Staying on Top of Things with AP Automation
Ever get that feeling of being on a treadmill that’s going just a step too fast for you to keep up? If you’re in an accounts payable department that’s stuck in the age of paper invoice processing, you probably experience that feeling every day. On the contrary, if you’ve experienced the feeling of confidence and accomplishment that comes with staying on top of things, you know it’s a good feeling – and good for you, as it reduces the mental stress that can lead to all sorts of health issues.
We all want that feeling of being on top of things. The question, of course, is how to get there. For accounts payable departments the answer is easy: accounts payable invoice automation (APIA).
Confidence comes from knowing you’re in control of what you are doing. With regard to the accounts payable function specifically, this means having a system in place, a workflow that you can count on to handle the entire invoicing process from purchase order to payment. Every AP department has a system like this; the trouble is, they don’t work well with paper invoicing.
How many times have you found yourself sweating over a lost invoice, or one that you can’t seem to match up with a P.O.? How many calls does your department get from suppliers wondering where their payment is? How embarrassing is it to have to explain to a supplier that their invoice was lost, or that the approving party is away on vacation for two weeks and you can’t get it paid until they get back? Electronic invoicing will take care of these problems and more. Enterprise-level automation puts you in control of the entire workflow process, so that everything is done fast, accurately, and with minimal manual labor. No more opening mail, scanning, inputting repetitive data, walking paper around to other departments for approval, hoping that invoices don’t get forgotten or lost on someone’s desk.
The result is exponentially faster turnaround time, leading to suppliers who are often willing to discount your bill with dynamic discounting. Your accounting department will be happy, too, now that they can access and work with all the data they need in one place. But you will be the happiest of all when your headaches go away and you start to get that solid, got-the-job-done feeling at the end of each day.
APIA puts you in control of the entire invoicing process, making your AP department far more productive, and helping cut costs substantially. With automation doing the heavy lifting, you and your employees will be staying on top of things and freed up to devote more time to other tasks.