th? Set up a rule once, and Acumatica will create the document automatically going forward. Same for interest payments, standard transfers, or any predictable transaction.
Taking It a Step Further with Bank Feeds
If importing those files still feels like too much work (and honestly, why not eliminate every manual step possible?), Acumatica offers Bank Feeds as an add-on feature. This connects directly to your financial institutions through the Plaid network, automatically bringing in your transaction data without you lifting a finger.
Think about it – your bank transactions flow seamlessly into your accounting system, matching automatically against your records, with discrepancies flagged for review. That’s not just a time-saver; it’s a complete transformation of a process that has historically been a major pain point for finance teams.
Taming the AP Document Monster
Now let’s talk about another time-consuming process: accounts payable. If your team is still manually keying in invoice details, you’re not just wasting time – you’re introducing unnecessary risk of human error into your financial data.
The AP Document Recognition Revolution
Acumatica’s AP Document Recognition feature is optical character recognition (OCR) technology with a financial focus. It’s designed specifically to understand and extract data from invoices and other AP documents.
What makes this particularly powerful is the flexibility in how you can get documents into the system:
- Drag and drop: The most straightforward approach – just drag those PDF invoices right into Acumatica
- Monitored email box: Set up a dedicated email address where vendors can send invoices directly
- Outlook add-in: Process invoices right from your Outlook or Gmail
Let’s talk about that email monitoring option for a second, because it’s a game-changer. You can create a dedicated email address (something like invoices@yourcompany.com) and configure Acumatica to automatically process any documents sent there. Imagine telling your vendors, “Just email your invoices here,” and having them automatically entered into your system without any manual intervention. That’s not just efficiency; that’s working smarter.
The Magic of PO Matching
If you’re using purchase orders, the system gets even more powerful. Acumatica can automatically match incoming invoices to the corresponding purchase orders and receipts based on:
- Vendor information
- Inventory IDs
- Quantities and prices
Let’s highlight an important point here: for this to work optimally, you’ll want to make sure you’ve configured item cross-references on your stock items. This helps the system correctly identify products even when vendors use different item codes or descriptions than you do internally.
When everything matches up, Acumatica can automatically create the bill for payment. But what if something doesn’t match? The system has you covered there too, with alerts for scenarios like:
- Quantity billed exceeding the quantity on the original PO receipt
- Price discrepancies beyond acceptable thresholds
- Duplicate invoices (saving you from the headache of double payments)
The Real-World Impact
Let’s put this in perspective with some numbers. Say your company processes 500 invoices per month, and each one takes an average of 10 minutes to manually enter and validate. That’s 5,000 minutes or about 83 hours of work every month – more than two full work weeks for one employee!
With AP Document Recognition, that same volume might require just 15-20 hours of oversight and exception handling, freeing up significant resources for more strategic work.
Implementation Considerations: The Fine Print
Before you rush off to implement these features, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- AP Document Recognition is an optional feature that needs to be added to your Acumatica license
- Pricing is typically based on the number of documents processed per month
- For optimal PO matching, you’ll need to ensure your master data is clean and consistent
- Bank feeds integration requires additional setup with the Plaid network
- There may be a learning curve for your team as they adjust to the new processes
That said, the return on investment typically comes quickly. Most organizations see dramatic time savings within the first month of implementation.
Real People, Real Benefits
What I find most compelling about these features isn’t just the technical capabilities – it’s how they change people’s day-to-day work lives. Imagine your AP clerk who has been entering invoice data manually for years suddenly having time to analyze spending patterns or negotiate better terms with vendors. Or your accountant who dreads month-end closing because of bank reconciliations, now being able to complete the process in a fraction of the time with greater accuracy.
These automation features don’t just make processes more efficient; they transform roles from data processors to financial analysts and strategic contributors. And in today’s competitive business environment, that’s exactly the kind of transformation most companies are looking for.
Getting Started: Your Next Steps
If you’re intrigued by what you’ve read, here are some practical next steps:
- Evaluate your current processes and identify where your pain points are.
- Give us a call to discuss licensing options.
- Plan a phased implementation, perhaps starting with bank reconciliation automation and then moving to AP document recognition.
- Invest time in proper setup and training – automation works best when configured correctly from the start.
- Monitor results and continuously refine your settings for optimal performance.
Remember, automation isn’t about replacing people – it’s about freeing up time from all those tedious tasks so they can focus on work that adds greater value to your organization. With tools like these, your finance team can spend less time on data entry and more time on analysis and strategic decision support. The journey to automation is definitely worth taking, and with Acumatica’s robust feature set, you’ve got some powerful tools at your disposal.
Ready to make the leap by moving to bank reconciliation automation? I’d love to hear from you and help you succeed with this powerful feature! Contact me.
