Get the Right AP Automation System to Stay Nimble, Efficient, and In the Moment

Today’s markets are in constant flux, and your business may change at a moment’s notice. No wonder you’re continually looking for ways to stay nimble, efficient, and cost-effective while maintaining the high quality and service levels your customers have come to expect. Nearly half of businesses like yours are looking to streamline operations by digitally transforming their finance processes.¹ Yet too many are still trying to keep pace with the same outdated, manual invoice management they’ve been using for ages. The result can be ill-defined expense and invoice policies, an inability to track spending trends and behaviors, and an average of 13 hours spent just processing vendor invoices each week.²

The moment to take advantage of automated accounts payable (AP) technology is here.

In a world of unpredictable supply chains, everyone must be prepared to bring new vendors and payment types into the mix. This can mean higher transaction volumes for your AP staff – many of whom may now need the flexibility to work remotely. In addition to allowing them to get more done in the day, automation also takes tedious, error-prone data entry off their plate. Not only does this help avoid delays, late fees, double payments, and lost documentation that can affect cash flow, but it also improves compliance and allows AP staff to stay focused on strategic, value-adding work.

On top of streamlining processes overall, the right automated AP system should give you the advanced reporting and analytics you need to monitor spending across your enterprise. The system should also include the ability to quickly pinpoint errors and flag potential fraud, waste, and abuse as well as identify spending trends and opportunities to develop a more impactful spend management strategy.

So, let’s take a moment to examine what truly automated AP looks like.

To start, your invoices should be immediately and automatically scanned and inputted into the system – no need to manually enter data from e-mails and paper into spreadsheets. Everything from workflow notifications to approvals to PO matching from POs to goods or services received should be automated to help ensure accuracy and efficiency at every touch point. But you also need the flexibility to customize and adapt routing rules, policies, and processes to meet your needs in the moment. Another must-have is comprehensive, up-to-date reporting that gives you clear spending oversight and an accurate picture of cash flow. Your system should also be integrated with your back-end ERP or finance solution so that the same data can inform your forecasting and budgets. Cloud-based software is always a good bet for ease of integration, scalability, and lower total cost of ownership. And last but not least, all of your data and processes should be easily accessible via mobile devices so that your people can stay productive in the office, at home, or on the go.

In fact, companies that have seized the moment and automated their AP are seeing up to 22% fewer misplaced invoices, 12 hours saved processing invoices each week, and an estimated annual cost savings of $44,000.³

The case for AP automation is clear – and the moment is now. The next question is: How do I get there?

First, you’ll need to get the right people to the table. This means your CFO, AP team, IT and procurement leaders, and anyone else who will be impacted by the new system. Learn their processes, find out what’s working and what’s not, identify gaps, and use their insights and ideas to map today’s operations to tomorrow’s goals to improve performance and deliver greater value going forward. The next step will be to clearly establish your business and technology requirements. This step includes finding a solution that will work well with the systems you already have in place but will also give you the flexibility to expand and grow. Finally, be realistic about the challenges you may face so that you can meet them head on and minimize disruption along the way. Automated AP will ultimately make everyone’s life easier, but you also want getting there to be as simple as possible. It might even be worth engaging a third-party consultant to help you and your people manage the changes ahead.

To learn more about the questions you should be asking AP automation solution providers as you search for the right software, read our complete AP automation buyers guide.

Then visit us online to see if SAP Concur solutions are right for you.

1.–3. “Travel, Expense, and Vendor Invoice Management Study,” Analysys Mason, 2022.