How to Improve Visibility by Optimizing Your AP Process

Today’s increasingly competitive business environment requires fast decision-making.

However, manual and semi-automated accounts payable processes undermine decision-making. Paper and e-mails make it difficult for businesses to make smart decisions about their operations and their cash.

Additionally, manual and semi-automated processes are costly and inefficient. They create headaches for front-line staff, introduce compliance and security risks, and stymie collaboration with suppliers and stakeholders.

All this slows businesses down.

 

Accounts payable automation streamlines and improves visibility and decision-making in three ways:

 

1. Operational visibility:

Automated accounts payable solutions provide real-time visibility into the status of critical financial processes. Dashboards display the information managers need to keep operations flowing efficiently and to adapt to changing business conditions. Automation enables organizations to manage electronic queues for accessing work and workload distribution, accelerate dispute management with quicker access to documentation, and eliminate duplicate payments. Plus, automation eases the integration of people and processes for newly acquired businesses and supports global payables business strategy.

2. Alerts and notifications:

Delays in invoice approval negatively impact operations, cash flow and supplier management. The automated alerts and notifications provided by automated accounts payable solutions enables users to quickly address workflow bottlenecks and exceptions, make better-informed business decisions and identify areas for improvement.

3. Business Intelligence & Reporting:

A lack of visibility into accounts payable information is the top challenge that controllers and CFOs have with their accounts payable department, per the Institute of Finance and Management. Besides, Excel-based reporting provides limited information that is outdated by the time the reports are completed. Automated accounts payable solutions provide controllers and other senior finance executives with the reporting they need to make decisions regarding operational performance, corporate spend, and outbound cash flow. Executives can gain a more accurate picture of available cash flow, to better inform management decisions.

 

These capabilities provide the insight into the status of people and processes required to make smart operational and working capital decisions while enhancing efficiency, compliance and security.

Succeeding in today’s turbulent economy requires the agility that comes from informed decision-making. Whereas, paper and e-mail processes make it difficult for businesses to reduce costs, improve working capital management, empower worker effectiveness, or drive business agility.

This is the reason more accounts payable departments are optimizing their accounts payable process with cloud-based solutions. Some cloud-based solutions combine an online supplier portal, digital mailroom for invoice receipt, and intelligent data capture with guaranteed accuracy. Plus, they provide digital workflows for approvals and exception handling, ERP integration, and business intelligence that enables AP departments to focus on their efficiencies and where they may need to further improve.

 

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Edenred Pay, an Edenred Company, is the global leader in invoice-to-pay automation. Our integrated platform connects businesses with suppliers, ERPs, banks, FinTechs, and payment rails to automate, optimize, and monetize the entire B2B payments lifecycle – from invoice receipt through payment reconciliation. Edenred Pay’s efficient, integrated solutions create a frictionless process and help deliver value to the enterprise by enhancing visibility and monetizing AP.

Visit www.edenredpay.com or contact us to learn more.