Running a business comes with no shortage of financial complexities – from tracking expenses and managing cashflow to paying suppliers and vendors. Accounts payable (AP) is one critical piece of the puzzle that can quickly become a productivity sinkhole without the right tools and workflows.
If your AP process still involves lots of paper invoices and manual data entry, it’s time to step into the future. Automating AP workflows can transform your efficiency, accuracy, and agility when managing invoices and payments.
This guide will walk you through:
- The high costs of manual AP workflows
- How intelligent AP automation eliminates friction
- Key benefits for your finance team and business
- Tips for assessing automation solutions
The Problem: Manual AP Workflows Are Slow, Costly, and Risk-Prone
For many businesses, AP workflows are fragmented across disconnected systems, paper invoices, Excel spreadsheets, and email inboxes. As a result, AP tasks tend to be frustratingly manual, repetitive, and error-prone:
- Sorting paper and emails – AP staff must manually dig through piles of paper invoices and crowded inboxes to identify invoices for processing.
- Data entry – Key details like invoice numbers and dates must be manually entered or extracted from paper/PDF invoices.
- Routing and matching – Invoices then need to be routed for internal review and approval based on rules, and matched to corresponding purchase orders.
- Resolving exceptions – Any invoice discrepancies or exceptions get handled through manual research and back-and-forth emails.
- Payment prep – Finally, approved invoices must be formatted for payment through the ERP system. Any errors delay payment.
These fragmented manual workflows lead to:
- Slow processing – Moving invoices through these manual steps drags out processing timelines.
- High costs – All the manual workload drives up operating costs. AP staff get stuck in mundane low-value tasks.
- Payment delays – Invoice backlogs and inefficient workflows result in late payments that strain supplier relationships.
- Poor visibility – With invoices scattered across systems, managers lack real-time visibility into AP health metrics.
- Compliance risks – Late payments and rushed workflows increase chances of errors and compliance issues.
Rapidly growing businesses need modern tools to eliminate these AP headaches and risks.
The Solution: Intelligent AP Automation
Automating accounts payable workflows delivers game-changing efficiency, control, and insights.
AI-powered AP automation solutions intake invoices through multiple channels – email, ERPs, supplier portals. After intelligently extracting key data, they automatically:
- Route invoices to approvers based on rules
- Match invoices to purchase orders
- Resolve exceptions and discrepancies
- Generate approvals and payments
This end-to-end intelligent automation eliminates nearly all manual efforts involved in processing and paying invoices.
Leading solutions integrate directly with your accounting system and offer user-friendly web dashboards for managing AP workflows. Customized rules and workflows mirror your approval policies and processes.
The Benefits: Faster Processing, Lower Costs, and Strategic Insights
Intelligently automating AP unlocks a wealth of benefits:
1. Accelerated processing
Automation processes invoices up to 4X faster by eliminating manual bottlenecks. AP teams handle multiplying invoice volumes with ease.
2. Lower costs
Automating away mundane tasks slashes AP processing costs by up to 80%. Headcount gets reassigned from drudgery to strategic initiatives.
3. Improved visibility
Real-time dashboards provide visibility into invoices awaiting action, allowing managers to catch and fix bottlenecks before they disrupt workflows.
4. On-time payments
With accelerated workflows, invoices get paid on time or early, strengthening supplier relationships.
5. Strategic insights
Rich analytics reveal spend trends, problem suppliers, and opportunities to optimize procurement strategies.
6. Compliance and security
Digital workflows minimize compliance risks and data entry errors. Invoice data remains secure across channels.
Key Features to Look For
As you evaluate AP automation solutions, focus on options that:
- Offer intelligent OCR to digitize paper and PDF invoices
- Integrate with your accounting system
- Allow easy customization of rules and workflows
- Provide intuitive web dashboards and reporting
- Enable invoice approvals through mobile apps
- Maintain high levels of security and compliance
- Provide excellent implementation support and training
The right solution lets you tailor intelligent automation to your workflows and policies, for frictionless invoice processing.
Conclusion
Manually managing AP workflows is a proven recipe for frustration, ballooning costs, and unnecessary risks. Modern AP automation solutions apply intelligence to eliminate manual efforts, accelerate processes, and unlock data insights.
If your finance teams are mired in manual AP tasks, it’s time to explore intelligent automation. Contact us today to learn more about streamlining AP with AI-powered automation.