Avidxchange

Article Dean Dorton

This blog was reposted from our partner, AvidXchange.

We all know that the accounts payable process isn’t a straight and narrow path. Several small steps can make a big difference when it comes to paying vendors on time—invoice entry, approvals, and handling different payment methods. These steps aren’t all that simple, especially with paper.

Paper is the reason for most problems plaguing finance departments. Common obstacles that stem from paper include hours of manual labor, errors, and fraud risks that could cost your business thousands of dollars. The time and money spent solving these problems are one of the many reasons why finance decision-makers are considering a paperless accounts payable process—AP automation solutions.

Currently, there’s a lot of buzz around finance departments transforming from paper to paperless accounts payable processes. They want to reduce the time spent on manual tasks and streamline the process without missing critical steps. Businesses want flexibility, visibility, and security when paying vendors, which just isn’t possible with paper.

If your finance staff is facing any of the typical payment problems, we have four simple solutions to ease the pain:

4 accounts payable problems and reasons to seek a paperless AC process

1) Your paper-based accounts payable process makes it impossible to improve long-term strategies and visibility.

Even though paper-based accounts payable processes and strategies may be working just fine for your finance department, they’re not the best. Storing invoices, receipts, and vendor information in a file cabinet makes it nearly impossible to predict financial problems or opportunities accurately. Chances are if you’re analyzing payment data with piles of paper and Excel files, there’s a high chance of errors and limited visibility into ineffective spend or vendor costs over time. Not to mention the amount of time spent analyzing information, rummaging through file cabinets, and looking for lost printed invoices and vendor records.

With a paperless accounts payable process, finance leaders have easy access to historical payment information and customized reports to make well-informed decisions without paper or manual labor. The AP staff has all information needed for audits, tax season, and month-end closing, all in one cloud-based SaaS. AP automation’s increased level of visibility helps finance leaders stay ahead of potential overspend based on payment history.

2) You’ve established poor vendor relationships thanks to problems with paper.

Let’s face it: vendors dread calling your accounts payable department to checking on invoices or payment statuses. The reality is, that they just want their payments on time. AP specialists waste hours combing through piles of paper to answer these emails and phone calls from vendors.

Paper-based accounts payable processes often lead to late payments. Late payments and lack of communication often lead to poor vendor relationships. From a supplier’s point of view, they’re counting on your business’ payments from their sales to avoid debt and effectively manage their budgets just like your business. With paper-based accounts payable processes, it’s nearly impossible to provide vendors with real-time updates and visibility into your finance department’s accounts payable process.

The best solution to keep the supplier happy is a paperless AP process. AP automation solutions allow companies to log in to the supplier portal to get real-time updates on each invoice and view payment history without phone calls and emails. Many AP automation solutions also have the option to pay vendors in batches when using electronic payments. There’s also less worry about managing different payment types. For example, the AvidPay Network handles the heavy lifting of contacting vendors to verify payment types to save your finance department time and money.

3) You’re stuck in the Stone Age of paying with paper checks.

Why are businesses still clinging to the Stone Age with paper checks? For most finance departments, it’s convenience and cost savings. However, organizations that use paper processes often have to rely on internal processes to double check for fraud, but that’s not enough. Finance departments that stick to paper run the risk of duplicate invoices which can lead to duplicate payments. Or even worse, they may mail a paper check to a scammer who sent a fake invoice.

4) Your finance department is spending more than expected on payment processing.

Most finance leaders don’t invest in AP automation solutions because they’re afraid that they won’t see a return on the investment. There’s the common misperception that AP automation solutions are for larger businesses that have high payment volume. So, naturally, these companies stick to paper-based accounts payable processes that don’t seem to cost as much money, but in fact, paper processes cost more. On average, companies are paying $22 to process a single paper invoice. According to Due.com, some companies are spending as much as $40. If your company handles at least 500 invoices per month, you may be spending as much as $11,000 to process your payables.

Paper checks also have high costs. According to PYMNTS.com, processing one check can cost your business almost $10. That doesn’t include manual labor costs and hours spent. Multiplying these costs by the number of payments received each month can add up quickly. On the other hand, AP automation solutions cut accounts payable costs by as much as 60 percent for many businesses.

