Accounts Payable Workflow Automation: From Invoice to Payment

When it come to automating accounts payable workflows what is the difference between procurement automation, payment automation and AP automation? Many organizations miss out on the full benefits of automation because they pick the wrong technology, or they take the wrong approach to deploying technology. Let’s see if we can shed some light. 

Smart AP Automation Benefits: The Long and Short of It

Let's use the analogy of  two particular styles of surfboards to discuss AP automation benefits: the long board and the short board. We can use them to describe invoice and payment processing automation, where there are long term, sustainable benefits and short term positive results.

Before you commit to using any random AP automation solution to process an invoice or document, you need to understand your business' digital ecosystem and how that AP automation solution fits within the system and your staff's needs. Mapping out your digital ecosystem will help guide you towards the goals necessary to take control of your company's payment processes. Common pain points to watch out for include:

• Discounts Lost - It is very expensive not to take discounts that your vendor may offer.
• Costly Payment Methods - Many companies still use checks which are the least cost-effective payment method when compared to ACH payments by a long shot.
• Cumbersome Controls - Manual controls over multiple systems create bottleneck in the accounts payable workflow that cost more time and money.
• Ineffective Working Capital Management - Poor accounts payable visibility creates poor cash forecasting which impacts the bottom line.
• Poor Accounts Payable Visibility - Hides opportunities to negotiate discounts with a supplier or vendor.
• Poor Supplier Relationships - Poor accounts payable visibility creates tension in supplier relationships and leads to hour and hours of time wasted on tasks to resolve an accounts payable processing issue.

If any of these pain points sound familiar, then the good news is you're well on your way to fixing and improving your company's bottom line by identifying these common issues. Taking action can be the next step to improve your accounts payable process. Why not request a demo to see how our AP automation solution can help you solve these pain points?

Accounts Payable Automation ROI: Dollars and Sense

In this blog, we’ll calculate how the benefits of Accounts Payable automation translate directly to the bottom line, giving real examples from industry research and real Yooz customers. AP automation ROI down to the dollars and sense. 

Who Benefits from AP Automation?

A key question is not why you should be automating your Accounts Payable process with our best-of-breed software, but more specifically who benefits from AP automation? Who better to speak of the life-changing benefits of the Yooz Accounts Payable automation solution but our current customers?

How Today’s Accounts Payable Automation Technology Shapes the Modern Finance Office

As today's finance leaders focus on strategic priorities, Accounts Payable automation becomes critical for handling routine AP tasks. Finance professionals of the future will embrace these five emerging technologies in accounts payable to scale gracefully and remain competitive.

From Why to How to Automate Accounts Payable

A report produced by Levvel Research and sponsored by Yooz suggests that the profession has finally moved on. Accounts Payable leaders are now focused on how to automate accounts payable, rather than “why.” So the questions becomes "What is the best approach to automation for achieving optimum benefits?"

Accounts Payable Strategies for Success with AP Automation

“In the face of extraordinary times and a challenging business climate, AP groups have the opportunity to drive tremendous value and help the greater enterprise navigate these tough times.” In this article we cover several Accounts Payable strategies to map a path back to normalcy.

Vendor Management Accounts Payable Can Become Your AP Team's Friend

Many times the relationship between an accounts payable department and the vendors they pay can be described as “love/hate.” Automating the invoice and payment process with an advanced solution like Yooz will solve all of the pain caused by a manual processes and allow AP professionals to dramatically improve their vendor relationships and vendor management accounts payable.

The Future of Accounts Payable: Automating AP Departments

Historically, AP departments have been the quintessential back office function. But businesses today are expecting more from their AP function. In this interview, conducted by Andrew MacLeod of The Knowledge Group, Mark Brousseau, consultant, IOFM spokesperson, speaks about the future of Accounts Payable departments and AP automation.

AP Automation in the Cloud or Down on the Ground?

You’ve realized that the only way to keep up with the mounting piles of invoices, reboot the morale of your AP department, and save money for your department and your company, is Accounts Payable automation. This article will help you determine if you should choose AP automation in the cloud (a server hosted in the cloud) or on-premise (application is installed and maintained on the company's internal servers). 

An Accounts Payable Remote Process Is the New Normal

How to Select an Accounts Payable Automation Solution

Do you know how to select accounts payable automation solution that will be the right fit for your company? We're going to help you navigate through the selection process by providing you with the right questions to ask and 10 best practices your company will need that are essential for finding the right AP automation solution.

