Invoice Automation and the Modern CFO
In any organization, the products and people are essential to its success. What is necessary to keep the organization alive, however, is the consistent movement of money. If transactions are slow to process and even more sluggish to activate, you’re losing money even while you’re earning it. The integration of technology and finance, in the form of initiatives such as cloud-based accounting practices like enterprise-level AP and invoice automation, should be a top priority for any modern enterprise. With the latest and most innovative features in automation, CFOs can bring their accounts payable department into the future of AP.
Crying Out for Better Solutions
Many CFOs believe that their businesses are failing when it comes to technological innovation. According to a recent study, only 35% of AP departments interviewed had a supplier portal in place—a key technological component when it comes to streamlining your payables processes. The study goes on to say how portals “provide significant financial benefits to enterprise users by reducing time, money, and resources previously required to perform supplier enablement and information management tasks.” A lack of comprehensive AP automation leads to more arduous and time-consuming routines—which means higher costs for CFOs.
With enterprise-level invoice automation, every movement of an invoice is captured and logged. AP can quickly pinpoint stages in the invoice lifecycle and make checks, edits, or corrections. Without the right automation, however, it’s often a matter of manually tracking documents. Not only are manual processes prone to inaccuracies, but they also lead to invoices being lost in a sea of emails, misplaced, or misfiled.
Becoming a Big Data Business
When it comes to technology in finance departments, CFOs want to see the latest innovation in automation features. This includes artificial intelligence, machine learning, and auto-coding. These features contribute to improved planning and reporting processes, along with spend analytics. They increase visibility across not just departments, but the entire supply chain. This increased visibility is essential to bringing a department one step closer to the future of AP.
Transparency Leads to a Brighter Future
When accounts payable automation works, it gives CFOs the keys to increased visibility and control over finances. Instead of looking at transactions through a porthole, the AP department has the chance to view invoice histories and cash flow in their entirety. They can identify stages prone to mistakes, speed up the slowest processes, and make sure as many transactions as possible are closed early or on time. The best e-invoicing solutions save time, minimize errors, and keep clients and suppliers satisfied and informed.