The most effective method for an AP department to accomplish this is through an automated accounts payable process. However, the average AP department typically uses an ineffective manual process with little to no automation.
The difference between the two in terms of cost reduction and profitability can be staggering.
The average AP department - with a manual process - will:
In contrast, AP departments with an automated accounts payable process will:
If your organization is looking to reduce costs and increase profitability, it should be moving towards automating its accounts payable processes. In addition to saving time and cutting costs, there are other benefits an automated AP process can offer.
Improving your organizations process not only frees up your AP department to work on more important projects, it also eliminates the potential for errors that arise from manual processing. With accounts payable automation, gone are the days of lost invoices, paying for invoices twice, or being hit with late payment penalties.
Paper invoices slow down nearly every processes no matter how well they’re organized. Being able to scan the data from paper and secure it in a database, tasks like data entry, faxing, copying, and manually routing invoices becomes a thing of the past.
With a centralized database, approvals can be dealt with instantly, efficiently, and simultaneously with automatic routing and processing.
The systems used to automate an accounts payable process aren’t just useful for one thing. Whether you’re looking for a better way to manage your documents or want to automate additional workflow processes, using an enterprise content management system will help you get the job done.
In addition to workflow automation and document management capabilities, you will be able to send and receive documents, messages, set alerts, and better control the way your organization works during its day-to-day business.