How to increase Customer Capacity and Margin in Accounting and Procurement
Many mid-size accounting teams and procurement departments are still tied to manual invoice and receipt processing. Staff key in data from paper or PDFs, reconcile documents by hand, and hunt through archives for missing information. This old paradigm drags down efficiency.
Industry data underscore the burden: one survey found 68% of organizations still manually key invoices into their systems, at an average cost of roughly $15 per invoice (often $12–$40 in labor cost).
Nearly 40% of those invoices contain errors requiring rework . Over half of U.S. finance teams report spending 10+ hours per week on routine AP tasks.
In concrete terms, many firms end up hiring one extra bookkeeper or accountant for every few dozen clients simply to keep up with data entry. Left unchecked, these costs accumulate: 60% of firms process more than 1,000 invoices per month, multiplying wasted hours and cutting into margins.
The toll of manual work is visible in everyday tasks. Accountants often shuffle physical receipts and checks, matching them to invoices on screen – a process that eats minutes on each transaction. In fact, enterprise surveys show that finding a needed document can consume about 18 minutes on average. Cumulatively, these delays stack up to weeks of processing time: one study found the average manual invoice sits ~15 days in the pipeline. Errors and delays also translate to costs: nearly one-third of companies experience vendor friction or late-payment fees due to processing lags. In short, manual workflows become a hidden tax on revenue. They not only drive headcount costs, but erode client satisfaction and working capital.
Quantifying Productivity Gains and ROI
Automation of document processing directly tackles these inefficiencies.
For example, automating 7 minutes of data entry per invoice and 5 minutes per document search has an outsized impact on capacity. In practice, an AI solution like DoDocs.ai’s Invoice MatchPoint can handle what used to take minutes. DoDocs.ai’s platform “does precise data extraction from invoices, receipts in any formats” and converts them into structured tables for import, effectively turning manual entry into an instant process.
To see the scale, consider a mid-size firm with 100 active business clients, each generating ~100 invoices per year.
Manually, data-entering those 10,000 invoices would take about 1,167 staff-hours (at 7 min each). Automating that at 7 min saved per invoice alone reclaims ~19 full work-weeks. Add savings from faster document lookup (another ~833 hours at 5 min/search, assuming one lookup per invoice), and the total hits ~2,000 hours freed annually. At a loaded labor rate of ~$50/hour, that equates to roughly $100,000 in avoided labor cost.
Even if the software costs $10–20k per year, the payback is measured in a few months; industry case studies show similar automation projects breaking even in under half a year.
A simple model illustrates the returns across firm sizes:
50 clients: ~5,000 invoices/year. Automation reclaims ~583 entry-hours + ~417 search-hours = ~1,000 hours saved per year (≈$50k at $50/hr; ~0.5 FTE-year).
100 clients: ~10,000 invoices/year. 2,000 hours saved ($100k; ~1.0 FTE-year).
200 clients: ~20,000 invoices/year. 4,000 hours saved ($200k; ~2.0 FTE-years).
These savings directly translate to margin lift. For instance, simply eliminating a $15 labor cost on 10,000 invoices saves $150k/year. Industry analysts estimate intelligent automation can reduce AP process costs by 25–40% on average. In practice, firms using AI capture over 99% accuracy in invoice data, slashing error-related rework. In one example, a company that automated contract review saved €312k annually (over $330k) and recouped its investment in ~4 months. Similar math applies to accounting: automating 7 minutes of entry plus 5 minutes of search per invoice generates quick, large ROI.
ROI Example
Baseline: 100 clients × 100 invoices/year = 10,000 invoices. Manual processing cost ≈ 10,000×$15 = $150,000.
Automation savings: 7 min saved/invoice ⇒ ~1,167 hours (worth ~$58k). 5 min saved/search ⇒ 833 hours ($42k). Total 2,000 hours ($100k).
Capacity impact: ~2,000 hours ≈ 1.0 full-time equivalent saved. If the firm otherwise hires 1 FTE per 5 clients (20 FTE for 100 clients), automation defers roughly one new hire, while serving the same clients.
Breakeven: If DoDocs.ai costs, say, $10k/year, the first month already delivers tens of thousands in value.
In sum, every minute shaved off invoice entry and document retrieval compounds into substantial time and cost savings. DoDocs.ai’s technology makes this scalable: its AI “analyzes it and structures the data in a format of a table” for quick export into accounting systems, eliminating the need for manual keystrokes.
Reducing the Headcount Burden
Perhaps the most tangible payoff of these efficiencies is in headcount planning. Accounting firms typically staff roughly one FTE per five ongoing clients.