Article Dean Dorton

The accounts payable department has countless daily duties. From managing invoices to making payments, there’s a lot to keep track of. To build a well-oiled AP machine that provides visibility and control over the payments process, finance departments can put these best practices into play.

Don’t let your invoices result in ‘lost files’

As a best practice, electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) has its perks in the payment world. Electronically managing invoices reduces the risk of losing files and missing deadlines. There’s also the bonus of having an automation solution so you can automatically pay vendors without cutting paper checks. Using centralized, cloud-based workflows provides easier cash flow monitoring and real-time visibility into the financial future.

Let your invoices live in the cloud

Moving invoices to the cloud boosts flexibility and earlier visibility into spend. There’s no need to chase down managers who are always on the go. Invoices are available for approvers to review and approve from anywhere, 24/7, 365 days a year. Keeping payables in a centralized hub helps the finance department stay organized and benefit from a streamlined payment process.

Automate approvals to put payments on the fast track

Reduce the headaches and havoc of the approval process. AP automation simplifies approvals while pushing a high volume of invoices. E-invoicing solutions allow you to implement rules and compliance, expediting the approval process with automation for faster payments. Regardless of internal restrictions, automation allows businesses to integrate those rules to save time and costs.

Give suppliers power over their payments

Implementing a “self-service” supplier portal eliminates the frustration of spending the day constantly managing supplier inquiries. A cloud-based portal gives suppliers 24/7 access to check the status of payables and update vendor information. A supplier portal provides your suppliers with the visibility they need, so your AP staff can focus on more strategic aspects of the accounts payable process.

Ease supplier management with a simplified solution

Supplier management can be time-consuming for any AP department. From managing compliance to preferred payment methods, keeping vendors aligned can be a tedious task. With AP automation, you can remove the headache of maintaining supplier data and their preferred payment methods. AvidXchange contacts 100% of your suppliers on your behalf to verify and update their information, identify their accepted payment types, and perform due diligence on any outstanding payments to get them resolved quickly.

The bottom line: Build a case for AP automation

If your AP department is looking to accelerate approvals, reduce processing costs, and virtually eliminate paper while gaining more transparency and control over spending, then AP automation may be the right solution for you. 

avidxchange ROI calculator

AvidXchange has been delivering accounts payable automation solutions to the midmarket for over 16 years. We understand how AP Automation improves controls, creates operational efficiencies, and reduces costs. How much time and money can AP automation with AvidXchange save your company? Find out by using our ROI calculator.

roi calculator

Interested in automating your payables and creating efficiencies for your AP team? Our automation specialists will create a customized demo and walk you through the streamlined workflow of an automated AP process. Schedule a demo!

Article Dean Dorton

Last week, on December 12th, Massey Consulting held its annual end-of-year conference for our Sage Intacct users and clients. The conference, newly renamed “Enlighten 2017”, was a great success!

The event took place at RTP Headquarters right in our own Raleigh, North Carolina. With Sage Intacct customers traveling from both out of town and out of state, there was a mix of all types of people – in other words, a great turnout. Some users had been using Sage Intacct for over 5 years, while some are currently still working on their implementation to go live in the next month.

Because of the different stages of each customer’s journey, the conference was a great opportunity for individuals to engage with each other and share their feedback and experiences with Sage Intacct.

The networking time also allowed attendees to visit Massey’s wonderful marketplace partners- AvidxChange, Nexonia, WorkForceGo, and Avalara.

                      avidxchange enlighten

Additionally, there were sessions given throughout the day from the Massey team, our marketplace partners, one of our local customers, and even a Q & A panel at the end.

“I thought the presentations were very concise and informative.  I especially enjoyed the sales and use tax software presentation {from Avalara} and the Q & A at the end about Sage Intacct.” –Eric Modrak from the American Society of Echocardiography

Presentations included information on:

  • How to keep your security safe in Sage Intacct
  • How to use AP benchmarks and dimension relationships
  • Dashboard customizations
  • Top resources you can utilize within Sage Intacct.

