Many SMEs still receive their supplier invoices by postal mail or PDF email. Then someone manually enters them into Excel or the accounting software. It works... until the volume increases and errors pile up.
👉 Result:
- time-consuming re-entry,
- input errors and duplicates,
- late payment penalties,
- loss of visibility on financial commitments..
Manual supplier invoice management: the hidden cost for SMEs
Managing supplier invoices manually represents an invisible burden on your profitability :
- Time lost every week: opening emails, downloading PDFs, re-entering data, checking, validating, paying... then starting over.
- Frequent errors: wrong amount, incorrect date, invoice entered twice or forgotten.
- Late payment penalties: an invoice lost in emails costs you fees and damages your supplier relationships.
- No clear visibility: impossible to quickly know how much you really owe and when.
But the real problem is the domino effect: an incorrectly entered invoice distorts your cash flow forecasts, a late payment damages your reputation, your accountant spends time correcting instead of analyzing.
Odoo for SMEs: supplier invoice digitalization from A to Z
With Odoo, you centralize the receipt, validation and payment of all your supplier invoices in a single digital environment. No more re-entry, no more forgetting: everything is automated, tracked and compliant.
✅ Automatic receipt and digitization
- Dedicated email: your suppliers send their invoices to a unique email address that automatically integrates them into Odoo
- Intelligent OCR with AI: automatic extraction of supplier, amount, due date, reference and VAT.
- Swiss QR-bill support: automatic recognition of QR codes for simplified payment..
- Linked attachments: automatic preservation of the original PDF for audit and compliance.
(No more scanning, renaming, filing: everything arrives directly in the right place)
✅ Intelligent validation and workflow
- Customizable validation workflow: define who validates what according to amounts and categories.
- Automatic notifications: validators receive invoices to approve directly in their interface.
- Budget control: alert if an invoice exceeds the budget allocated to the project or service.
- Automatic matching: reconciliation with purchase orders and delivery notes to avoid duplicates.
(You validate from your smartphone in 30 seconds, even on the go)
✅ Simplified accounting and payment
- One-click accounting: automatic generation of accounting entries according to your Swiss chart of accounts.
- Grouped payments: multiple invoice selection and pain.001 file generation for your bank.
- Automatic bank reconciliation: your payments are automatically reconciled with bank statements.
- Cash flow dashboard: visualize in real time what you owe and when, to optimize your cash flow.
(No more cash flow surprises: you always know where you stand)
Odoo 19 : new features for supplier invoice management
La version 19 (septembre 2025) franchit un cap décisif :
- Advanced generative AI: even more precise data extraction, even on handwritten or poorly scanned invoices.
- Predictive analysis: accounting category suggestions based on history and anomaly detection (unusual amounts, potential duplicates).
- Redesigned mobile interface: invoice validation directly from your smartphone, even on the go.
- ESG module (sustainability reporting): carbon footprint tracking of your purchases for environmental reporting.
- Professional expense card: automatic integration of employee expenses in the same flow.
ROI calculation: what does manual invoice management really cost?
Let's take the case of a typical Swiss SME. An administrative assistant at CHF 70,000 gross represents approximately CHF 85,000 in employer costs including social charges. In most SMEs we support, this person dedicates between 20% and 30% of their time to supplier invoices: opening emails, downloading PDFs, checking, re-entering, validating, paying, archiving. That's 8 to 12 hours per week, for an annual cost of approximately CHF 21,000
With Odoo, this time is drastically reduced thanks to automatic receipt, OCR, digital workflows and payments in just a few clicks. Time dedicated to supplier invoices drops to 5-10%, or 2 to 4 hours per week. The annual cost falls to approximately CHF 6,400.
The savings? Nearly CHF 15,000 per year. But above all, these 6 to 8 hours freed up each week can be reinvested in activities with real added value: customer follow-up, sales support, process improvement. Not to mention the elimination of late payment penalties, error reduction, and the peace of mind of having a clear view of your financial commitments.
Concrete benefits of Odoo for supplier invoice management in your SME
- 💰 Immediate time savings: what used to take half a day per week now takes less than an hour.
- 🎯 Financial management: real-time visibility on your commitments and cash flow forecasts. You anticipate instead of reacting.
- ✅ Compliance: compliance with highest standards, complete traceability for audits, integrated legal archiving.
- 📈 Supplier relationships: you pay on time, you negotiate better, you're a reliable customer.
Supplier invoice automation: free up time to manage your SME
Beyond operational gains, the real value of Odoo for your supplier invoices is peace of mind.
You're no longer in firefighting mode managing emergencies and correcting errors. You're in pilot mode: you see ahead, you decide, you optimize.
While your team spends less time on administration, you can focus on what really grows your business: your customers, your strategy, your development.
👉Still processing your invoices manually?
Contact us for a free audit of your supplier invoice workflow and find out how much you could save.
👉 At DHAC, we support Swiss SMEs in this digital transition, with Odoo as a growth partner.