Overlooking the obvious in AP Communication: Go Mobile

By Meghan Furtado | September 5, 2016

According to some recent industry research, the findings are that mobile technology is definitely under-utilized in the processes of Accounts Payable management and workflow operations. This would appear to be a bit surprising to most AP managers since there are a number of operational benefits that seem to be fairly obvious and they include ease of use. What this technology brings to the table is greater functionality as well as better AP strategies, especially in the area of communications. So, are you taking advantage of the many benefits of mobile AP communications at your company or do you simply need to hear more about the benefits?

Cell Phones and the Internet

Obviously, the first benefit revolves around the fact that every part of our lives seem to be influenced by the Internet or by our cell phones. All of the recent strides in technology in those two areas can be staggering and often even confusing. And, they both influence each other and us in the way that we do things.

Transformation of the Business World

The business world has been virtually transformed by mobile tech’s sheer power. However, not everybody is taking advantage of the power of mobile AP. In fact, in spite of the fact that smartphones are being used so much these days that statistically the number of their users is projected to reach 2.08 billion this year, not all businesses have caught up with mobile technology. According to The Aberdeen Group, a survey of mobile financial services shows:

87 percent of adults in the U.S. have a mobile phone
40 percent of those who have a bank account use mobile banking
22 percent have used their smartphones for making mobile payments

Don’t Get Left in the Dust

So, in a world where individuals are making use of this technology to handle their finances, why are so many businesses missing the proverbial boat? In fact, other Aberdeen research shows that only a little more than 10 percent of organizations are making use of mobile technology for their AP Automation.

What this adds up to is the fact that in addition to adopting electronic Invoicing, dynamic discounting and account payable automation, businesses need to also embrace mobile AP communications in order to keep up with the competition or quite possibly get left in the virtual dust. You simply can’t excel in this technology-oriented world without keeping up with the latest technology.

Leaders and Followers in the Business World

In the business world, there are leaders and there are followers. The leaders score in the top 35 percent and have an on-time payment rate of 90 percent, whereas the followers in the bottom 65 percent have only a 69 percent on-time payment rate. And, we all know that getting these payments in on time is crucial to the bottom line of your organization. Becoming a leader instead of a follower when it comes to AP automation can be as simple as implementing e-invoicing if you don’t already use it, whole going mobile.

Adopt Mobile AP

Additionally, The Aberdeen Group research shows that the majority of leading edge companies have already adopted mobile AP automation, but even more are planning on implementing it in the very near future. So, if you own a business, instead of just thinking about it and getting further behind the eight ball with your AP processes, you should consider including mobile AP communications sooner rather than later. After all, isn’t it your goal to become one of those leading edge companies rather than just reading about them?

http://v1.aberdeen.com/launch/report/research_report/11556-RR-AP-mobile-offerings.asp

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