7 Key Benefits of Accounts Payable Automation

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Written By Haisam Abdel Malak
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Thanks to the benefits of accounts payable automation, businesses has seen significant improvements in optimizing their financial transactions. Using the best AP automation software has helped organizations reduce the time and efforts required to process invoices, eliminate data entry errors, and gain better visibility into their financial data.

They key benefits of accounts payable automation include increased efficiency, improve accuracy, reduced delayed in payment processing, automated approval workflows, reduced data entry errors, enhanced data visibility and insight, improved vendor satisfaction, and enhanced compliance.

The 4 functions AP automation can save you time and money while reducing errors and fraud in accounts. With better visibility into your financial data, you can make informed decisions and drive business growth. Invest in AP automation to streamline your financial processes.

In previous article, I have discussed implementing best practices and following the latest trends related to accounts payable automation to profit from this initiative. If you are not sure how to move forward, you can check this guide ‘How to automate AP processes‘.

The Benefits of AP Automation

The positive impact of automating accounts payable processes should be leveraged by any organization in any industry. I have seen many organizations that overcame the challenges related to AP automation and successfully transitioned from paper to digital AP processes were able to pay dividends for many years to come.

Here are the key benefits of AP automation:

1- Increased efficiency

If you’re looking to boost the efficiency of your business operations, automating your AP processes is a smart move. Manual processes can slow down your invoice cycle time, leading to cash flow issues and potential violations of vendor invoice terms. This can be a headache to manage and could even harm your business relationships.

With AP automation, you can easily streamline your invoice processing, taking advantage of reducing cycle times and ensuring timely payments without any manual intervention. By freeing up your team’s time and reducing the risk of errors, you can focus on driving business growth and staying ahead of the competition.

2- Improved accuracy

One of the most advantages of AP automation is the ability to produce high quality process outcome every time a new cycle is initiated. That is because you are replacing boring and time-consuming human activities such as data entry by an automated process that can intelligently extract data from invoices sent in any format and push them to your accounting systems.

Data entry, if not automated, has an error rate as high as 4%. That means the error rate for data entered once, without any further verification, is 400 per 10,000 entries – a significant number that affects even small datasets.

3- Reduced delays in payment processing

Another positive impact and benefits of accounts payable automation would be the reduced delays when processing payments as most of the human activities that usually takes time to complete can be done using advanced technologies.

With manual processes, delays can occur due to errors, missing information, or miscommunications, which can lead to late payments, damaged relationships with suppliers, and even financial penalties.

By automating accounts payable processes, businesses can eliminate these issues and ensure timely payment processing, which leads to better cash flow management and stronger vendor relationships.

Additionally, by reducing the time spent on payment processing, businesses can free up resources to focus on more strategic activities that drive growth and profitability.

4- Automated approval workflows

Implementing approval workflows is a crucial step in automating accounts payable. This will allow you to automate the routing of invoices to the appropriate approver for review and approval without any human interference. It also allows you to specific different level of approvals based on several factors such as invoice amount or supplier name.

Remember, your goal is not only to automate the process but also to improve efficiencies by eliminating bottlenecks and delays in the approval cycle. In addition, you should aim for high accuracy of compliance to different rules and regulations which can be automated from greater accuracy.

5- Reduced data entry errors

Manual data entry has proved over the years that is it insufficient and error prone. That is why you must make sure that data entry cycle is automated to save time, reduce errors, and improve efficiency which can lead to decreased delayed payments and other issues.

Usually, organizations use special type of technology that can automatically extract data from the invoices and push them back to your ERP or accounting application without any human touch.

6- Enhanced Compliance

Most organizations are required to operate in a regulated environment where laws and regulations are dictated by governments or industries. Failing to comply with these regulations can result in financial penalties and trust damage with your customers.

When automation is implemented, businesses can establish a standard framework for managing financial data, ensuring compliance with regulations and internal policies.

With enhanced compliance, businesses can reduce the risk of penalties, improve their reputation, and maintain a secure and reliable financial operation.

7- Improved vendor satisfaction

Improved vendor satisfaction is one of the significant benefits of AP automation. Manual accounts payable processes can be time-consuming, prone to errors, and can lead to late payments, which can damage relationships with vendors.

When organizations are processing invoices on time and with no delays, vendors will be satisfied and no late charges will be issued. This will increase the loyalty of your suppliers leading to better pricing and contract terms.

Conclusion

As we saw in this article, the benefits of accounts payable automation are enormous and can’t be ignored by any business. If you are still doing manual invoice processing, you will be left behind and competitors will sooner or later gain competitive edge over your organizations. The time to automate AP processes is now!

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