“Straight-through processing” means an invoice travels the whole way from intake to handover to accounting or the ERP without anyone touching it. The goal here is not to process every invoice this way – but the right ones. An invoice may run through automatically only if it passes a series of checks:
- Duplicate check: same supplier, same invoice number – the legal duplicate
- Arithmetical accuracy of the line items and totals
- Completeness of the mandatory details – for e-invoices, the formal structure as well
- Matching against the master data: known supplier, plausible assignment, budget covered
Anything that fails a check lands in clearing – with the document, the extracted data and the check results side by side, so the case can be resolved in a few clicks. The measure of good automation is therefore not “100 per cent straight-through”, but: how little time does the rest cost?
Please note: this article reflects the legal position and administrative guidance as at the date stated and is no substitute for tax or legal advice.