From a zoomed out view, all accounts payable automation looks pretty similar. At the ISV Society GP Demo Day, the Fidesic presentation zoomed in on what sets Fidesic apart, which is invoice capture and GL coding that draws on the data already living in Dynamics GP.
Many teams are also under pressure from above to use more AI in the business. Capture and coding is an easy place to start, because it puts AI to work on a task every AP team already does.
Built by people who know GP
The presenter has been part of the Dynamics community for more than 16 years, starting with GP 9. Fidesic has been in the GP scene even longer. That history shapes the product, which focuses on specific problems GP users face, including the need to automatically GL code invoices.
How the invoice flow works
Invoices are received into the system, data is captured, and invoices are routed out for approval through a full web interface. Fidesic also integrates directly with GP.
The key idea is that every one of these stages flows back to the capture side. Capture uses the approvals, the adjustments and the GP data your team has collected and keyed for years. That is what allows capture to go beyond commodity OCR, where a PDF goes in, data gets scraped off it, and a person still has to code the invoice and make sure it reaches the right approver.
Your GP data, synced automatically
Fidesic connects to a live GP environment and syncs the base data that powers capture:
- Vendors in real time, including any vendor default codes set up in GP
- Your full chart of accounts
- Terms and tax IDs
- Location codes, which work alongside Binary Stream's Multi-Entity Management or any other multi entity tool
- Payments sent offline
There is nothing to maintain. Teams keep using GP as they always have and the data stays in sync. Invoices usually come in through a dedicated email address. It is the best way to submit them, though not the only way.
Six signals behind every coded invoice
Capture combines six decision points when it codes an invoice.
- Vendor defaults. The base level. If default codes are set up in GP, capture uses them as a reference point.
- Invoice history. A block of historical invoices and their coding is synced, so the AI agent can reference past invoices alongside vendor defaults. This works for PO driven and non PO invoices.
- Recurring purchase lines. Familiar to Business Central users, these are set up per vendor as the system is used and added to the list of possible defaults. This is one way the system learns.
- Line level detail. Details scraped from the line items on the PDF serve as a reference.
- Handwritten GL codes. Plenty of teams still write codes on invoices before scanning them. When capture sees one, it picks it up automatically.
- Location. Capture understands the relationship between each facility, the chart of accounts and the configured defaults, then codes dynamically from the ship to address.
A full PO match sits on top as another layer. It references the PO and its received lines and integrates with GP.
The result looks a lot like how a human thinks. An AP clerk weighs these same things when coding an invoice, and capture collapses all of it into one step. The first time an invoice comes back from the capture engine, the coding is already loaded.
Rules and AI working together
Coding combines rules you set with AI analysis. You can set rules such as how a particular vendor should always be coded, leave flexibility for the AI agent, always use recurring purchase lines when they apply, or always use vendor defaults when they are available. Capture options also cover sales tax and freight.
Anything AI based comes with an explanation. At the line level you can see why the AI agent coded the invoice the way it did.
Four examples from the demo
- Single line. Capture read the ship to address, matched it to a location, and swapped the first segment of the vendor's default GL code to fit that location. It is the same thing a regular AP clerk would do.
- Different region. An invoice shipped to another region had its first segment set to a different code. No one had to touch it.
- Stamped override. Someone stamped an invoice with the account it should go to, overriding the analysis. Capture simply assigned it. Fidesic does not need to break an existing process like this.
- Tax and freight. On a more complex invoice, capture pulled out specific tax and freight amounts and assigned them to the freight and tax GL accounts in GP. These sync across the payables and purchasing modules. It also picked the associated tax ID and read the line item data. In the demo every line ended up with the same code. When real invoices vary, the system learns from receiving, approving and processing invoices.
Going further
Once a team is comfortable with capture, Fidesic also offers agent approval and agent authorization on invoices. That means invoices can be coded and then sent through the approval process.
Location specific submission addresses are another situation that tends to be fuzzy. When most invoices follow one rule and the rest need a different one, both cases are handled. It is not an either or, and that is what the AI agents are for.
Committed to GP
Fidesic is a member of the Knights of GP as a Preferred ISV, and is committed to GP for the next ten plus years.