Logistics | AP Automation
How a 500-employee logistics firm cut invoice processing costs by 80% in 90 days using AI automation
Trusted by:
80%
Reduction in invoice processing costs
The challenge: drowning in paperwork at scale
Growth was becoming a bottleneck. As this logistics firm scaled past $40M in revenue, their Finance department was overwhelmed. They were receiving over 2,500 invoices monthly from hundreds of carriers, each in a different format (PDF, scanned images, email body text).
The manual data entry process was slow and error-prone. The AP team was spending 60 hours a week just keying in data. Worse, discrepancies between Invoices, Purchase Orders (POs), and Bills of Lading (BOLs) were slipping through the cracks, leading to overpayments and strained carrier relationships. The CFO lacked real-time visibility into liabilities, making cash flow forecasting a guessing game.
The strategy: a zero-disruption implementation
The client couldn’t afford downtime. They needed a solution that integrated with their existing ERP (NetSuite) without disrupting daily operations.
Bultein adopted a “Sandbox-First” methodology. We didn’t touch their live environment initially, instead, we mapped their entire AP workflow and built a mirror automation in a secure testing environment. We designed an intelligent workflow to handle the complexity of logistics invoices, specifically targeting “line-item” extraction for accessorial charges (fuel surcharges, detention fees) which traditional OCR tools often miss.
The solution: end-to-end intelligent automation
We deployed a fully autonomous AP agent that acts as a 24/7 digital worker:
- Multi-Channel Capture: The system monitors a dedicated AP email inbox. It instantly categorizes incoming attachments (Invoices, BOLs, Receipts).
- Cognitive Extraction (IDP): Using GPT, the system extracts critical data points (Vendor, Invoice #, Line Items, Total, Currency) with context-awareness, achieving accuracy levels superior to human entry.
- Automated 3-Way Matching: The automation queries NetSuite to find the corresponding PO and Proof of Delivery. It compares the amounts.
- If they match: The invoice is automatically created in NetSuite with status “Pending Payment.”
- If they don’t: The system alerts the specific account manager via Slack with a “Discrepancy Report” for one-click resolution.
Tech Stack
Key business outcomes
99.9% accuracy
24 hours
Approval cycle time (down from 2 weeks)
75% reduction
In cost per invoice processed
$140k / year
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