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Higher education institutions operate complex financial systems. A single school may process thousands of invoices each month from hundreds of different suppliers, and they come in different forms. Some are electronic, but many are still mailed, emailed, or sent as PDFs, often requiring manual data entry, routing, and approvals.
If you’re still handling this manually, it’s a significant administrative burden and makes it more challenging to maintain visibility into your spending. AP automation software helps colleges and universities streamline invoice processing, reduce manual work, and improve oversight. Yet, more than a quarter of institutions have no automation in place. According to the Institute of Financial Operations Leadership (IFOL), 73% of finance teams are still not fully automated.
AP automation software digitizes and automates the accounts payable process from invoice receipt through payment. Instead of manually entering invoice data and sending approval emails, the system captures invoices, extracts key information, routes approvals automatically, and records the full transaction history.
Invoice automation software uses optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence to read invoices and extract fields such as supplier name, invoice number, purchase order reference, and payment amount. The data is checked against purchase orders for matching and then flows into automated approval workflows. These workflows can route invoices to the correct department and trigger payment processing once approvals are complete.
Many universities operate with decentralized purchasing. Individual departments submit invoices independently, often through email attachments or shared drives. Finance staff must then collect these invoices, verify the information, and route them for approval. It creates a huge burden downstream:
AP automation software and Invoice automation software create a centralized digital workflow to resolve these challenges. Every action in the system is recorded, creating a complete audit trail, and allows finance leaders to monitor invoice volumes, approval timelines, and payment performance.
When implemented effectively, AP automation software can transform financial operations across campus.
Automated capture and approval workflows significantly reduce processing times, helping universities avoid late payments and improve supplier relationships. Forrester estimates that AI-driven AP automation can reduce invoice processing time by up to 70% and cut processing costs by up to 60%.
Automation eliminates repetitive tasks such as manual data entry, invoice routing, and document tracking.
Dashboards and reporting tools allow finance leaders to monitor outstanding invoices, track payment timelines, and analyze spending patterns across departments.
Digital audit trails ensure every invoice includes documentation of approvals, timestamps, and payment records.
Faster, more predictable payment cycles build stronger partnerships with suppliers supporting university operations.
Do your financial systems need an upgrade? If you’re seeing any of these signs, it may be time to think about a new approach:
E&I Cooperative Services is the only member-owned, nonprofit sourcing cooperative focused exclusively on education. More than 6,400 institutions rely on E&I contracts to streamline purchasing, reduce administrative burden, and access competitively solicited suppliers.
Through E&I’s cooperative contracts, you can explore solutions that support accounts payable modernization, including AP automation software and invoice automation software that improve efficiency across finance and procurement.
We recently concluded a competitive solicitation and added a new cooperative agreement with Corpay, a fully integrated AP automation platform with robust fraud prevention, vendor onboarding, and broad ERP integrations.
If you’re considering AP automation, check out the E&I contract for Corpay, and enjoy an exclusive rebate structure that can serve as a source of net new unrestricted revenue for institutions.