Very small AP departments might consider a simple solution for managing invoices: that old workhorse, the Portable Document Format (PDF) file. Adobe’s Acrobat Messenger lets AP departments transform paper documents into electronic files and send them at Internet speed.

With three simple steps, office workers can

1. scan invoices or documents;
2. preview and, if necessary, modify documents;
3. send documents to multiple destinations.

Basically, this Adobe product is software for a PC workstation equipped with a scanner or digital copier, which allows an AP department to make Adobe PDF files of whatever paper documents it may have. The staffers can also make the invoices, in PDF format, searchable for archiving and easy retrieval.