Automating Invoice Process to Get Answers Your Company Needs

When the accounts payable team manages invoices and payments by hand, on paper, and with spreadsheets instead of taking advantage of automation, the costs go deeper than time spent processing forms and chasing answers.

There are likely insights lurking on that paper and in spreadsheets that could increase the growth and efficiency of your business. But even if you could ferret out the insights, they probably will not come in a timely enough manner for you to pursue opportunities.

Business done manually is less likely to provide a fully reliable and up-to-date picture of spending and cash flow. What should be moments of clarity and decision are instead moments of doubt and lost opportunity.

A scalable, cloud-based solution can automate the invoice process from submission to approval to payment, delivering both efficiency and answers. You might think your company handles accounts payable with proficiency. While it may be being efficient, it’s efficiency with an outdated process.

Findings  from a recent study we sponsored with Analysys Mason¹ can help guide conversations around automated invoice solutions.

• Lacking clarity. 43% of finance leaders say lack of visibility into cash flow and spending is the biggest shortcoming of going without automated invoice management.
• Wasting time. 47% report that lost invoices and incomplete documentation are the top time-related challenges resulting from not automating.
• Avoiding late fees. Late payments fell 24% with automated invoice management.
• Getting deals. Businesses net 11% in cost savings from discounts and supplier-negotiated rates when they use SAP® Concur® solutions.
• Reducing overspending. With better visibility from SAP Concur solutions, budget overspending dropped 26%.

Statistics in hand, you might ask three critical questions to assess where your business stands regarding invoice management and financial visibility.

Where is that invoice?

The move to hybrid work added another level of complexity to paperwork. Whether it’s a paper invoice falling off a desk or an emailed one consigned to a spam folder, invoices can get lost without a systematic way to capture and track them. An automated solution logs invoices right away after a vendor submits them. Intelligent technology gathers line-item information, minimizing error-prone manual entry, and can check for duplicates. Your team will know where an invoice is in the process at any given time.

When do I get paid?

Once a vendor sends an invoice, their next and completely fair question centers on when payment is coming. An automated AP solution keeps them informed every step of the way, with notifications confirming receipt of the invoice, approval, and expected pay date.  Intelligent technology flags potentially noncompliant items for a closer look, either automatically or by a team member. Overall, the approval-to-payment window is shortened, and suppliers are happier. So is your company, as it’s better able to obtain early payment discounts that add to the bottom line and more likely to avoid late payment fees that cut into it.

What is our cash position?

This might the most crucial question, because all too often it cannot be answered with precision. It’s hard, even risky, to base strategy and chase growth when guided by outdated reports and inaccurate forecasts derived from manual processes that don’t allow a full picture of your financial position. With AP automation providing better visibility into finances, a company can gain better control of cash flow, budget more effectively, and get the most from spending. Most importantly, by knowing how much is in the bank, you have the information to confidently make decisions.

AP automation can also improve another area that contributes to the success of your company – how employees feel about their jobs. By taking the tedium out of their tasks, finance employees can focus on meaningful, strategic work that adds value to their roles and the bottom line.

As important as employee satisfaction is in a time of shifting expectations and a tighter labor market, it can be more difficult to measure. If more concrete numbers are needed to gauge an investment in automation, consider these from our research of businesses using invoice management solutions:

• $44,000 in estimated annual savings
• 122 hours saved weekly by finance/accounting teams
• 8 months, estimated time, to achieve positive ROI

Where Can I Learn the Keys to AP Automation?

• Get The Essential Guide to AP Automation to discover how to improve invoicing, gain timely information to make better decisions, and learn how Concur Invoice can help achieve both.
• Hear how one customer realized 50% time savings by streamlining their invoice process by watching this case study.

1. Source: Analysys Mason 2022, Travel, Expense, and Vendor Invoice Management Study