Accounts Payable (AP) is arguably one of the most critical departments of any company, regardless of industry. Accounts Payable processes often involve paper-intensive tasks, including invoice processing, three-way matching and the overall management of payment records. Working with paper-based files and invoices can cause AP employees to capture data inefficiently and incorrectly. Paper records can also build up quickly, causing data entry processes to become very cumbersome, especially if your company has a very large number of invoices.

Accounts Payable automation increases the efficiency of any Accounting department, where invoices and other important business documents are frequently received. Document management software provides users with powerful automation as an ongoing process, to streamline Accounts Payable processing requirements, while simplifying transactions between your company and its suppliers. Is your organization ready to implement an Accounts Payable solution? Let’s explore the top four benefits of Accounts Payable automation.

1.      Eliminate Manual Data Entry & Lower Costs

Manually processing paper invoices can lead to lost data, human error during data entry and invoice duplicates, creating a high cost per invoice metric. The goal of automating the Accounts Payable department is to streamline these processes. Accounts Payable automation within a document management system allows users the ability to initiate the process by completing a web-based requisition form. This eForm can be submitted anywhere, anytime through a convenient web-based browser, which automatically prepopulates the captured data to deliver full document workflow capabilities, from document capture to archival.

When receiving paper invoices, users can scan them into document management software with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) assisted indexing to eliminate a high percentage of manual data entry.  Accounts Payable automation also streamlines the high speed capture of records through scanning, web forms, or email. Automation solutions provide the ability to extract high value information quickly and efficiently, without manual data entry, to create a streamlined, fully digital invoice management process.

2.      Streamline Invoice Approval

An Accounts Payable department is responsible for managing and processing invoices to ensure they are approved, recorded and paid. This process is time-consuming and costly when working with paper, as invoices must go through the company’s respective manual business process in order to be paid properly.

Well why not take that process digital? After an invoice eForm has been filled out online and submitted, it will automatically route by email to the designated approving manager. For a much easier job in creating an invoice for your business, you can find some most user-friendly invoice template online which you can use. The manager can then immediately review the requisition and approve for further routing, without waiting for a physical copy of that invoice. With the manager’s approval of the requisition, a workflow process will then automatically generate a purchase order for vendor distribution via email. Document management systems handle the routing, matching, approval and distribution of both purchase orders and invoices, streamlining AP tasks while providing real-time visibility into the course of processing.

3.      Automate Three-Way Matching

Electronic invoicing allows records to be submitted digitally before automatically indexing, routing and processing for the three-way match. During the indexing process, users automating AP processes with a document management system in place have the option to apply cost centers and General Ledger codes to the invoice line items for accurate bookkeeping. The system will then match your incoming invoices to their respective purchase orders and packing slips. After the three-way match is performed and confirmed, the document management system will route the invoice for final approval and payment. This allows your Accounts Payable department to work on tasks of higher importance, while letting workflow software finish processes automatically, in the background.

4.      Financial System Integration & Compliance

Accessing and taking action on invoices instantly becomes much simpler with AP automation. As invoice data is captured, the document management software will automatically feed that information into an existing financial system, such as QuickBooks or Microsoft Dynamics. This type of integration is highly advanced and cost-effective, streamlining and facilitating your accounting processes with the seamless ability to process invoices and distribute documents in tandem with your company’s accounting software. Once your process is complete, the records are then archived for future reference in full compliance with all IRS mandates. Finally, when these records are no longer needed, they are promptly queued for removal under the proper record retention regulations.

Revolutionize your Accounts Payable department with AP automation. Automation delivers the tools for your AP department to achieve faster, more precise invoice processing. No matter how you receive invoices – fax, mail, email, etc. – an Accounts Payable automation solution captures, organizes and delivers those documents, along with supporting content, to the appropriate individuals for review, coding and approval, ultimately simplifying the process so you can get more done.