GaP Solutions, the Australian retail technology provider behind EM Cloud™, replaced manual supplier invoice processing with AI-powered automation. Processing time per invoice fell from around 40 minutes to about 2 minutes — a 95% reduction — across 10,000–15,000 invoices a month from more than 3,000 suppliers.

That same engine now powers EM Invoicing, giving grocery, fuel, liquor and fresh food retailers faster invoice matching, variance review and margin control inside EM Cloud™.

Who is GaP Solutions?

GaP Solutions is an Australian retail technology provider powering 4,000+ POS systems across 1,000 stores. Its EM Cloud™ platform supports real-time inventory, pricing and retail operations for grocery, fuel convenience, liquor, bakery, butcher, seafood and multi-store retailers. Those stores collectively receive 10,000–15,000 supplier invoices every month from more than 3,000 vendors — and every one of them needs to be captured, checked and matched before it can update stock, costs and pricing.

The challenge: manual supplier invoice processing doesn't scale

Supplier invoices sit at the centre of retail operations. They affect stock accuracy, supplier management, cost visibility, pricing decisions and margin control. Yet processing them manually was slow, inconsistent and increasingly difficult to scale:

• Inconsistent supplier formats — Each of the 3,000+ suppliers used different layouts, field names and data structures, so every invoice needed manual review.
• Mixed-quality scanned documents — Low-quality scans and varying document clarity made accurate data extraction difficult.
• Lengthy processing time — Uploading, validating, correcting fields and routing workflows took up to 40 minutes per invoice.
• No standardised field mapping — Every extracted field had to be mapped to a single internal schema, creating repetitive manual work.
• High risk of human error — Manual data entry risked incorrect inventory counts, delayed supplier payments and downstream reporting issues.

GaP's experience mirrors the wider industry. A 2025 accounts payable automation report found 63% of respondents spend more than 10 hours per week on invoice processing, and 66% still manually enter invoice data into their ERP — with manual data entry and data errors named as the top process challenges. At the same time, Australian retailers continue to manage cost pressure across wages, energy, logistics, rents and insurance, which makes hours lost to invoice admin harder to justify every year.

The solution: AI-powered invoice automation inside EM Cloud™

GaP Solutions deployed an AI-powered document automation engine that handles supplier invoices end to end. Instead of downloading, reviewing, mapping and keying invoice data by hand, the system now works continuously in the background:

• Collects invoices automatically from incoming emails and extracts attachments — no manual downloading.
• Identifies each supplier using AI and routes the invoice into the correct processing logic.
• Reads every invoice layout, regardless of supplier format, using AI-driven document interpretation.
• Extracts and standardises all required fields into a single internal schema.
• Validates totals, checks line items and enriches missing product details.
• Delivers clean, structured output directly into retail POS and back-office systems.

The results: 95% faster supplier invoice processing

Automation transformed speed, accuracy and scalability across GaP's invoice operations:

What this means for retailers: EM Invoicing

This automation capability is what powers EM Invoicing, the supplier invoice module inside EM Cloud™. Your team sends supplier invoices by email to a designated address or submits them through a dedicated scanner — original invoices sent by email give the best results. Once EM Cloud™ imports the invoice, the system highlights what needs attention so your team reviews exceptions instead of keying data:

• Match invoices against received quantities and costing — Compare what the supplier invoiced against what the store actually received, creating a strong checkpoint between receiving stock and finalising invoices.
• Review variances before they hit your numbers — Quantity differences, supplier cost changes and invoice discrepancies are highlighted on screen before they affect reporting, pricing or margins.
• Catch supplier cost changes and protect margin — When a supplier raises a cost, your team sees it during invoice review and can adjust retail pricing before margin quietly erodes.
• Export to Xero, MYOB or your accounting system — Processed invoices export to Xero, MYOB or your accounting platform, connecting store operations with financial workflows.

Built for grocery, fuel, liquor and fresh food retailers

• Grocery retailers — manage high supplier volumes and frequent cost changes.
• Fuel convenience retailers — reduce back-office admin in a busy trading environment.
• Liquor retailers — review invoices across changing ranges, promotions and supplier pricing.
• Bakeries — handle invoices for ingredients, packaging and retail stock.
• Butchers, seafood and fresh food retailers — gain visibility over supplier costs and received quantities.
• Multi-store operators — run a consistent invoice process across every location.

Frequently asked questions

What is supplier invoice automation?

Supplier invoice automation uses software — increasingly AI — to capture invoices from email or a scanner, extract the data, match it against received quantities and costing, flag variances, and pass clean data to accounting and POS systems. It replaces manual data entry and line-by-line checking with review-by-exception.

How much time does invoice automation save retailers?

In GaP Solutions' case, processing time fell from around 40 minutes per invoice to about 2 minutes — a 95% reduction. Industry research from 2025 found 63% of accounts payable teams spend more than 10 hours a week on invoice processing, so the savings compound quickly at retail volumes.

How do supplier invoices get into EM Invoicing?

Your team emails invoices to a designated address or submits them through a dedicated scanner. Original supplier invoices sent by email typically give the best extraction results. EM Cloud™ imports the invoice automatically and presents it for review.

How accurate is AI invoice data extraction?

The AI engine behind EM Invoicing runs at 99.5% extraction accuracy across more than 3,000 different supplier invoice layouts, with automatic total checks, line-item validation and discrepancy detection on every invoice.

Does EM Invoicing integrate with Xero and MYOB?

Yes. Once your team has reviewed and processed an invoice in EM Cloud™, EM Invoicing supports export to Xero, MYOB and other accounting platforms, so the invoice moves smoothly from store review to accounting.

Which retailers is EM Invoicing built for?

EM Invoicing is designed for grocery, fuel convenience, liquor, bakery, butcher, seafood and fresh food retailers, as well as multi-store operators who need a consistent supplier invoice process across locations.