Your AP team is spending 15 minutes per invoice. Multiply that by 200 a month.
That's 50 hours of manual work every month — chasing approvals, matching invoices, scheduling payments, and fixing errors. We automate the full AP workflow so your team can focus on financial strategy instead of data entry.
We work with businesses across the US and Canada.
What we mean by AP automation
This isn't just about reading invoices faster. AP automation covers the full lifecycle — from the moment an invoice arrives to the moment it's paid, reconciled, and recorded.
Looking for invoice scanning and data extraction specifically? That's a different (but related) problem. See Invoice Processing Automation. Comparing tools first? Read our AP automation software buyer's guide.
Ready to automate your business?
Get a free AI automation plan tailored to your needs.
The part nobody talks about: cash-flow timing
Most teams think AP is an admin problem. It's not. It's a cash-control problem.
When approvals are delayed, payment timing gets unpredictable. Vendors lose trust. Early-payment discounts get missed. And leadership can't see the real picture of what's owed, when it's due, and how it affects cash position.
Before automation
- ✗ Approvals stuck for days in email
- ✗ No real-time visibility into liabilities
- ✗ Late fees and missed discounts
- ✗ Month-end scramble to reconcile
- ✗ Finance knowledge trapped in one person's head
After automation
- ✓ Approvals routed instantly with reminders
- ✓ Clear dashboard of what's owed and when
- ✓ Payments scheduled to capture discounts
- ✓ Continuous reconciliation, not month-end panic
- ✓ Process documented and consistent
Typical improvements we see
Based on similar AP automation projects across industries.
From invoice receipt to payment
Less manual handling per transaction
Payments scheduled automatically
Validation rules catch errors early
How we automate your AP workflow
Every AP automation starts the same way — understand the current mess, fix the highest-friction points, then optimize.
Schedule a call
Book a free consultation with our automation experts to discuss your needs and goals.
Create an automation plan
Receive a customized automation plan tailored to your business needs and objectives.
Achieve more!
Enjoy increased productivity and satisfaction thanks to the AI taking those tasks off your plate.
How bottlenecked is your back office?
Take the 3-minute scorecard and find out.
Common concerns (and honest answers)
"Our invoice formats are all over the place."
That's normal. We set up extraction rules for your common vendors and fallback handling for edge cases. The system gets smarter over time.
"Approvals always get delayed."
Because email isn't an approval system. We build dedicated routing with reminders, escalation paths, and mobile access so approvers can act in 30 seconds.
"We use multiple tools that don't talk to each other."
That's literally what we do. We connect your accounting software, document tools, and payment systems into one workflow. No rip-and-replace required.
"What if automation makes mistakes?"
Every automation includes validation checkpoints and human review queues for exceptions. You're in control of the threshold for what gets auto-processed vs. what gets flagged.
Works with the tools you already use
We integrate with your accounting platform, not against it.
Don't see your system? Get in touch — we've probably worked with it before.
Accounts payable automation for Canadian businesses
DigitalStaff is a Canadian company, and digitizing accounts payable for Canadian businesses is core to what we do. We handle the details that trip up US-built tools:
- ✓ CAD and multi-currency bills, with GST/HST and PST coded correctly
- ✓ Canadian payment rails — EFT, Interac, and cheque runs
- ✓ Approval and audit trails your accountant and the CRA will accept
- ✓ Financial data that can stay on infrastructure hosted in Canada
Once bills are paid, the other half of the close is making sure everything ties out — see bank reconciliation automation.
What's AP automation actually worth?
If your team handles 200 invoices a month at ~15 minutes each, that's roughly 50 hours of manual AP work. Cut that by 60–75% and you free up real time — before you even count late-fee avoidance and captured early-payment discounts.
Want the numbers for your business? Use our AP automation ROI calculator to estimate the time and cost you'd get back.
Calculate your AP automation ROIRelated process automations
Not sure your books are telling the truth?
A Financial Data Health Check finds the discrepancies and dollars at risk — from $500 CAD.
What our clients say
Chuck Baresich
President
Haggerty AgRobotics Company
Had the team prepare a system for us to automate the re-branding of our digital invoicing and statements. The system has been working flawlessly for over a year. Simple to administer and the team are easy to get in contact with make adjustments or update our requirements.
