Brightflag provides several ways to send approved invoices to your Accounts Payable (AP) system for payment.
These integrations allow organizations to move invoice data from Brightflag to their AP system using either manual or automated workflows.
Brightflag supports three primary AP integration methods.
AP Integration Methods
1. AP Email Integration
Best for: Organizations using a manual AP process.
When an invoice is approved in Brightflag:
Brightflag sends an email containing the invoice to a defined AP mailbox.
The AP team receives the email.
The invoice is manually entered into the AP system for payment.
This option requires no technical setup.
2. Batch (SFTP) Integration
Best for: Organizations that want automated invoice creation using scheduled file transfers.
With batch integration:
Brightflag generates a batch export of approved invoices.
The export is uploaded to an SFTP server.
The AP system retrieves the file and creates invoices for payment.
This allows AP teams to automate invoice processing in bulk.
3. API Integration
Best for: Organizations that want fully automated, real-time integrations.
With API integration:
Brightflag sends approved invoice data directly to the AP system.
This provides the most automated and scalable integration.
Comparing AP Integration Methods
Method | Automation Level | How Invoices Reach AP |
Email Integration | Manual | Approved invoices are emailed to the AP team |
Batch (SFTP) Integration | Automated (scheduled) | Invoice data files are uploaded to an SFTP server |
API Integration | Fully automated | Invoices are sent directly to the AP system |
Tracking Invoice Payments (AP Reverse Feed)
In addition to exporting invoices, Brightflag can also receive payment updates from your AP system.
This feature is called the AP Reverse Feed.
It allows the AP system to send updates such as:
Payment status
Payment date
Payment reference number
Brightflag automatically updates the invoice record with this information, giving legal teams visibility into the full invoice lifecycle.
The AP Reverse Feed can be implemented using SFTP or API, depending on your integration setup.