Adopting hew trends and strategies has always been difficult, no matter what profession or industry we’re talking about. The transitions that constantly occur require the utmost carefulness when they are implemented. So, those who are responsible for doing this should arm themselves with patience and up their focus.
Among the most rigid professions out there is accounting. Accountants are known as people who have a hard time transitioning to something new. The global pandemic of COVID-19 was the time when numerous changes were made, and teams who were responsible for finances needed to adapt.
In the last couple of years, we can see the emergence of a new concept, account payable automation. We can see that numerous companies have implemented it, and many of them have reported a positive experience with it. Now, let’s take a look at the benefits of implementing accounts payable automation.
Without further ado, let’s begin.
1. Low-Costs
If you take a look at IOFM’s statistics, you can see that the average costs of invoice processing are around $15. Many would say that this process is not costly. However, we can see that automation has made it possible for the average cost of processing to drop significantly.
According to certain reports, the average drop in costs is around 4% per year. When you know that the first year mentioned in these reports was 2015, then it is quite easy to calculate how many percentages have dropped. So, you can see that this is a significant benefit for the companies that implemented this approach.
2. Transparency
Having the highest possible visibility and transparency of these documents is one of the priorities. The reason why accounts payable automation’s transparency is important is that it offers the finance executives the chance to take a couple of crucial insights, like seeing the bigger picture at once.
The reason why this is possible is a big dashboard that encompasses all the relevant data and indicators. Since this data consists of numerous elements, users should make sure to retrieve all of them in a particular situation, which is possible just through a couple of clicks. Investing a couple of seconds is more than enough.
Besides that, having a better insight offers the possibility to monitor the productivity and performance of the team or an individual. Plus, they can be used for employee reviews and as a way to develop staff. You will certainly agree that transparency is among the biggest values in today’s world of business.
3. Scam Protection
Numerous reports have stated that a vast majority of companies in the world have suffered some sort of payment fraud in 2019. For instance, the percentage of companies who experienced it is nothing short of exceptional, 81%. Thankfully, accounts payable automation is software that can help significantly in this regard.
AP makes sure that not only one person is responsible for making an approval, which eliminates the chances of scams or fraud. All the data is always double-checked before the procedure continues. That alone show just how efficient this system is. Elimination of the potential for fraud is always positive.
4. Time-Saving
The next one we want to discuss is time-saving. The whole process is significantly shorter and more efficient. Those who have experience with having a pile of documents on their table, in this case, unanswered invoices, know how uncomfortable this situation can be.
By implementing accounts payable automation, you can save quite a lot of time. You don’t have to waste time going into the details in each of the invoices. Instead, the software will do it for you, and the only thing left for you to do is to approve it at the end of the procedure. Sounds rather easy, doesn’t it?
Also, the time that’s wasted on going through numerous documents until you find the one you need is not a problem anymore. All the searches are conducted rather easily. As a result of saving time in this part of the procedure, you can invest it into something more valuable to you and your team.
5. On-Time Payments
As you can presume, many manual systems have a significant problem. Some parts of the procedure can last more than they should, which leads to payments being delayed. No one enjoys that situation. Not to mention that mistakes can be a big source of delay, especially when they are small and hard to discover.
The automation ensures that the mistakes are checked multiple times and that the approval is always made on time. By doing that, they help with running a tight schedule in every company. Thankfully, the number of those that implemented this system rises constantly.
6. Elimination of Manual Entry
Those who have experience with the manual processing of paper invoices know just how unstable it is. For example, it can lead to numerous issues like lost data, duplicates, or making errors. By implementing this approach, the users don’t need to focus on so many things in a short amount of time.
It is likely to capture all the data at a high speed. It is possible to do it through many different channels. However, the most widespread ones are requisition forms, batch scanning, email, etc. No matter which one of these you decide on, it is clear that the manual entry of the data is no longer a part of the process.
You can use the existing, paper invoices, and scan them. After that, inserting them into the software is a piece of cake. There’s no need to enter all the information all over again. The procedure is completely digital and you can count on eliminating all the boring elements of the process and making it smoother.
In Conclusion
Accounts payable automation is an efficient process that leaves little room for mistakes. Thankfully, it has become accessible to every company interested in implementing it. In this article of ours, we’ve discussed the main benefits of doing exactly that. We’re sure this guide will be of great help with making future decisions.