In our model, a 50-client firm might employ ~10 staff to manage books; a 100-client firm about 20, and so on. Automation reshapes this ratio. For example, our 100-client scenario freed the work of ~1 FTE per year, meaning the firm could absorb an additional 5–10 clients without needing a new hire. A 200-client firm gains ~2 FTEs of capacity, covering the workload of 10–20 more clients. Over time, these gains build up.
This effect is widely noted by practitioners. As one industry panel put it, “Accounting firms and finance departments are suffering from capacity issues — there are not enough accountants to get the work done.” Automating routine tasks directly addresses that gap. Even piecemeal automations make a big difference: “All of this together… can really help alleviate capacity issues in your firm,” one expert observed. In other words, the sum of many small time-savings frees significant bandwidth. In cost terms, reducing FTE needs by even a few percent on a $3–5M payroll can improve operating margins substantially.
For finance and procurement managers, the bottom line is clear: document automation multiplies the productivity of existing staff. Each analyst or AP clerk can handle more transactions, reducing the need to add headcount as the client base or invoice volume grows. This creates a virtuous cycle of profitability: firms can scale revenue without scaling costs.
Unlocking Advisory and Growth Opportunities
Crucially, the time freed by DoDocs.ai is not simply “saved” – it can be reinvested. Gartner and others emphasize that the true value of automation lies in redeploying people to higher-value work. Financial automation can reclaim tens of thousands of work-hours per year. Every hour saved is an hour that accountants and finance professionals can spend advising clients, analyzing trends, or pursuing new business.
Indeed, industry analysis confirms that automation expands capacity for strategic tasks. For instance, automation frees “several hours of work per day” for individual. Firms that capitalize on this switch often see direct revenue benefits. Providing clients with faster, accurate financial data builds trust and opens doors to upselling. In effect, manual processing becomes the launchpad for advisory: the grunt work is offloaded to AI, and people focus on interpretation and strategy.
Strategic recommendations: Firms should proactively reallocate the capacity gained from automation into growth engines:
Advisory services: Use the freed time for higher-margin consulting (cash-flow forecasting, tax strategy, business performance analysis, etc.). Clients will pay premiums for insights that go beyond bookkeeping.
Business development: Allow partners and managers to spend extra hours on client relationship building, marketing, or exploring new verticals. More face-time translates into new engagements.
Process innovation: Empower staff to refine and streamline other workflows (trainings, system integrations, custom dashboards). Each improvement adds to efficiency.
Upselling and cross-selling: With more bandwidth, teams can deepen existing client relationships. For example, while reviewing an invoice query, an accountant might identify cost-saving opportunities or regulatory needs to pitch additional services.
These moves create a multiplier effect. DoDocs.ai’s automation of routine data tasks turns back-office labor into a strategic asset. As one practice leader noted, automating the “little things” enables staff to focus on the “bigger picture”. Firms that take this perspective don’t treat DoDocs.ai merely as an expense reducer, but as a growth enabler.
Strategic Call to Action
Document automation is not just a cost-saving tool – it is a force multiplier. DoDocs.ai demonstrates that applying AI to invoice and receipt processing can dramatically improve a firm’s economics. Each minute reclaimed compounds to higher margins, greater client capacity, and more innovation time.
We urge decision-makers to evaluate this opportunity aggressively. Identify painful manual workflows (e.g., invoice approval, receipt tracking) and pilot DoDocs.ai to quantify the benefits. Model the downstream gains: fewer hires, faster close cycles, and new service offerings. As automation becomes the norm, firms that hesitate risk falling behind. Those that embrace DoDocs.ai early will differentiate themselves with leaner operations and superior client service.
In short, the question is no longer if to automate, but when and how fast. By treating document AI as a strategic investment, mid-size firms and enterprise finance departments can turn routine processing into a competitive advantage. Every automated invoice is one step toward a more scalable, agile accounting function – and a stronger bottom line.
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Sources: Industry surveys and case
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RPA In Accounts Payable: Benefits, Examples & Best Practices
59 Accounts Payable Statistics For 2025 - DocuClipper
https://www.docuclipper.com/blog/accounts-payable-statistics/
The ROI of AI Automation: How to Measure Success in Your Business (2025 Guide) | Lleverage
Increase capacity with automation - Journal of Accountancy
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2023/may/increase-capacity-with-automation/
4 Ways CPAs Can Benefit from Automation - CPA Practice Advisor
https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2022/08/01/4-ways-cpas-can-benefit-from-automation/69079/
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