Accounts payable technology: 5 tools to help you streamline accounts payable

It can take a long time for the accounts payable (AP) team to process an invoice. This could result in late payments, costing the company money through fees and even damaging relationships with vendors. Even businesses that routinely pay their invoices on time may take advantage of early payment discounts if they streamline their AP processes. Modern AP automation platforms offer multiple tools that allow companies to streamline their accounts payable processes easily. These tools include:

• Automated invoice matching
• Performance tracking analytics
• Automatic invoice routing
• Cloud-based storage
• Automated payment scheduling

Read on to learn more information on the tools that can help companies streamline their AP process.

Automated invoice matching

Manually matching of  invoices can be one of the most time-consuming AP tasks. This is especially true for companies that require employees to match invoices, purchase orders, and receive documents. The problem is even worse when AP staff have to match contracts and other documents. However, automated invoice matching is an important part of nearly every automated AP system. This tool can match purchase orders and invoices almost instantly.

Not only is automated invoice matching much quicker than doing things manually, but it is also more accurate. Every AP staff member can match an invoice with the wrong purchase order. This could cause serious problems down the line. However, the problem will be much less common with a properly implemented automated invoice matching system.

Performance tracking analytics

Performance tracking analytics has become important in many business areas, including accounting. These analytics allow companies to see which parts of the AP process take their employees too long. This will let these companies know how to retrain their employees to streamline the process. Analytics can also let companies know which vendor’s invoices take the longest to process. The company can then identify the issue with these particular invoices and fix it to allow their AP staff members to process the invoices more quickly.

Performance tracking analytics can also help businesses streamline their AP departments. The advent of AP automation means that AP departments can be smaller than they were in the past. Companies can save great money by having a streamlined AP department.

Automatic invoice routing

Manual invoice routing can be one of the slowest parts of the AP process. This is especially true for large businesses with many employees responsible for approving invoices. However, it is possible to automate this process quite easily with a modern AP platform. This way, invoices will be automatically sent to the correct approver every time.

Manual invoice routing can slow down the AP process even more if employees send an invoice to the wrong approver. Such a mistake could slow the process by several days if the approver has to get through many invoices before they find the improperly routed invoice. This sort of error is less likely to happen with an automated AP system.

Cloud-based storage

Using cloud-based storage for invoices and related data may be the most important way businesses can streamline their AP processes. Cloud-based storage allows multiple employees working in different locations to work on the same project simultaneously. It also enables AP workers to log in and access whatever data they need instead of waiting for someone to send them the required information.

It is also important to note that cloud-based AP platforms load and process data more quickly than traditional programs. While this may only save a fraction of a second per instance, the time savings will certainly add up (especially for a large company).

Automated payment scheduling

Like many manual AP processes, manual payment scheduling is time-consuming and error-prone. However, a properly implemented AP automation program can schedule payments automatically. Depending on the company’s cash flow, it is possible to use these programs to pay invoices. They can also have a schedule to pay invoices on the due date or even on the last day the company could get a payment discount.

Automated payment scheduling is not only quicker, but it will also help the company avoid late payments. Late payments often cost the company money in fees and can even damage the company’s relationship with important vendors.

A leading AP automation platform can provide all these tools

Only some of the AP automation platforms on the market offer all the tools listed above. However, the industry-leading platforms do offer these features. All these tools are essential for businesses looking to speed up their AP process. Companies should try the platform to see how much they can streamline their AP process.