The problem
Accounts payable is a control sensitive process that is also highly repetitive. Automating it carelessly is how companies end up with faster payments and weaker controls at the same time, which is a bad trade.
The approach
I mapped the AP cycle and identified which steps are clerical (capture, coding suggestions, routing, matching, status chasing) and which are control steps that must stay with an authorized person (approval, exception resolution, vendor master changes). Automation was applied only to the clerical steps. Approval thresholds, segregation of duties, and the vendor master remained human controlled, and the automation produces the evidence an auditor would ask for rather than obscuring it.
Tools
What it enables
- Invoices move through capture, coding, and routing without manual handoffs.
- Approvers see what they need to decide instead of chasing documents.
- Segregation of duties and approval authority are unchanged.
My role
I mapped the process, drew the line between clerical and control steps, built the workflows, and documented the control design for audit.