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Manually processing your organization’s invoices isn’t easy. And it isn’t cheap or risk-free, either. A single invoice costs around $8 – 10 on average to process manually. This fact should come as no surprise. After all, this process involves sending invoices from desk to desk across your organization. It also requires you to print and copy countless documents, all while having low visibility into where things are at in the process. But automating accounts payable can solve these challenges. Electronic processing lets you skip the hassle and lower that invoices processing cost to as little as $2 per invoice.
When it comes to efficiency, an accounting document management solution and an AP process automation solution make a perfect pair. This duo can manage all the documents you receive in many formats. This may include documents sent by fax, mail, email, EDI, and others. Once your documents are in the system, you can easily access them. AP automation software allows your staff to retrieve invoices easily. You can also check images, receipts, vendor contracts, and historical correspondence. All these actions can take place directly from your existing ERP systems. Some common ERP integrations that work seamlessly with OnBase include SAP, Workday, Oracle E-Business Suite, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, PeopleSoft, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Infor Lawson.
Many of our customers use these solutions, so we’ve become well acquainted with these integrations, even recently achieving Hyland’s SAP Integration Competency Status for our implementation expertise.
This advanced technology can capture, organize, and deliver your documents and their supporting content to the right people at the right time. In the case of the invoice approval process, your AP automation solution can electronically deliver the invoice to managers, who can then review and approve them. If necessary, your managers can also enter any additional data directly from Microsoft Outlook or a mobile device. Just like that, the invoice approval process is complete, easier than ever before.
If you add an intelligent capture component to your AP automation software, you can unlock additional benefits. Intelligent capture technology enables your accounts payable automation solution to extract your invoice data (aka scrape the data off the page and make it come alive) to automate business processes. For example:
In the process, this technology can eliminate the need to re-key information. This way, you can unlock countless hours that you can reallocate to added-value tasks.
When your organization implements an AP automation software solution, chances are it won’t be long before you start seeing results. In our experience working with finance departments, we’ve seen about 300% increases in productivity per employee, proving just how tedious and time-consuming manual processing of the past can be. We’ve also witnessed finance departments see both accounts payable paybacks within less than a year and more than 60% processing costs improvements per invoice.
Implementing a new type of software can be intimidating for users, but when you starting using an AP automation solution, the process is a breeze. This technology can easily integrate with the applications and platforms your organization already uses, which makes for a smooth transition. Your staff can quickly retrieve invoices and their supporting content from your organization’s existing line-of-business systems. Approvals by managers can easily be done remotely via smartphones and tablets. Allowing users to stay working in their existing systems they already know dramatically reduces the learning curve which saves you time. It also minimizes the risk that could potentially come from new users’ mistakes. Some common ERP integrations that work seamlessly with OnBase include SAP, Workday, Oracle E-Business Suite, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, PeopleSoft, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Infor Lawson.
A significant benefit of automating your invoice processes is enhanced security. Your old manual invoice processing ways may have had the potential for invoices to fall into the wrong hands. Rest assured, your AP automation software solution will route the right documents to the right people at the right time. Plus, you can track a complete history of who has viewed what when.
Accounts payable automation software also brings value to your organization through the tools they offer managers. Real-time dashboards empower your managers with increased visibility into the status of invoice processing. This allows them to identify and take charge of bottlenecks that arise. This visibility also allows managers to strategically adjust workload distribution as needed, which helps to maximize your organization’s efficiency further.
An AP automation solution can be a significant time-saver for your organization in multiple ways. Manually processing invoices can be risky because of the potential human errors like mis-keyed information, and correcting these mistakes consumes valuable time. Leaving behind manual processing also eliminates time-consuming steps like manual data entry, physically distributing documents from person to person, making copies, and printing invoices. Not to mention the time it takes to manually track something down when you need it. When automation streamlines the way you process invoices, saved time is a natural result. Streamline your invoice processing with automation and unlock extra time that you can channel into other vital tasks.
When you implement this technology, you can customize your own business rules that fit your organization’s unique needs. These rules make sure that your system promptly delivers your invoices to the correct people, and that the right people approve them. And as your organization inevitably undergoes changes as business conditions shift, this solution empowers you to make real-time changes to your approval processes at any time. All without needing to involve your IT department.
ABC Supply accounts payable department had been entering invoice data twice into two different ERP systems; an unnecessary and risky duplication process. After implementing Brainware, an accounts payable automation software, to intelligently capture data on invoices and workflow processes to automate steps, they were able to be more efficient and effective with invoice processing.
OnBase has helped Colony Brands streamline invoice approvals as well as the rehiring process of temporary employees. It has reduced their error rate of duplicate payments, paperwork coming through, and lost paperwork.
With intelligent data capture, workflow automation, and seamless ERP integrations system, you can transform the efficiency and accuracy of your accounts payable operations.
As a Fortune 100 Manufacturer with annual revenue of $15 billion, the client was processing more than 1.25 million invoices annually from more than 8,000 vendors in a very manual-based Accounts Payable environment. After working with Naviant to improve their document centric business processes, the client realized an ROI of less than one year and saved an estimated $1.5 million in the first year post-implementation.
AP departments drive operations in businesses big and small, but the market is changing rapidly. Levvel Research examined the current state of AP in 2020 and have gathered valuable insights.
Your business invoice volume continues to grow and so does the amount of people working remotely. Can your current invoice approval process solution support the complexity these trends create?
Two Accounts Payable teams faceoff against each other- one has automated invoice processing with Enterprise Content Management (ECM), and the other doesn’t. Who will win the efficiency playoffs?
