In the fast-paced restaurant industry, efficiently managing invoices is crucial for increasing profitability and improving your operations. Automating that process is one of the easiest ways to maximize your performance and output. Simply scan your invoices, and let automation handle the rest – from receiving them to paying your vendors.
Traditional manual invoice processing can be time-consuming and prone to errors, diverting valuable resources from your core business activities. Embracing the automation of your invoice processing offers a transformative solution for restaurant operators, helping you save time, increase accuracy, and improve your bottom line.
How COGS-Well’s Automated Invoice Processing Works
Automating invoice processing streamlines the entire workflow from invoice collection to payment.
Here’s how the process typically works:
1. Invoice Collection and Data Extraction
Invoices are typically received in multiple formats, including paper invoices, PDFs, and electronic invoices sent directly by suppliers. There are two ways to automate invoice collection using COGS-Well: OCR and EDI.
COGS-Well uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to extract data from scanned invoices, converting text into structured, digital information. This eliminates the need for manual entry, including the invoice line item detail, into an inventory control and an accounts payable system. It saves time, increases accuracy, and speeds up the processing time.
For larger vendors that support Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), invoice data is transmitted directly from the supplier’s system to COGS-Well's inventory management system. Unlike OCR-based processing, EDI transfers structured data with high accuracy, ensuring that all invoice details – including line-item breakdowns, pricing, and quantities – are automatically imported. EDI also eliminates the need for manual entry of invoices.
“Before COGS-Well, invoices with the line-item details were being entered manually by our managers. COGS-Well’s invoice processing is providing enormous time savings. Our managers are no longer spending several hours per week behind their keyboards entering invoices.” – Rich Ortiz, Director of Finance, Buzz Hospitality, dba Ri Ra Group
2. Invoice Processing and Inventory Control
Once invoices are uploaded and digitized, the inventory line item detail updates COGS-Well’s inventory control system, which includes features for counting inventory, costing recipes, interfacing with POS systems, generating menu analytics, and analyzing variances. Inventory costs and usage quantities are always accurate and up to date.
COGS-Well also includes cost-tracking features, such as cost trend charts, alerts for price fluctuations, and purchase history. These insights help you monitor supplier costs over time and make more informed purchasing decisions.
3. Invoice Processing and Accounts Payable Integration
COGS-Well can also export processed invoice information, including an invoice image, directly to your Accounts Payable (AP) system. This information will already be coded to the proper expense accounts, eliminating all manual entry of invoice information into AP.
Integrating invoice processing with an AP system ensures seamless financial management and better cost control. It also eliminates manual data entry, reduces errors, and ensures that vendor payments are processed accurately and on time. No more sorting, recording, or mailing invoices – or coding expenses!
”Now, if a manager has returns or adjustments to an invoice, they can make a notation on the invoice and the invoice and their COGS are adjusted immediately. We used to enter credit memos in our GL, but this was not timely.” – Danielle Panikiewsky, Director of Finance, Playa Bowls
4. Ongoing Invoice Importing
To ensure a smooth, continuous workflow, COGS-Well imports new invoices multiple times per day. This ensures that the restaurant’s financial and inventory records are always up-to-date.
Conclusion
Automating invoice processing and using it in combination with COGS-Well’s inventory control is a game-changer for restaurant operators looking to improve efficiency, accuracy, and cost management. Automated invoice processing typically saves restaurant managers and the Accounts Payable team several hours per week.
The best part about automating invoice processing is how incredibly easy it is to implement. Place your invoices in a scanner, press start, and the rest of the process is automated, from inventory control through Accounts Payable.
“It all starts with invoice management because digitizing invoice data saves a significant amount of time and substantially lowers the error rate relative to manual entry of invoices.” - Will Strong, Senior Advisor, Andiamo! & 68 Degrees Kitchen Restaurants
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