Onit, the legal workflow and CLM company, has expanded the capabilities of its new InvoiceAI tool to include real-time invoice review, adding to past invoice analysis, which first arrived in May for existing customers.
The move is part of a general release of the expanded tool and adds to a range of NLP and automation products that Onit has been building into its offering. In late 2020, Onit introduced its NLP-based platform, Precedent, and two products for contract lifecycle management, ReviewAI and ExtractAI.
In terms of how it works, the US company explained that: ‘InvoiceAI, [has been trained] on millions of legal invoice charges and integrated with Onit’s enterprise legal management solution. [It] detects additional errors that may not be flagged by billing rules and ensures that legal spend aligns with outside counsel guidelines.
‘It looks for common areas of overpayment and charges that typically require correction or clarification, such as nonworking travel, block billing, vague descriptions and work done by improper staff class.
‘It can then automatically adjust an invoice to comply with guidelines or bring the discrepancy to the attention of reviewers. Since it is AI-based, it is always learning, improving and working tirelessly to reduce the volume of invoices needed for review and identify unnecessary expenses.’
Onit also works with ALSP, Sterling Analytics, which can help with billing review tasks.
Eric Elfman, CEO and co-founder of Onit, said in a statement: ‘In all of my decades working with corporate legal departments, I’ve rarely heard in-house counsel say they enjoy invoice review. It’s tedious, time-consuming and an area perfectly suited for AI transformation.
‘InvoiceAI combs through data for potentially noncompliant charges and integrates with billing rules for corrective action. As a result, some customers are discovering up to 20% in savings. And, more importantly, it makes invoice review easier and quicker for today’s busy law departments.’
So, is this a big deal? It makes a lot of sense for Onit given its inhouse focus, and it joins a growing number of vendors that are offering NLP analysis of billing narratives. The move also follows the recent news that Onit has bought legal cost benchmarking company, Bodhala.
The Bodhala deal is its third acquisition in less than a year. In November 2020, Onit acquired legal AI company McCarthyFinch, and then document automator AXDRAFT. Onit also acquired SimpleLegal, a legal operations software provider, in May 2019.
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P.S. There is also a short video to go with the launch. It’s just one minute and has perhaps been inspired by a certain Sarah Connor.