Gartner defines the accounts payable applications market as cloud-based applications that enable corporate controllers and their teams to automatically manage supplier invoice processing, facilitate payments and support supplier master data management across one or more ERP applications. Organizations use accounts payable applications to improve their supplier invoice processing, payments and supplier master data management activities. They allow organizations to efficiently and confidently pay supplier invoices. These applications are modular cloud-based tools that customers can configure to deliver standard processes and integrate with one or more ERP applications. Additionally, they integrate with other operational tools, such as source-to-pay suites, partner networks, banks and payment service providers, while creating flexibility for suppliers to deliver supplier invoices. An example would be the collection and processing of supplier invoices using a digital mailroom, whereby data (structured and unstructured) is extracted from scanned documents and validated prior to approval for payment.
Gartner defines intelligent document processing (IDP) solutions as specialized data integration tools that enable automated extraction of data from multiple formats and various layouts of document content. IDP solutions ingest data for dependent applications and workflows and can be provided as a software product and/or as a service. Organizations receive and process documents in multiple formats to enable activities such as onboarding new suppliers, receiving applications for loans or insurance claims. This results in large volumes of documents, the content of which is designed for human comprehension rather than machine processing. Extracting data from content is essential for document processing and the automated activities this supports. IDP solutions fulfill this role, augmented by and potentially replacing people. Documents are received in physical form, typically paper, which must be scanned for digitization, or in digital form, such as emails and PDFs. The content of these documents has varying layouts, ranging from structured formats, such as tabular or outline (e.g., list or hierarchy of headings) or invoices or contracts, to unstructured formats (i.e., free-flowing, such as an email). Layouts that fall between structured and unstructured, or mixing the two, are often referred to as semistructured.