Lido extracts data from every incoming invoice, validates it against the open PO, and routes it for approval based on your dollar thresholds and vendor rules, automatically. Invoices under $5K with a matching PO get auto-approved. Over $50K goes straight to the VP. Your AP team stops being a routing layer and starts being an exception handler.
.png)
.png)
Invoice approval backlogs happen because invoices need human eyes to determine who should approve them. Lido reads the invoice, makes the routing decision, and only needs a human at the decision point, not the classification point.
Vendor invoices arrive by email, through a vendor portal, or from a scanned mail batch. Lido extracts vendor name, invoice number, invoice date, payment terms, due date, line items, and invoice total from every invoice, regardless of vendor format or layout. Scanned invoices are OCR'd; native PDFs are parsed directly.
The extracted invoice is matched against your open PO register. Lido checks that the PO exists, the vendor matches, and the invoice amount is within your tolerance. If a match is found: the invoice carries the PO match status into the approval workflow. If no PO is found: the invoice is flagged as "no PO" and routed to AP for exception handling.
Invoice total drives the routing decision. Under $5,000 with a valid PO match: auto-approved and pushed to the payment queue. $5,000 to $50,000: routed to the department manager responsible for the cost center on the PO. Over $50,000: routed directly to the VP of Finance for approval. Thresholds, approvers, and escalation paths are all configurable.
The approver's notification includes the invoice, the matched PO, the extracted line items, the match status, and any flags raised during validation. An approver seeing a $28,000 invoice from Schneider Electric knows immediately whether it matches PO-2026-1044, what the PO covers, and whether this is the first or a subsequent invoice.
Approved invoices are pushed to your payment queue or ERP with all extracted fields pre-populated. Rejected invoices are returned to AP with the approver's rejection reason attached. Invoices that sit in an approver's queue past your SLA trigger an automatic reminder and escalate to the approver's manager after a configurable number of days.
Upload a batch and get structured output in minutes.
Single-page and multi-page invoices from any vendor in any layout. Header fields, line-item tables, and payment terms are extracted regardless of formatting.
Monthly SaaS subscriptions, managed service contracts, and retainer invoices. Lido recognizes recurring vendors and can auto-approve within-budget recurring charges.
Electricity, gas, water, and facilities management invoices. Typically low-variance month-to-month, candidates for auto-approval with usage-based exception rules.
Time-and-materials invoices with hour logs attached. Extract billable hours, rates, and project codes and validate against approved SOW budgets.
High-value invoices for equipment, software licenses, and infrastructure. Typically above the VP approval threshold and may require board or CFO sign-off.
Invoices between subsidiaries or related entities. Require a different approval path and GL coding than third-party vendor invoices.
A $12,000 invoice from Siemens Financial Services arrives on March 5. The AP coordinator looks at it, decides it needs manager approval, and emails it to the department head. The department head is traveling. The invoice sits for 8 days. The due date passes. Siemens charges a 1.5% late fee — $180. When the department head finally approves it, the AP coordinator has to manually update the payment priority, explain the late fee to the controller, and add a note to the vendor file. This happens on a dozen invoices every month.
Lido extracts the invoice, validates the PO, and routes to the department manager within minutes of arrival. The manager gets a push notification with the invoice, the PO match, and a one-click approval link. Invoices approved within 24 hours. Late fees eliminated. AP stops being the routing layer and starts monitoring the exceptions that actually need attention.
| Feature | Lido | Email-based routing |
|---|---|---|
| Route invoices to approvers based on amount and vendor automatically | ✓ | ✗ |
| Validate PO match before routing to approver | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto-approve invoices within threshold with matched POs | ✓ | ✗ |
| Escalate automatically when SLA is missed | ✓ | ✗ |
| Full approval audit trail with timestamps | ✓ | ✗ |
| Forward invoice PDFs manually and hope for a reply | ✓ | ✓ |
Configure your approval matrix once. Lido routes, reminds, escalates, and logs, without anyone managing the queue.
A manufacturer routes supplier invoices to the plant manager, operations director, or CFO based on the invoice amount and the cost center on the associated PO. Maintenance invoices under $2,500 auto-approve; capital equipment invoices over $50,000 require CFO sign-off.
Carrier invoices within 2% of the contracted rate and under $10,000 auto-approve. Freight invoices with accessorial charges not on the rate confirmation are held for the logistics manager to review and approve or dispute.
Consulting subcontractor invoices are validated against the approved SOW budget before routing to the engagement manager for approval. Invoices that would exceed the SOW budget are escalated to the partner level with budget context.
A holding company has different dollar thresholds and approvers for each subsidiary. Lido routes each invoice to the correct entity approval path based on the extracted entity code or billing address, applying the right approval matrix for each entity.
%20(1).svg)
