In this guest blog post, Anna Tujunen, Chief Product Officer at Dooap, shows how you can transform accounts payable from a transactional function into a strategic growth enabler by leveraging AI-driven automation and real-time insights with Microsoft and Dooap via Microsoft Marketplace.
In today’s fast-moving business landscape, finance leaders are under pressure to do more with less. Accounts payable (AP), once seen as a cost center bogged down by manual work, is being reimagined as a driver of efficiency and insight. And the catalyst for this change? Artificial intelligence.
Imagine an AP team that no longer spends hours typing invoice data, chasing approvals, or reconciling mismatched purchase orders. Instead, they’re spotting early payment opportunities, flagging fraud risks, and providing real-time insights into cash flow and supplier trends. This isn’t a future vision — it’s happening right now.
The problem: manual processes, hidden risks
AP has traditionally been slow and error prone. Manual data entry leads to mistakes. Three-way matching isn’t as common as wished, as vendors send invoices that don’t correspond to items or line information. Coding invoices requires both financial and business knowledge, and automation can be endless template maintenance. Approval workflows stall when the “right” approver cannot be determined as straightforwardly as some consultant planned it, and the system might prevent even the correct people accessing the needed information. Reporting often ends up lagging, because it’s stuck with whatever fields were originally set up in the ledger. And once you pile on too many dimensions in the accounting strings, it becomes difficult for users to handle. That’s when the data starts drifting, and suddenly the reporting isn’t useful anymore.
These inefficiencies don’t just frustrate finance teams; they limit business agility. Forecasts lose accuracy when the data is patchy, and small errors can snowball into big compliance or fraud risks. Also, things like delayed approvals can stall whole projects and strain vendor relationships.
Other considerations: new finance team skills, and AI AP agents
Technology alone isn’t enough. As AI transforms AP, finance professionals are stepping into new roles. Data literacy, architectural thinking, and clear communication with AI tools are becoming essential skills. Most importantly, leaders must guide their teams through change, building trust in automation and aligning finance strategy with business goals.
Looking ahead, AI could go even further. We’re entering the era of AI agents — autonomous systems capable of managing the entire invoice lifecycle, from intake to payment, with minimal human input. Unlike today’s rule-based workflows, these agents continuously learn, optimize, and integrate across ERP, procurement, and treasury. The result? End-to-end visibility, fewer silos, and smarter decision-making.
The solution: AI-powered AP automation
This is where Dooap, working together with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Azure, and Power BI, brings real impact. By embedding AI into AP processes, organizations can shift from reactive, manual work to proactive, insight-driven operations.
Here are some of the most transformative use cases:
- Intelligent data capture: AI-powered optical character recognition, large language models (LLMs), and machine learning eliminate manual invoice entry, while enriching invoices with any source information desired.
- Automated matching: AI handles the complexity of three-way matching, even when vendor charges don’t align neatly, flagging only true discrepancies for review.
- Predictive coding: Instead of rigid templates, AI suggests the right general ledger accounts, dimensions, and tax codes based on context, adapting automatically as structures change.
- Smart workflows: Approvals no longer rely on static rules. AI predicts the right approvers by analyzing invoice content and historical patterns, accelerating processing while maintaining compliance.
- Predictive analytics: From forecasting cash flow to identifying early payment discounts, AI turns AP into a strategic contributor to financial health.
- Fraud detection: Continuous learning models spot anomalies (duplicate invoices, inflated amounts, unusual timing) before they become costly risks.
- Enhanced reporting: With AI, reporting isn’t limited to coded fields. Finance leaders can now generate sustainability reports or vendor performance dashboards directly from invoice data, thanks to Microsoft Power BI.
Why customers should care
The value of AI in AP isn’t just faster invoice processing, it’s the shift from back-office efficiency to front-line strategy. When AP becomes automated, finance teams have the bandwidth to focus on high-value analysis and business partnering.
For example:
- A professional services firm using Dooap with Dynamics 365 Finance reduced invoice cycle times by 60 percent while giving CFOs real-time spend visibility.
- A global manufacturer leveraged Azure AI services to detect anomalies in supplier payments, preventing fraud and saving millions.
- Companies across industries are using invoice-level data to meet environmental, social, and governance standards and sustainability reporting requirements without adding manual burden.
The Microsoft + Dooap advantage
Dooap AP Automation in Microsoft Marketplace, natively integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, leverages Azure AI for intelligent invoice processing and Power BI for actionable insights. Together, they deliver a future-ready AP solution that helps organizations:
- Automate invoice processing with precision
- Improve compliance and fraud prevention
- Accelerate approvals without bottlenecks
- Unlock real-time insights for cash flow and sustainability reporting
This partnership turns AP into a competitive advantage — autonomous, intelligent, and aligned with your business strategy.
Building intelligent AP
Artificial intelligence is redefining the role of accounts payable in modern finance. By combining Dooap with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure, and Power BI, organizations can move beyond cost savings to unlock strategic value, transforming AP from a transactional function into a growth enabler.
Now is the time to rethink AP. Because in the AI era, the businesses that thrive won’t be the ones that process invoices fastest — they’ll be the ones that turn AP into intelligence.
Learn more about Dooap’s AI-driven AP automation and how it integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance.
How will artificial intelligence change accounts payable? Download our white paper to learn more.
