A strong supply chain consisting of reliable sourcing partners accelerates the growth of successful enterprises. To build successful supplier relationships, each enterprise ensures to make fast payments for vendor invoices received. The vendor invoice can be divided primarily into PO invoices(having reference Purchase Order) and Non-PO Invoice(Vendor generated without any PO reference). To reduce average receipt-to-invoice cycle time, Accounts Payable teams use different digital tools such as ERP, A/P automation tools, and lately even ServiceNow to replicate invoice approval workflow. In this presentation, we will learn the difference between PO & Non-PO invoices, and understand the best practices to implement a successful invoice approval workflow process using the ServiceNow platform.

1. Best Practices:
Automating Invoice Approval Process for PO vs. Non-PO Invoices
Delivering the Future of Work Experience
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2. “23% of companies shared that non-PO invoice processing is one of their biggest pain areas. The remaining are still
figuring a way out to process PO-based invoices faster, as a part of their digital transformation.”
The accounts payable function need to ensure fast and accurate payments for each supplier
invoices received. The Invoice Approval Process is different for each invoice type.
When automating accounts payable it is critical to understand the difference between PO and
Non PO invoice.
The supplier invoice can be divided primarily into :
1. PO invoices(having reference Purchase Order)
2. Non-PO Invoice(Vendor generated without any PO reference).
2
INTRODUCTION

3. What is a Purchase Order Invoice?
• A PO (Purchase Order) invoice is the invoice raised by the vendor based on the purchase
order created by the buyer.
• PO invoices typically include purchase order number for purchases of direct goods or services.
And, we can find the all details of the supplier and requested goods or services.
• The PO invoice will be matched against the purchase order to ensure all details correspond. In
most cases, companies will perform a 3-way invoice matching to verify the PO invoice details
matches both the purchase order and the goods receipt
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PO Invoice Examples:
• Vendor Invoices with PO
• Vendor Contracts
• Normal Goods Invoice

4. What is a Non-PO Invoice?
• Non-PO invoices are those invoices raised by either the vendor that does not have a purchase
order associated with the invoice
• Sometimes Non-PO invoices are also used to make supplier payment when an invoice is under
direct spend budget/ limit.
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Non-PO Invoice Examples:
• Travel Reimbursement
• Mileage Reimbursement
• Miscellaneous Expenses
• Release Orders
• Service Invoices(from Service Sheets)

5. Difference between PO vs. Non-PO Invoices :
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PO Invoice Non-PO Invoice
1 A purchase order is associated with the
invoice raised.
A purchase order is not associated with the
invoice raised.
2 Primarily used for Direct Purchase or
Procurement
Primarily used for Indirect Procurement or
Purchase
3 The purchase order reference is pre-approved The invoice approval process is not pre-
approved and has prepared and Approver in
some cases.
4 Faster Invoice Approval & Processing Slower Invoice Approval & Processing
5 Greater transparency of the invoice payment
process
Less transparency of the invoice payment
process
6 All goods can be clubbed into a Single
Invoice
Can have multiple invoices
7 Ideally used for normal procurement Ideally, used during discretionary
spends(below tolerance limits) or emergency
procurement of goods or services

6. 6
Best Practices: Processing of PO Invoices
Responsibility of the
Preparer and Approver
to ensure that
transactions they submit
are correct and
compliant.
Read all warnings and
errors for each transaction
before submission.
Series of quality
assurance checks help
maintain accurate
data of purchase
orders to reduce errors

7. Best Practices: Processing of Non-PO Invoices
Procurement department
performs spot audits on Non-
PO Invoices to ensure
transactions are compliant
(i.e., items are not on the
exceptions list).
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Within each
department, define a
seamless workflow
between Preparers and
Approvers for Non-PO
Invoice payments.
Use of Intelligent
predictions for easy
invoice validation for
verifying and validating
non-PO invoices

8. Aavenir’s Invoiceflow to Rescue
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1. Pre-configured metadata identification of invoice number based on previous invoices from
the same supplier or cost center
1. Automatic distribution to the relevant approver based on the organization’s approval
hierarchy
1. Automatic approval by matching recurring invoices (such as a lease) to the payment plan in
a contract
● Aavenir’s Invoiceflow delivers faster AI-enabled invoice
processing with fewer touchpoints, reduced errors, and
more early payment discounts, thus improving the
vendor invoice processing.
● To know more about Aavenir Invoiceflow:
https://aavenir.com/accounts-payable-automation-
software-invoice-processing-servicenow/
To see Aavenir Invoiceflow live-in-action on ServiceNow
Schedule a Demo

9. Onward and Upwards
with Aavenir!
Thank You !
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