How Cherrywork AP Automation Supercharges Efficiency for SAP Users

Accounts Payable (AP) operations in SAP-enabled enterprises often rely on manual, template-based processes that slow down invoice handling and inflate costs. Processing a single paper invoice can cost $10–$15, with human effort accounting for nearly 60% of that. The average invoice processing cycle stretches to 17 days, delaying vendor payments and limiting cash flow visibility.

Manual GL coding, limited extraction flexibility, and poor multi-language support add to inefficiencies. Frequent retraining of extraction models, lack of transparency, and dependence on physical documents increase data loss risks and hinder discount capture.

Organizations need a solution like Cherrywork APA, an automated AP solution for SAP users that integrates natively with SAP ECC and SAP S/4 HANA, minimizes manual work, and enhances financial control without disrupting existing workflows.

How Does Cherrywork APA’s SAP BTP-Based Technical Architecture Enable Intelligent Automation?

Cherrywork APA runs natively on SAP BTP, leveraging AI services and integration capabilities to deliver an intelligent, scalable automation layer. The architecture ensures high performance, secure connectivity, and real-time synchronization with SAP enterprise systems.

• CW-APA Application Runtime: Hosts application logic, APIs, and workflows on SAP BTP.
  
  
• HTML5 Application Repository: Stores and serves the front-end assets of the Cherrywork APA web application.
  
  
• SAP Identity Authentication Service (IAS): Authenticates users and enables Single Sign-On through corporate identity providers like Azure AD, Okta, and more.
  
  
• SAP Document Management Service: Manages file storage and retrieval, supporting both SAP DMS and SharePoint.
  
  
• SAP HANA Cloud: Serves as the in-memory data layer for high-speed processing and storage.
  
  
• SAP Connectivity Service: Provides secure communication between BTP-hosted applications and on-premise SAP systems.
  
  
• SAP Destination Service: Manages the routing of data requests between Cherrywork APA’s user interface and SAP backend systems.
  
  
• SAP Event Mesh: Facilitates event-driven communication among services. Reliable message queuing for inter-service communication.
  
  
• SAP Business Application Studio: Supports continuous development and deployment.
  
  
• SAP AI Core and SAP AI Launchpad: Deliver AI-based document processing and inference capabilities.
  
  
• SAP Cloud Identity Service: Manages secure user access and authentication.

The CW APA architecture securely integrates with SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC, and SAP Ariba through real-time APIs, eliminating batch data uploads and enabling live validation and posting.

What Other SAP BTP Services Strengthen Cherrywork APA’s Automation Capabilities?

Cherrywork APA also leverages additional SAP BTP services outlined in its Bill of Materials, which complement the core architecture and further enable intelligent, real-time SAP accounts payable automation. These include:

• Cloud Foundry Runtime: Development and hosting of native SAP BTP applications.
  
  
• Build Process Automation (Standard): Workflow management and approvals.
  
  
• Application Logging Service: Centralized logging for application monitoring.
  
  
• SAP Authorization & Trust Management: Access and authorization control.
  
  
• Business Application Studio: Application development and deployment.

Together, these services form the foundation that powers Cherrywork APA’s intelligent automation, making it a natural extension of SAP’s enterprise ecosystem.

Cherrywork APA Solution Flow

Cherrywork AP Automation for SAP follows a six-step intelligent automation flow, built for SAP environments to reduce manual intervention and accelerate invoice lifecycle management.

Step 1: Invoice intake

Invoices are captured from multiple input channels, such as emails, PDF uploads via a dedicated supplier portal, scanned invoices, XML files, EDI portals, or SAP Ariba Business Network. All incoming invoices are stored in a central document repository for processing.

Step 2: Invoice recognition

Cherrywork APA’s in-built Document Extraction Engine combines OCR and Generative AI to read and digitize invoices with up to 95% accuracy. Unlike traditional template-based systems, it requires minimal retraining across invoice formats and supports over 200 languages. This capability significantly enhances data extraction accuracy and minimizes setup time.

Step 3: Invoice verification

Extracted data is validated in real time against SAP systems such as SAP ECC, SAP S/4HANA, or SAP Ariba. Real-time API integration ensures that every validation, from purchase order and goods receipt matching to vendor master data verification, is synchronized with the SAP core. If discrepancies occur, invoices are flagged for resolution.

