Paying invoices is the main job of accounts payable (AP) departments, but the process is often needlessly complex. Paper slows things down, matching invoices to purchase orders is complicated, and invoices can get lost waiting for approvals. This makes the entire process slow, painful, and hard to control, leading to struggles in paying invoices on time. Late payments result in consequences like fees and harm to your organization’s reputation.
AP automation, involving digital document and process management, can solve these issues. In this guide, we answer common questions about automating AP.
- How Does Accounts Payable Automation Work?
When an invoice arrives in the organization, usually through mail, it goes through an automation process. This involves identifying, classifying, and extracting key information related to its meaning.
After validation and approval, the invoice is imported into the accounting system and recorded in the general ledger.
Efficiently handling these approved invoices in the accounting system facilitates timely payments.
While there are a lot of solutions claiming to automate AP management, those without cognitive capabilities still rely significantly on manual intervention.
- Will it affect my current employees in the finance department?
There’s a common belief that automation will eliminate jobs. In finance, which involves numerous consistent processes for productive outcomes, accounts payable is just one part. Automation doesn’t make the division obsolete but reduces human involvement in repetitive tasks like data entry. This allows more time for creative ways to strengthen the department.
- Will we actually get approvals faster?
Absolutely! By establishing time limits and electronically routing invoices, you’ll speed up approvals and prevent invoices from getting delayed. No more hunting around the organization for invoices. Bottlenecks won’t be an issue, and invoices will move smoothly from receipt to approval.
- What’s the key step in automating payments?
The crucial first step is defining your current processes. Understand what you’re currently doing with capturing, managing, routing, and paying invoices. Identify where the process slows down and how you want it to improve. You don’t have to do this alone—we can guide you through this step in your free consultation.
- Why choose the Collect App’s payment dashboard?
Choosing Collect for AP automation goes beyond just software—it’s about tailoring to your organization’s specific processes, especially in the AP department.
At Collect, we start by understanding your current invoice processes and your needs for AP automation. With this information, we guide you and help you kick off your implementation.
- How do I get started?
It’s simple. Request a demo. We’ll chat about your processes and invoicing struggles, and help you find the path to automation.
Schedule a demo to get started.