There’s an old joke in accounts payable departments: The cost of processing a $12 invoice is more than the amount of the invoice itself. If your business is still manually processing invoices, this joke could very well have merit. Manual invoice processing costs can be as high as $20 per invoice, whereas introducing automation brings that cost down to $3. Beyond cost savings, accounts payable automation can deliver multiple other benefits that help businesses improve productivity, eliminate bottlenecks, and drive more efficient operations.
How AP Automation Eliminates Tedious Processes
Accounts payable automation software eliminates 80-95% of data entry, and up to 90% of the time it takes to process an invoice. Your accounts payable department will significantly speed up operations and deliver more accurate results without the risk of human error. Automation takes human input out of invoice processing, eliminating delays and backups caused by time-consuming reconciliation. The below features drive these major benefits of AP automation:
Automation
The software automates the approval, coding, matching, and exception processes of many invoice types, including PO/non-PO, goods/service, contract/recurring, and more.
Invoice Capture
The invoice capture feature of AP automation removes humans from the intake part of invoicing. Paper invoices are sent to a P.O. box where they are picked up and scanned, and electronic invoices are emailed to a dedicated email address where they are then imported. All of these captured invoices are then managed in a secure facility where they are then indexed – either by your in-house team or an outsourced provider of your choosing.
Data Extraction
AP automation software extracts and validates data from invoices without using a template per vendor since every vendor has a different invoice layout. The software extracts data using optical character recognition (OCR), turning typed, printed, or handwritten text into machine-encoded text.
Workflow
Once your data is validated, it transfers into your workflow and is integrated with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
Storage/Retrieval
The software allows only the appropriate parties to access certain documents and perform search-and-retrieve functions. Users can search for documents based on any of the data associated with the invoice – eliminating the time-consuming task of manually rifling through paper files.
Analytics Dashboards
AP automation provides a single user interface that displays all the data about an invoice – giving users a clear picture of the invoice’s journey and content. This dashboard also helps with reporting.
Why All Star Software AP Automation Is Different
All Star’s AP automation allows you to choose which silos of the software you want to emphasize in your business to meet your unique needs. The many functionality silos of AP automation can be provided in a complete end-to-end package, or they can burst out depending on where your greatest needs for improvement lie. If you have existing systems that the software will augment, we work with you to determine how to integrate the solutions to drive the greatest productivity for your organization.
Download our in-depth guide on AP automation to get more details on the solution’s technical aspects and discover how it can transform your invoicing processes.
