Despite the movement to accounts payable automation by way of digital transaction systems, the invoice is still the primary source for payments. And while the shift towards electronic invoices through the form of PDFs has grown significantly, companies are still missing the true benefits of invoice capture through optical character recognition (OCR), workflow and accounts payable automation.
- 50% of organizations have yet to adopt accounts payable automation systems
- 55% of organizations with accounts payable systems, are not using any OCR or scanning solutions (12% only scan for archival purposes)
- The median cost to process an invoice is $8
Those are some pretty astonishing numbers, considering the technology that is out there to help improve in these areas.
There’s ROI in accounts payable automation – and it comes a lot sooner than you might think
- 50% of accounts payable automation system users reported a payback period of 9 months or less – 22% achieved this payback in as little as 6 months
- Those streaming invoices through accounts payable capture systems were achieving 40% “hands-free” throughput
- 29% reported savings of 50% or more from adopting accounts payable automation solutions
What hospitality business doesn’t want faster turnaround time on payment, better monitoring and transparency of invoice status and better records keeping? The process to receive an invoice to the point of payment can take seconds – improving your ROI from the moment this is implemented. It’s all about getting started.
Here’s how to build accounts payable automation into your organization:
- Linking workflow to digital approval methods (e.g. digital signatures) allows a company to follow a consistent set of steps for each approval (controls and auditability of processes)
- Faster time to process = early payment discounts. Gone are the days where you have to wait for an invoice to get from one location to head office. A document management system with an effective accounts payable automation process will reduce that processing time by greater than 60%
- Indirect benefits from an automated accounts payable automation process will boost your ROI further – eliminates the need to file/retrieve paper documents, no longer requires couriering of invoices for processing, etc.
- Accuracy and accessibility of information is enhanced when you eliminate or reduce the need for hand-key entries. By building a proper set of quality control rules, you will ensure that the standards are being met, but simultaneously build efficiency through the reliance on technology.
- A desire to centralize operations is a key driver for accounts payable automation in many organizations – it equates to savings IF it is implemented right. Platforms are now available allowing accounts payable staff to process these invoices outside of the office, or offshore, where labour may be cheaper.
Contact us today to find out more about our Accounts Payable process improvement initiatives and to talk more about the opportunities for your organization.
