The Cost Of Not Automating Accounts Payable
BEST ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AUTOMATION
Finance executives are often tasked with finding cost-saving solutions while still producing accurate and timely payments. One of their go-to strategies is implementing accounts payable automation software. Without this technology, finance professionals may incur additional expenses, lose efficiency gains and potentially put their organizations at risk of not meeting compliance regulations.
Manually processing accounts payable (AP) takes considerably more time than automating, especially when the process intertwines several data sources, from order systems and purchase orders to invoices, contracts and delivery receipts. There is also the increased time associated with manually validating, matching, approving and posting transactions.
Aside from time and labor costs, businesses that manually process AP transactions may be losing additional savings opportunities by not taking advantage of early payment discounts. Additionally, mistakes caused by human error can lead to higher costs due to unsuitable pricing, duplicate payments and unnecessary accounting adjustments.
When manual processing is the go-to solution, it opens the door to potential financial and compliance issues, such as inadequate internal control procedures, lack of fraud protection and inadequate audit trails. The absence of automated systems can also make reports and analytics more difficult to create, further driving up costs.
Fortunately, there are AP automation solutions that can help finance executives meet their requirements within an organizations budget. Through automation, organizations can realize increased cost efficiency, more visibility into current and historical processes and better controls for auditing and compliance.
AP automation produces cost savings myriad of ways. First, it reduces manual data entry and lowers the cost of paper and storage fees. Second, automation enables businesses to negotiate better terms with suppliers and take advantage of early payment discounts. Third, automation allows AP departments to validate invoice accuracy earlier in the process, thereby reducing the time and cost associated with invoice exceptions.
Robust AP automation solutions provide additional information that can be used to alert organizations to changes or anomalies that could indicate fraud or early warnings signs of invoice exceptions. Automation can also eliminate human error and capture and store invoices and associated documents in secure and easily accessible digital repository.
In conclusion, while automation has the potential to improve accuracy and add cost savings, it is important to ensure the implementation of secure, customizable solution that meets the needs of an organization. Without it, businesses may run the risk of not fulfilling compliance regulations, or worse, incur serious financial losses due to inefficiencies and lack of protection.
