Manual, inefficient accounts payable (AP) processes cost you a fortune. According to the Aberdeen Group, the cost can be as high as $38 per invoice and take up to 41 days. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When you eliminate tedious and error-prone manual data entry, you free up valuable resources and make a direct and significant impact to your organization’s bottom line. Additionally, by integrating your accounts payable data into your wider business intelligence activities (particularly if your AP solution is part of an integrated source-to-settle suite) the benefits are even greater.
Here are 6 benefits of accounts payable automation that impact your bottom-line:
1. No more paper
No more paper – or its shortcomings – in your accounts payable process. You will be capturing and taking advantage of all the data that moves through your AP processes.
2. Shorter invoicing times
Your invoice cycle times will shrink. A good effort can reduce cycle times from 20 days or more to fewer than five.
3. Early-payment discounts
You’ll negotiate more early-payment discounts and capture a greater percentage of them than ever before.
4. Improved supplier relationships
You’ll develop tighter relationships with your suppliers and coordinate your efforts to achieve common strategic goals.
5. Competitive insights
Your tighter integration of accounts payable into overall financials will allow you to formulate more win-win contracts and enhance your ability to gain competitive insights into your business.
6. Better customer service
Your customer service will improve as you provide more opportunities for suppliers to make inquiries and resolve issues via self-service portals.
Realizing the competitive edge accounts payable automation can create involves working with your suppliers and your AP automation software vendor. Make your process more efficient by simplifying supplier transactions and understanding the ways in which automation can help. Dynamic discounts and better business decisions await you.