Top 3 Accounts Payable Automation Benefits for Small Businesses

Despite past beliefs, there are many accounts payable automation benefits for small business owners like you. Leveraging smart technologies that make up AP Automation will streamline your AP process no matter if you're an entrepreneur or even a team as small as five. It's time for the small enterprises responsible for employing half of the U.S. workforce to elevate their AP workflows to free up time for value-added work. 

AP and Payment Automation

The best way to make your AP and Payment Automation streamlined includes removing the manual process of cutting and mailing checks. You’ve made efforts to digitize and move forward Accounts Payable automation workflows and make your invoice and payments efficient. Automating your payments saves you money and time, increase accuracy, and makes teams more productive. Checks can be viewed as a relic of old business methods. Paper checks take away valuable time and budgets from businesses. Fortunately, there are business operations and partners that process checks and invoices faster and digitally.

Accounts Payable and Invoice Automation Best Practices

Improve Accounts Payable and Invoice Automation Best Practices by focusing on a few key areas. Start exploring the best automation options with best practices in mind helps your business determine what the strongest options are available. From their look for ways to streamline your purchase-to-pay workflow by focusing on three key areas that can cause delays. Continue to look for automation solutions that integrate with ERP systems and payment providers. Cloud-based tools that offer agility, affordability, and flexibility that provide the holistic approach that leads to automation best practices.  

Finding Order and Optimization with P2P Accounts Payable Process Automation

Modern day commerce is all about the now. Streamlining the user experience to remove as many barriers as possible between the consumer and the product or service they desire. With so many services moving towards a future of automation and pruning obstacles, embracing an accounts payable automation process to keep businesses agile seems like a no-brainer.

Businesses need to leverage the tools at their disposal now more than ever to keep up with demand and stay agile in an increasingly competitive market. That’s why cutting-edge platforms like Yooz can be so important. Optimizing your P2P Accounts Payable process with minimal human oversight allows businesses to put their energy where it really matters while knowing their invoices stick to an efficient and easy-to-follow workflow.

What really makes this possible is how many modern tools platforms like Yooz leverage to make this possible. From robotic process automation to deep learning that analyzes every invoice and routes them for approval to save businesses time and money. Automation isn’t just for speed, it also keeps your accounts process easy to read and follow, reducing fraud and opening up possibly new revenue streams by providing multiple benefits.

• Decrease the cost of overhead operations that do not directly contribute to profit
• Allows you to focus human attention and staff hours on what really matters
• Reduces fraud and improves security
• Access documents on the cloud through keywords like any search engine.

From the Why to the How: Mastering Accounts Payable Automation Software

Speed, Security and Savings: The Trifecta of Accounts Payable Processing Software

Leveraging Accounts Payable Processing software can help your AP team speed up the accounts payable process. Automating the entire workflow from purchase to payment saves them both time and money and also unlocks the full potential of a successful digital transformation. As the prolonged disruptions of the pandemic have demonstrated, going digital and automation belong together. They are the way forward for all businesses, regardless of their size and industry, to stay agile and competitive.

To find out where we stand with streamlining and optimizing all things AP, Yooz conducted its first global State of Automation in Finance report. In March, we surveyed more than 1,000 financial and accounting decision-makers in the US and eight other countries (UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Belgium). They told us about their priorities pre- and post-pandemic, their immediate challenges and their plans for digital transformation in the months ahead. 

• Three out of four respondents told us that the pandemic accelerated digital transformation of their AP Process. 
• Almost half saw their ability to process invoices on time significantly hampered
• Half think that recovery will take at least one year, if not longer.

As for technology adoption for accounts payable automation, there is good and bad news:

• Two-thirds of the companies we polled spend more than one full business day every month just managing invoices. Accounts payable departments on average spend 32 hours managing vendor invoices a month.
• Only one in six have adopted fully automated invoice processing.
• A mere quarter of companies are fully prepared for electronic invoicing.

Looking ahead, things will change, according to our survey:

• One in three finance leaders told us that data security is a priority when evaluating systems for accounts payable automation. 
• One in three identify the cloud and SaaS systems as their top area of investment.
• And again, one-third have made reducing accounting errors their top priority.