Marilee A Nowgesic
CEO
Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association
The team is friendly, reliable and extremely patient to ensuring our concerns are addressed and understood. They have enabled an open table to allow for their clients to receive timely (...really feels like 24/7 platforms...) and concise information on the latest trends in IT, data collection and many other relevant issues. DigitalStaff has also provided an environment that allows for multiple levels and skills of their clients - so you never have to feel like you're not contributing. Their ability to translate your project needs provides an impressive output/deliverable to suit the needs of our projects.
Kevin Potts
President
Norseman Construction
Oscar and his team are amazing, they are always there when we need them. The automation process has been truly amazing, and we have found alot more time and productivity in our day to day processes.
Kyle Watters
Owner
Elmira Stove Works
We have been using Digital Staff for almost 10 years now, they look after all of our network and computer IT needs. They are friendly and great people to work with, knowing they are only a phone call away is piece of mind in our business. I would highly recommend this company for all your IT needs and if you are looking to save time, money and improve efficiency.
Gerda Zonruiter
Senior Research and Evaluation Consultant
Centre for Organizational Effectiveness
Oscar has helped me problem solve and find solutions for specific tasks saving me a lot of time. He provided me with the instruction I needed to implement the solutions on my own. He was responsive and easy to work with.
Paul B Bélanger
Trademark Attorney
The Law Office of Paul B. Bélanger
I am familiar with the highly professional services of DigitalStaff. I resorted to the business services of DigitalStaff on numerous occasions, knowing they pay attention to provide high quality services at reasonable price. I recommend DigitalStaff in confidence knowing their specialized services will provide satisfaction to any client, small or large.
Jill Osborne
National Executive Director
Kids Kicking Cancer Canada
The DigitalStaff team helped create effective and affordable solutions for our small shop. They quickly gained an understanding of our needs and have helped us trouble-shoot along the way.
Michael Mandich
Customer
It was wonderful service. I found Oscar to be honest and thoughtful. He was always available to do even the smallest tasks. He tried to teach me many things on the computer and was patient even though I find it very difficult. I recommended him to friends and they had high praise for his abilities. It is easy to give him 5 stars ⭐️
Ali Tavakoli
AI, RPA, and Automation Developer
DigitalStaff
DigitalStaff is a great company for doing Robotic Process Automation, the owner is very friendly and can take care of any issues that come up very quickly. Highly recommend DigitalStaff for RPA workload or any other type of software development where you need to automate tasks.
Ilze Van der Merwe
National Expansion Manager
Kids Kicking Cancer Canada
Our Organization can highly recomend DigitalStaff. They have helped us automate many of our work processes which saves us time and makes us efficient. We are a small organization with few hands, and having DigitalStaff assist us in our IT and backend processes makes our work lighter which opens up our time to get to things that really matter, which is making a difference in Children's lives.
Dr. Joan Clayton
Psychologist
Dr. Reist & Associates
Excellent and prompt service, highly skilled, personable and always eager to help and resolve issues - ABSOLUTELY THE BEST
Joe Orendorff
Owner
Elmira Stove Works
Great Service!
Frequently asked questions
How long does AP automation take to implement?
Most AP automation projects take 2-6 weeks depending on how many systems need to connect and how complex your approval chain is. Simple setups with a single accounting platform can go faster.
Do we need to replace our accounting software?
No. We build around what you already use — QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, NetSuite, or whatever you're running. We integrate, not replace.
What happens with exceptions and edge cases?
Exceptions go to a human review queue with clear context — what went wrong, what data is missing, and suggested next steps. Automation handles the normal flow; your team handles the judgment calls.
Can you automate only part of AP first?
Absolutely. Most clients start with the highest-friction step — usually approval routing or invoice intake — and expand from there once they see results.
What's the difference between this and invoice processing automation?
Invoice processing is about getting invoice data into your system accurately — OCR, data extraction, validation. AP automation is the full workflow: approvals, payment scheduling, vendor management, and reconciliation. Think of invoice processing as the front door, and AP as the whole house.