Is your finance team still chasing paper invoices, manually typing out supplier details or trawling through email threads for approvals? Then it’s time to rethink things. Modern finance teams need more efficient ways to manage supplier invoices – and that’s where invoice automation comes in.
Invoice automation software does away with the tedious admin, reduces errors and helps you keep tighter control over business spend. In short, today’s platforms offer everything you need to take the headache out of accounts payable.
In this article, we’ll explore the tools enhancing invoice automation in 2025 – and what you should look for when choosing software for your business.
Key takeaways:
- Invoice automation tools save time, reduce errors and improve financial control by replacing manual, error-prone processes with streamlined, digital workflows.
- Modern platforms go beyond data capture, offering everything from approval workflows and real-time spend visibility to seamless accounting integrations and built-in compliance features.
- Choosing the right tool means prioritising ease of use, strong integrations and clear business value to ensure it scales with your needs and delivers tangible time and cost savings.
What is invoice automation?
Invoice automation tools are digital solutions that help businesses capture, process, approve and pay invoices without the manual hassle.
Managing supplier invoices used to mean sifting through email attachments, chasing paper approvals, keying data into finance systems and manually double-checking spreadsheets for errors – a process as slow and tedious as it was prone to mistakes.
All of that, however, is a thing of the past. Enter modern invoice automation: digital tools that take care of these manual steps for you. They capture invoice details automatically, route them to the right people for approval, match them to purchase orders and schedule payments – all whilst keeping a clear digital audit trail.
The result? Faster processing times, fewer errors and better control over business cash flow. In other words, there are plenty of reasons to jump on the bandwagon.
In 2025, the ecosystem of invoice automation solutions is growing rapidly. Some focus purely on capturing and extracting data, whilst others combine invoice management with spend controls, approvals and payment workflows in one easy-to-use platform.
These tools don’t just save time: they help businesses improve accuracy, gain real-time visibility over their supplier spend and make smarter, data-driven financial decisions.
If you haven’t explored what modern invoice automation tools can do for your finance team, now’s the perfect time to get into it!
Approval workflow and spend management platforms
Once an invoice lands, it needs to be checked, approved and signed off before payment. Approval workflow and spend management platforms make this process fast, simple and transparent.
These tools route invoices to the right people, apply company spend policies and give finance teams full control over what’s being spent and why. In short, they help you stay in control of every penny going out the door.
1. Pleo
With more than 1,480 five star reviews, Pleo is Europe’s most loved and trusted spend management platform, combining expense management with an end-to-end invoicing solution.
Capture, process, approve, pay and bookkeep your invoices – with Pleo’s invoice management, you can do it all in one place. Save time on tedious tasks, automate approval processes and track invoices in real time.
No more chasing invoices, no more complicated approval processes, no more messy spreadsheets. Simplify invoicing for everyone – finance teams, bookkeepers and employees alike.
Pleo pros:
- Ease of use
- Seamless integrations
- Easy upload
- Expense management
- Simplicity
Source: G2
Want more proof? Look no further than this G2 review from IT Administrator Jakob D.:
“[Pleo] reduces admin overhead with automated receipt capture, real-time expense tracking, and a clean, user-friendly interface. Spending limits and policy controls are easy to configure, making it simple to empower teams while maintaining oversight. Integration with accounting systems is straightforward and effective.”
Invoice capture and data extraction tools
Before you can process or approve an invoice, you need to get the data out of it. That’s where invoice capture and extraction tools come in. These clever solutions automatically pull key details – such as invoice numbers, dates, supplier names and amounts – from PDFs, scans and emails, turning messy documents into clean, usable data in seconds.
Some tools, like Pleo, come with these functions built in, whilst others specialise in high-volume or complex document processing.
2. Rossum
Rossum transforms the tedious task of invoice data entry into a streamlined, intelligent workflow. The tool’s AI ‘reads’ documents like a human, automatically extracting header fields, line items and totals across diverse formats.
Using a ‘human-in-the-loop’ approach, Rossum learns from user corrections, boosting accuracy and enabling confident automation. It can process thousands of invoices in minutes, freeing up time and reducing manual effort dramatically.
Rossum pros:
- Customer support
- Ease of use
- AI technology
- Automation
- Efficiency improvement
Source: G2
3. Klippa
Klippa is an AI-powered OCR and invoice data extraction tool that turns PDFs, scans or mobile photos into structured invoice data – fast, easy and with 99% accuracy. It doesn’t just recognise header details like supplier, date and amounts, but also full line items and VAT codes.
The tool is designed for global teams and supports multiple languages and currencies. It offers APIs and SDKs for easy integration with ERPs and accounting software.
Klippa pros:
- AI technology
- Ease of use
- OCR features and technology
- Workflow management
Source: G2
Accounts payable (AP) software
Processing invoices manually is slow, error-prone and a headache for finance teams. Accounts payable (AP) software takes care of the heavy lifting, handling everything from invoice capture and approvals to payment scheduling and reconciliation.