Step 4: Collaboration and monitoring

Invoices flagged with issues are routed to appropriate users for correction using Cherrywork APA’s configurable workflow. The system allows toggling of automatic posting to SAP. When enabled, the workflow automatically routes invoices with validation issues, such as price mismatches, to the appropriate internal teams or buyers for correction without manual intervention. If disabled, invoices remain in the AP clerk’s queue for manual review. The platform fetches updated purchase order and goods receipt data from SAP at regular intervals, which can be configured and adjusted as per the user’s requirements, ensuring the information displayed in the workbench is accurate.

Step 5: Workflow-based invoice completion

After remediation, invoices are routed for managerial approval based on predefined rules. This approval step can be configured or skipped as needed. The configurable workflow supports multiple approval levels tied to cost centers or departments. Upon approval, invoices are automatically posted to SAP without manual involvement.

Step 6: Payment status tracking

Payment status updates flow directly from SAP into Cherrywork AP Automation, reflecting whether invoices are paid or unpaid. This ensures full visibility across the AP process, reducing follow-ups and manual reconciliations.

How Does Cherrywork APA Use AI to Enhance Accounts Payable Automation?

Cherrywork APA applies AI and ML across multiple functional areas to optimize accuracy and efficiency:

• Data Extraction Engine: Selects the most suitable extraction model based on the incoming document type, ensuring accurate data capture.
  
  
• AI-driven validation rules: Automates acceptance or rejection of invoices based on business logic learned from historical data.
  
  
• Anomaly and fraud detection: Identifies duplicate payments, potential fraud, or non-compliant invoices before posting.
  
  
• Non-PO coding templates: Uses historical coding data to auto-assign GL accounts to non-PO invoices, such as utilities, reducing manual entry.

Learn more about Cherrywork AP Automation and its capabilities here.

What Sets Cherrywork APA Apart

Cherrywork APA stands apart through a combination of technical strength, SAP-certified integration, and AI intelligence:

• Best-in-class Data Extraction Engine: Combines OCR, Generative AI, and custom programs to deliver near 100% extraction accuracy across 200+ languages.
  
  
• SAP certified integration: Real-time API-based integration supports dynamic 2-way and 3-way matching with SAP ERP systems.
  
  
• Smart rule intelligence: Configurable rules for auto-posting, task routing, and SLA management.
  
  
• Comprehensive dashboards: Provide insights into invoice aging, user workloads, straight-through processing rates, and overdue payments.
  
  
• Real-time simulation with SAP: Uses SAP APIs to simulate postings before execution, ensuring successful posting once triggered.
  
  
• Integration flexibility: Supports SAP DMS, SharePoint, and other document management systems for document handling.
  
  
• Multi-channel, multi-lingual, and multi-format support: Captures invoices from emails, EDI portals, SAP Ariba, and other channels, with support for multiple languages and  formats such as PDF, CSV, XML, Excel, Word, PNG, and more.
  
  
• Globally compliant e-invoices: Cherrywork APA seamlessly integrates with leading compliance and e-invoicing platforms such as Pagero to ensure globally compliant e-invoice generation and submission. Through these integrations, the system automatically adapts to each country’s unique tax and e-invoicing regulations, validating invoice data and formats in real time before transmission.

Book a demo of Cherrywork AP Automation to learn how to automate accounts payable in SAP efficiently.

What Tangible Benefits Does Cherrywork APA Deliver for SAP Users?

Cherrywork Accounts Payable Automation, powered by its suite of digital applications, consistently delivers measurable value to enterprises using SAP: 

• 40–50% reduction in manual effort, depending on invoice type and data quality.
  
  
• 175% more invoices processed per FTE, optimizing workforce efficiency.
  
  
• 65% reduction in cycle time, from invoice receipt to payment.
  
  
• Improved compliance, with audit-ready logs, SAP BTP environment controls, and tax rule integration.
  
  
• Higher processing accuracy, improving from 40% automation at go-live to 70–80% as the system matures.

By streamlining invoice processing and ensuring timely vendor payments, Cherrywork APA strengthens supply chain reliability and operational continuity.  This stability supports smoother procurement and fulfillment cycles, indirectly improving overall sales operations efficiency across SAP-driven enterprises.

Why Is Cherrywork APA the Best AP Automation Platform for SAP Users?

Built natively on SAP BTP, Cherrywork APA is tailored for SAP users seeking to automate Accounts Payable processes without disrupting existing ERP landscapes. By combining AI-driven document data extraction, configurable workflows, and real-time SAP integration, it delivers operational excellence across the invoice lifecycle.

Explore how AP Automation for SAP through Cherrywork APA can help your organization streamline invoice processing automation in SAP, reduce costs, and improve accuracy.