AP software is a great way to help an organization as well as the Accounts Payable Department. The AP Department is the ultimate cost centre as it doesn’t generate revenue and it actually pays all or most of the costs. AP software can help the Accounts Payable department and also help many other parts of the business. Here are some benefits of using AP Software:
Reduce Manual Effort
One of the lowest hanging fruit in digital transformation is invoicing. This is especially true on the AP side. On sales calls, we have walked into an AP department that input a 5 foot stack of invoices. This stack of paper replenishes itself every Monday morning. The worst part is that most of the invoices start as a PDF and then are printed and entered manually. Good AP software reduces or eliminates these manual efforts.
Move Errors and Mistakes Back to Your Suppliers
AP software can shift the effort of correcting errors or mistakes on invoices from your organization back to the supplier. This could mean things like incorrect pricing, missing purchase order numbers, incorrect tax amounts, and anything else, can be pushed back to your supplier to be corrected. This saves the AP team time and also allows your suppliers to fix the issues so they can be paid sooner versus finding out about the issue laster and delaying the payment.
Make it Easier for Other Team Members
The accounts payable invoice flow often touches different teams and locations. As an example a branch manager may need to approve an invoice. A paper based or manual process means more work and less flexible ways to approve those invoices.
Better Visibility
For some companies they don’t get visibility on them until they have final approval. This can mean days or even weeks after receiving invoices before you know what they are and how much they are for. There are many benefits for businesses to get visibility on these invoices for cashflow planning and for some organizations this information is needed for billing. Good AP software gives you this visibility sooner. It doesn’t mean you have to pay the invoice sooner, but at least you know what it is for.
Take Advantage of Quick Pay
Many companies can’t take advantage of quick pay discounts because they can’t get the invoices into their system fast enough. A recent post from the BDC that a 2/10 can have an annualized return of 37%. If your organization has the cashflow to make an early payment, this can be a major return.
Keep Suppliers Happy
Suppliers are your partners and being a good customer is important for a long term relationship. Paying your suppliers on-time is one of the best things for that relationship. Good AP Software helps clarify that an invoice is approved so they have an idea when they will be paid.
If you would like to understand how OnePosting AP Software can help your organization by book a meeting with our team.
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