AP tools speed up the entire process, cut down on admin and help you stay on top of supplier payments without breaking a sweat.
4. Tipalti
Tipalti is built for businesses managing high volumes of supplier payments – especially across international markets. It handles the entire payment process from invoice capture and approval to tax compliance and global payouts.
Supporting multiple payment methods like ACH, wire transfers, PayPal and prepaid cards, Tipalti takes the complexity out of cross-border payments and keeps supplier transactions running smoothly.
Tipalti pros:
- Ease of use
- Customer support
- Payment processing
- Efficiency
- Time-saving
Source: G2
5. Airbase
Airbase is a comprehensive spend management platform that combines AP automation, corporate cards and employee expense management in one solution. It handles everything from invoice capture and approval workflows to payment scheduling and accounting sync.
Designed for growing and mid-market businesses, Airbase helps finance teams gain real-time visibility, enforce spend controls and automate tedious AP tasks – all from a single, easy-to-use platform.
Airbase pros:
- Ease of use
- Intuitive
- Time-saving
- Expense management
- Efficiency
Source: G2
ERP and accounting integrations
No invoice automation setup is complete without connecting to your core finance system. ERP and accounting integrations ensure all your approved invoices, payments and financial data sync seamlessly into your accounting software or ERP.
These integrations are built to keep your books accurate, up-to-date and audit ready.
6. Xero
Xero is a popular cloud-based accounting platform built for small and medium-sized businesses. Known for its clean, intuitive interface and strong integration ecosystem, it offers built-in invoicing features alongside tools for payroll, reporting and cash flow management.
The platform connects effortlessly with solutions like Pleo, making it easy to automate invoice capture, approvals and payments whilst keeping your accounts perfectly in sync.
Xero pros:
- Ease of use
- Easy integrations
- Reporting
- Time-saving
Source: G2
7. QuickBooks
QuickBooks – especially QuickBooks Online – is a go-to cloud accounting solution for small businesses and growing companies. It covers everything from invoicing and payroll to financial reporting, with a huge library of integrations.
The solution works smoothly with tools like Pleo to automate invoice approvals, match payments and keep your accounting records accurate and up to date.
QuickBooks pros:
- Ease of use
- Invoice management
- Accounting management
- Intuitive
- Easy access
Source: G2
Compliance and audit trail tools
When it comes to finance, visibility and accountability are everything – and that’s why compliance and audit trail tools are so handy. From capture to approval to payment, these tools track every action taken on an invoice.
They create a clear, searchable record, making it easy to meet tax, audit and regulatory requirements whilst giving finance peace of mind that nothing slips through the cracks.
8. ComplyAdvantage
ComplyAdvantage helps businesses stay compliant by automatically screening suppliers, partners and transactions against global sanctions lists, watchlists and adverse media.
It plugs into payment and invoice workflows to flag high-risk entities in real time, reducing the risk of financial crime and regulatory breaches – a great tool for businesses handling international payments or working in regulated sectors.
ComplyAdvantage pros:
- User experience
- Compliance
- Comprehensive coverage
- Customer support
- Features
Source: G2
What to look for in an invoice automation tool
There are many invoice automation tools on the market – but not all solutions are the right fit for your business.
Here are some key elements to consider when choosing your invoice automation software:
- Smart invoice capture: Manual data entry should be a thing of the past. Look for AI-powered OCR or data extraction that can pull key details from PDFs, scans or images.
- Seamless approval workflows: Your tool should route invoices to the right people, apply spend policies and track approvals in real time. Look for a tool with built-in approval flows and custom policy controls.
- Real-time spend visibility: Look for live spend tracking and reporting. The best solutions give you instant oversight of what’s being spent, where it’s spent and why – before the money leaves your account.
- ERP and accounting integrations: The tool should sync smoothly with your accounting software (like Xero or QuickBooks) to keep your books accurate and up to date.
- Ease of use: Finance tools should simplify your processes, not add to the admin. Prioritise platforms with a clean, intuitive interface that your team can pick up quickly.
- Business needs: Make sure the solution scales with your business and supports the specific workflows you need, whether you’re handling a handful of invoices or hundreds.
- Good value for money: Look for a tool that delivers measurable time savings, reduces errors and cuts admin costs – without breaking the bank.
You might also be interested in: 9 tools to streamline your e-invoicing in 2025
Final thoughts
Invoice automation is more than a finance department upgrade – it’s a smart business move. The right tools don’t just save time and reduce errors: they improve visibility, strengthen financial control and give your teams more time to focus on strategic, value-adding work.
Whether you’re after simple invoice capture, end-to-end AP automation or a complete spend management platform like Pleo, there’s a solution out there that’s the perfect fit for your business and budget.
