Processes
What is Straight-Through Processing (STP)?
Straight-through processing (STP) is the automated completion of a transaction from start to finish without any manual intervention. STP rate measures what percentage of transactions are processed this way.
Explanation
STP rate is the key metric for evaluating accounts payable and document processing automation. A 90% STP rate means 90% of invoices are received, extracted, matched, approved, coded, and posted without a human touching them. The remaining 10% are exceptions requiring review. Higher STP rates translate directly to lower per-invoice processing costs and faster cycle times. Typical manual AP operations process 50–100 invoices per person per day. Automated AP with high STP rates can process thousands per day with the same team, reviewing only exceptions. Improving STP from 70% to 90% can halve the manual effort required.
How Rima relates
Rima Blueprints are designed for high STP rates — automating the full processing workflow so your team focuses only on flagged exceptions.
Explore workflow automationRelated Terms
Workflow Automation
Using software to automatically execute a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual effort.
Exception Handling
The process of identifying, routing, and resolving documents or transactions that don't match expected rules.
Intelligent Automation
The combination of AI and process automation to handle complex, judgment-intensive tasks.
Accounts Payable (AP)
Money a business owes to suppliers for goods or services received but not yet paid.
See it in action
Rima automates the manual document workflows accounting teams spend hours on every week.