ROI and AP Automation
When the time comes for an organization to review options or even pull the trigger on a new investment or project, the notorious ROI will always be the focal point. Many possible initiatives are deemed hard to justify and thus, fall to the wayside. Either because the benefits received are intangible, or the benefits are tangible but hard to quantify. Another justification against it, is that it might take too long for the benefits of a potential investment to come to fruition. It’s an unfortunate truth that many businesses will fail to capitalize on golden opportunities to gain further profitability and perhaps even fail altogether by not being more intuitive.
These types of arguments however, don’t apply to electronic invoicing. Switching from paper processing to payables automation (e-invoicing), often yields immediate impacts that are rather apparent. The numbers alone are impressive and make a compelling argument.
Our research has shown the majority of iPayables customers hit the “break even” point within the first year. Or in other words, you can potentially make more money implementing AP Automation than what you paid to use the service before the end of your first year! In fact, with the use of our dynamic discounting feature, returns for some of our larger clients have yielded in upwards of 300%! Considering some of our clients are some of the largest companies in the world, those numbers are very substantial.
Plus, the decrease in environmental impact an organization can have when completely eliminating paper from its accounts payable department is impressive. Not only does high-level automation increase an organization’s transparency and accounting accuracy, it can also allow companies to re-allocate valuable employees to more important tasks. As you can see, there are many residual benefits that go beyond the financial impact of transforming your AP department into a revenue generator.
ROI is important when making a big change, like automating an entire department and process. However, by using a high-level accounts payable automation solution, your company’s savings won’t stop at money. From reducing your economic footprint, to reducing stress and time spent on tedious tasks, automation improves your department and company in the best way possible.