Manual invoice entry is the slowest and most error-prone part of accounts payable. Someone opens a PDF, reads the numbers, types them into the ERP, checks them, and routes the invoice for approval. Multiply that by a few thousand invoices a month and it becomes a full-time job that adds no value and plenty of risk.
The good news: most of it can go away. In Microsoft Dynamics 365, invoice processing automation can run inside the ERP itself, so invoices are captured, coded, matched, and routed with little or no keying. This guide walks through how finance teams get there, step by step, whether they run Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations or Business Central.
Why manual invoice entry costs more than it looks
The obvious cost is time. The hidden costs are worse. Manual keying introduces errors that trigger rework and payment disputes. Slow entry delays approvals, which means missed early-payment discounts and late-payment penalties. And a process that lives in spreadsheets and inboxes leaves little audit trail, so period close and audits take longer than they should.
Accounts payable automation removes those costs at the source. The target is simple: get the invoice into Dynamics 365 with the right data, coded and matched, without a person typing it.
The goal: invoice processing automation inside your ERP
There are two ways to automate AP in Dynamics 365. You can bolt on a separate cloud platform that syncs data back to the ERP, or you can run automation embedded inside D365, using the same data, security, and interface you already have.
Embedded wins for finance teams that value control. There is no second system to maintain, no data copied between platforms, and no separate login for your AP team. This is the approach Truvio AP Automation takes. It is built inside Dynamics 365, available for both Finance & Operations and Business Central, and was previously known as ExFlow. The steps below describe how that kind of embedded automation reduces manual data entry from capture to posting.
Step 1: Capture every invoice automatically
Manual data entry reduction starts at the front door. Instead of downloading and keying invoices, set up multi-channel capture so invoices arrive and read themselves.
A capable setup handles PDFs, scanned images, EDI, and e-invoicing formats like PEPPOL, and extracts header and line-level data automatically. The system should read complex layouts, including multi-page and multi-line invoices, and it should get more accurate over time by learning from the corrections your team makes. Done well, this single step removes the bulk of manual typing before any human touches the invoice.
Step 2: Auto-code and match invoices
Once the data is captured, the next drain on time is coding and matching. Automation handles both.
For PO invoices, two-way and three-way matching confirms the invoice against the order and receipt without manual checking. For non-PO invoices, pre-coding applies the right ledger accounts, dimensions, and projects based on business rules and past behavior. Machine learning that studies previous coding decisions means recurring invoices, like leases and utilities, can be coded and approved with no manual entry at all. This is where financial workflow optimization starts to compound, because every automated decision is one your team no longer makes by hand.
Step 3: Route approvals without leaving Dynamics
Approval is where invoices usually stall. The fix is dynamic routing that sends each invoice to the right approver automatically, based on amount, account, dimension, or PO match result.
Approvers should not need to log into the ERP. Web and mobile approval lets them review and approve in a few clicks on any device, while every action is logged inside Dynamics 365 for a clean audit trail. Good ERP integration means the approval route can update itself in real time when an approver changes an account or dimension, so the workflow adapts instead of breaking.
Step 4: Handle exceptions cleanly
Automation is easy when every invoice is perfect. The real test is exceptions: a price variance, a missing receipt, a misclassified invoice. This is where weaker tools fall back on manual handling.
Strong AP automation gives you rules for this. Tolerance matching approves small variances automatically. Invoices that need attention go on hold with a clear reason and route to the right person. Misclassified invoices can be corrected in a few clicks rather than reversed and re-entered. And because the system learns from each correction, the same exception happens less often next time.
Step 5: Post, report, and prove control
The final step closes the loop. Approved invoices post automatically, and real-time Power BI dashboards give AP managers and the CFO live visibility into volumes, cycle times, exceptions, and approval turnaround. Because the whole process ran inside Dynamics 365, traceability is built in, which shortens audit preparation and strengthens financial control.
What good looks like
These steps are not theoretical. In an independent value study developed by Avanade, embedded AP automation in Dynamics 365 delivered up to a 76 percent reduction in invoice processing time compared with standard F&O, freeing AP staff to move into higher-value work. You can see the full findings in the Avanade AP Automation Value Report.
Bringing it together
Cutting AP data entry in Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a sequence, not a single switch: capture automatically, code and match with rules, route approvals dynamically, handle exceptions intelligently, then post and report with full visibility. Each step removes manual work and adds control.
Truvio AP Automation brings all five together inside Dynamics 365, for both Finance & Operations and Business Central, so finance teams stop keying invoices and start managing exceptions instead.
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