Attendees were able to earn 4.5 CPE credits through these sessions.

We can’t forget the delicious taco bar from Rocky Top Catering that everyone enjoyed, along with the White Elephant game that added some fun, holiday cheer to an educational day. Everyone was able to walk out with a prize, ranging from tablets, drones, to Amazon Echos and $100 gift cards!

“Massey’s Enlighten events are always very valuable as we continue to learn more about Sage Intacct. We aren’t always able to make the larger Sage Intacct events, so it’s very helpful that Massey brings some tips and updates back to us on a local level. Hearing the presentations from a few of the Sage Intacct partners also helps me think of new ways we can customize the system to work for us even better. The addition of CPE hours this year is a wonderful bonus (and the White Elephant game is pretty awesome too)!” –Laura Arndt from Riccobene

You do not want to miss out on Enlighten the next time it comes around! Stay posted with our events on Massey Consulting’s Calendar page!

Article Dean Dorton

There are a million reasons why you should automate your accounts payable (AP) process. However, the reason you will automate is when you decide the pain of manually managing your payables process is greater than the temporary pain of change. The triggers and pain are different for all businesses but the central theme is the same—you recognize challenges in your job and know there is a better way to manage it. In this blog, we are going to discuss what motivates companies and individuals to automate their invoice and payment processes.

Your AP Process is Costly

Many companies think they have a cost-efficient payables process, but the reality is, automated processes are much cheaper. Think about it…every time you, or someone else in your business, touches an invoice or payment, the processing costs associated with the invoice increases. From the moment you open the mail, all the way through to when your CFO or Controller signs the check, you’ve increased the cost to process an invoice and payment.

According to PayStream Advisors, the average cost to process an invoice is $9.00, while the average cost to process a paper check is $7.15. With automation, you can reduce your processing costs by 60% or more. Cost reductions come from shortened approval cycles from an average of 28 days to 2-3 days. Not to mention, eliminating paper, stamps, envelopes, check stock, etc. cuts down on the hard costs as well.

You Are Growing

Growth is a common catalyst for automation because automation is more scalable than continuing to hire additional staff. If you had to process 3x more invoices and payments per month, would you be putting in overtime? Hopefully not! You have more important things to do like spend time with your family and friends. But sometimes it’s not always an option, especially when your job keeps you physically in the office to key in invoice data into your accounting system. This is where automation comes in. You can triple your processing capacity with the same amount of resources. Not to mention – all fully coded and approved invoice data can be imported into your accounting system with just 1-click. Just think about the possibilities…

We know that as an AP professional, you are often too busy to join a lengthy webinar. The reason you are looking to automate probably has something to do with how busy you are. That’s why we’re hosting a 15-minute webinar, tomorrow (May 25, 2017) at 2pm EST, so you can quickly learn the benefits of automating your AP process, without taking too much time away from your day. In this webinar, we’re going to discuss the definition of AP automation, the top signs it’s time to automate, and show you a brief demo of the solution. Register today and secure your spot before it’s too late.

Article Dean Dorton

No matter our career path or industry, we all have massive undertakings and side projects that prevent us from completing our normal, daily tasks. For those in the accounts payable space, it’s easy to say, “We’ve got a lot of irons in the fire right now, but this is definitely something we’d like to do eventually — maybe next year!” It’s tempting to hold off on implementing an AP automation solution until after that next big project, but let’s face it: you are always going to have a big project on the horizon. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, or what you’ve got going on — you will always be busy.

When you do finally automate, however, those projects will be less labor-intensive, because you will have implemented an efficient process as the foundation of your AP department. Automation eliminates all of those manual, time-consuming tasks, and that means your other duties are much easier to achieve.

So, what are some of the signs that you should be looking for in your organization that are indicators that it’s time to automate?

  • Invoice Volume Has Increased Because of Company Growth
  • A Veteran AP Employee is Retiring
  • Your Last Audit was Painful
  • Your Organization Has Been a Victim of Fraud
  • Your Internal Controls Aren’t Up to Par