5 Benefits Of Accounts Payable Automation
Accounts payable departments are often inundated with a significant amount of work. They spend more time pushing paper than doing anything else. What if you could say goodbye to paper invoices?
There are a number of benefits to AP automation. Through E-invoicing, you can improve productivity and streamline a variety of tasks within the accounts payable department.
Eliminate the Paper
The first benefit of using any kind of e-invoicing is that you can eliminate the paper. Right now, each invoice that you receive likely comes in an envelope. You then have the envelope and the invoice itself somewhere on your desk. This is likely going to cause a mountain of paperwork for you to go through because you are receiving more than one bill on a weekly basis.
Paper is more likely to get lost or damaged. This can set you back significantly because of being unaware of the bills that you have. It may also end up costing you more money or slowing down your operations because of not paying bills in a timely fashion.
Avoid Data Entry
Your accounts payable employees are likely spending a significant amount of time entering data from the invoices that they receive. They have to be entered into the system so that payment can be made. However, there are options for the vendors to submit invoices to you electronically. Whether it’s through FTP, online entry, or a scan, you can receive the invoice electronically. It will provide you with more capabilities and eliminate errors that commonly occur when data entry is involved.
Get Approval Faster
Certain invoices may require approval from different departments. Whether it is because of a certain dollar amount or because of a certain expense, you may not be able to make a payment on the invoice until it has been approved. Using the right Accounts Payable software will allow the invoices to be routed to different users for approval.
The invoice approval becomes electronic. This means that there is no chance of invoices being lost on someone’s desk. Instead, they press a button in order to approve the invoice. It is then flagged for the accounts payable department to go ahead and make payment.
Reduce Invoice Processing Costs
Invoice processing costs may be considerable at this point. This may be as a result of having too many people involved in accounts payable. It may also be because of having to pay late fees and such because of not getting approval in a timely fashion. There may also be a lot of time spent making phone calls to vendors regarding the various invoices that are received.
Many companies report a triple-digit return on investment within six months of implementing AP automation. This has the potential to save your business a significant amount of money on labor and fees throughout the year.
Improve Workflow
Payables automation will also help you improve workflow on many levels. Electronic invoicing provides you with automated tools that eliminate paper and allow you to quickly reconcile payments. The payment processing can also be automated, eliminating the need to hand write checks. Invoices can be matched, sent for approval, and filed away without any human intervention.
It’s critical to look at technological solutions as a way of improving your operations. If your accounts payable department feels overwhelmed by the tasks that they need to perform, it may be time to explore automation. iPayables offers a wide array of tasks inside of their AP software.
Find out how Accounts Payable software can improve your AP workflow. Payables automation from iPayables can be just what your business needs in order to streamline your operations.