In a recent study by the Institute of Financial Operations (IFO) on Accounts Payable Automation, over 95% of the respondents said they still receive paper invoices in the mail. It is 2014, it is time for your company to improve the way you company processes incoming invoices.
By now you have probably heard that Accounts Payable (AP) processing isn’t as efficient as it should be. You probably have heard the risks of misplacing invoices, not paying them on time, the time it takes employees to file and retrieve these invoices or documents, and much more. You are more than aware that AP automation will give you the efficiency, cost controls, visibility, and accuracy of information that your industry demands to be successful.
So, why haven’t you switched to Accounts Payable Automation yet? We understand it can be hard to pull the trigger when it comes to implementing new technology for your company. Here are a few more reasons and debunked myths to give you the confidence to make this switch.
Myth #1 “Automation is not really more efficient”
AP automation is much more efficient. The average cost for departments to process an invoice is $19.10. Automation can decrease invoice processing costs by 67%. It also eradicates up to 75% of an often-hidden labor cost for data entry. An individual can process up to 8 times as many invoices per month with AP automation. In other words, you can do more with much less.
Myth #2 “We would lose control over our process”
AP automation makes it easier to monitor and control processing and payments with timely and accurate data delivered automatically. Therefore, no more invoices hiding on someone’s desk without accounts payable no knowing it exists
Myth #3 “AP Automation is too expensive”
60% of accounts payable installations provide payback in 12 months or less. You will no longer be missing out on early-pay discounts, paying for the same invoice twice, paying your employees to spend valuable time filing and retrieving documents, and many other problems that lead to more expenses
Myth #4 “Our company is too small”
There is not one company that is too large or too small for AP automation. There are cloud based approaches that can be low cost. Automation allows your accounts payable staff to focus on other activities that are beneficial to your company. All in all, you are never too small to save money.
Still not convinced? Here are a few more reasons to go automated
AP Automation technology is now tested and proven.
Not only can you improve productivity and reduce the time it takes to process invoices by 80%, over 60% of AP automation installations show a return on investment (ROI) in 12 months or less.
Early payment discounts can reduce business costs
On average invoices take 13.5 days to process and 29.2% are paid late. This makes businesses miss out on early payment discounts that can reduce business costs. With AP automation some companies process invoices in less than 3 days.
Improve cash flow cycle management
Since automation removes many of the delays associated with getting data into your financial systems for approval, at the end of the month, you accrue fewer payables.
Some other benefits include a reduction on manual data entry costs, deliver accurate invoice data faster, increase invoice data accuracy, and automate accounting distribution of your line-item charges.
