The Challenge
A financial services firm processed over 500 invoices and contracts per month. Each document arrived via email, was manually reviewed by a team member, had key data points extracted and entered into their accounting system, then was routed to the appropriate approver. The entire process took an average of 72 hours per document.
During peak periods, the backlog grew to over a week. Late payments incurred penalties. Contracts sat unsigned. And the processing team was stretched thin, leading to extraction errors that created downstream accounting issues.
Our Approach
We built an end-to-end document processing pipeline that handles the entire workflow from intake to approval:
- Intelligent Intake: Documents arriving via email are automatically classified (invoice, contract, purchase order, etc.) and queued for processing. No manual sorting required.
- AI Data Extraction: Custom-trained models extract key fields (vendor name, amounts, dates, line items, contract terms) with 94% accuracy on first pass.
- Smart Routing: Based on document type, amount, and vendor, documents are automatically routed to the correct approver with pre-populated approval forms.
- Exception Handling: Low-confidence extractions are flagged for human review with the AI's best guess pre-filled, turning a 10-minute manual task into a 30-second verification.
The Technology
The system uses Azure AI Document Intelligence for OCR and field extraction, with custom fine-tuned models for the client's specific document formats. The workflow engine runs on Azure Logic Apps with custom connectors to their accounting platform. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Results
- 500+ documents processed monthly: With no increase in staff
- 94% extraction accuracy: On first pass, with human review catching the remaining 6%
- 72-hour delays eliminated: Average processing time dropped from 3 days to under 4 hours
- Zero late payment penalties: Since deployment, the firm has not incurred a single late payment fee
What This Means
Document processing is one of the highest-ROI automation opportunities in financial services. The combination of AI extraction and intelligent routing transforms a labor-intensive bottleneck into a streamlined, near-real-time process.