Accounts Payable Automation

AP Automation is changing the business landscape

Many companies today still wonder about the advisability of automating their invoice processes. The reality is that everything in their environment seems to be pushing them in that direction. It's time to stop wondering and read the signs, starting with legal obligations.

HMRC’s ambition is to become the most digitally advanced tax administration so UK-based regulations continue to push finance teams to embrace digital processes. This includes EU Directive 2014/55/EC, Making Tax Digital (MTD), and the Duty to Report.

What is Accounts Payable Automation?

If you go by the accepted definition, AP Automation consists of replacing all or part of a given process originally based on paper records with automated processing that uses digital forms. However, the effects of implementing automation have a much deeper – and beneficial – effect of businesses of all sizes. For this reason, the use of AP automation software continues to expand and, thanks to solution availability through internet services, cloud offerings, SaaS mode, and use-base pricing models? The sky is the limit.

Read more about benefits such as drastic reductions in errors, late payments, and disputes while gaining increased reliability and security, reinforced transparency, an empowered workforce, and more.

Accounts Payable Automation for Small Business

With many small businesses choosing to ditch the office and work remotely or from home (willingly or not), the issues surrounding manual accounts payable processes and the need for automation remain firmly under the microscope. The truth is that paper-based invoices and processes - those involving manually approving vendor invoices - are no longer viable with highly decentralized teams.

This means that many small businesses are starting to think strategically and long-term about the future of these processes: what will their business look like, how to improve their processes, how to better manage growth and associated costs. Fortunately for them, the ‘too expensive’ or ‘too time-consuming’ excuses to invest in automation in accounts payable are no longer viable.

Easily scalable and managed, especially in the cloud, artificial intelligence and machine learning have seen automated accounts payable software become a staple in a business’ finance department. It is now an accessible solution to businesses of all sizes, no matter how many vendor invoices they receive per month.

Worth mentioning is that small business accounts payable automation ends up rescuing many companies by saving money in the long-term, with an average reduction in cost-per-invoice by up to 70% compared to manual processes.

The bottom line? Although accounts payable automation for small businesses may seem like a bit of a stretch to some, in reality automation becoming more and more accessible and popular each day, helping business owners process more invoices, more accurately, and more securely.

The Cost of Processing an Invoice: Manual vs Automated

In any paper-based scenario there is a direct correlation between an increased number of invoices and a higher cost to processing them. An automated process changes this relationship by eliminating the correlation. That means for both accounting professionals and companies, a main attraction to automation is the notably reduced cost of processing an invoice. For example, the cost of manually processing an invoice is estimated at 9£ to 20£, plus the additional costs of storage, archives, and the occasional required information look-up (representing an average of 3.25£ including associated indirect costs such as time spent, storage space and loss and delays). No matter how you look at it, costs quickly add up and can continue to climb.

In contrast digitalizing invoices can lower these costs by as much as 70%. Even better, with digitalization, companies can also automate many additional tasks, make data more accessible, and further increase their return on investment. In the end, it is possible to improve the processing cycle by a factor of 20!

The AP Automation Benefits Your Finance Department is Missing Out On

According to a survey by Financial Director, the majority of finance leaders think that their department's digital transformation projects are lagging behind their competition. In fact, the survey found that 54 percent of respondents were either behind or not up to date in those projects, another 18 percent didn't know how they compared to the competition, and only 7 percent thought that they were completely up to date.

In the world of accounting, that’s a lot of AP automation benefits that finance departments aren’t getting. And, when it comes to the lifeblood of a company – the invoice in/payment out process – certainly not something that a business wants to miss out on.

Read more on how with accounts payable automation in place businesses can future-proof their invoice and financial procedures while reaping the rewards of more efficient processes.

Accounts Payable Software Best Practices

The technology is there, the benefits are clear, and now you want to move forward with accounts payable automation. What’s the best and most efficient way? Choosing an AP automation solution represents a critical step in your company’s business activity. When you consider all the departments, invoices, payments, people, and potential revenue involved any mistake can have significant impact on your operations.

Given these considerations, what are some of the Accounts Payable software best practices? Let’s review some of the key approaches to obtain the expected benefits both quickly and confidently.

Serenity Now and Later: The Business Case for AP Automation

Companies that spend sufficient time and resources to figure out the best Accounts Payable (AP) solution for their business can discover and unlock the multitude of benefits resulting from automation, all the way from purchase to payment. They score by gaining the ability to approve and pay invoices with unmatched speed, savings, and security.

But how to go about this discovery? The best way to do this is to identify and collect the company’s specific needs, then use this information to create an AP automation business case. Once they finish matching specific needs to benefits, without question everyone should see there is a pretty compelling case to move forward.

AP Automation enables a very pragmatic approach to accounts payable digital transformation. It is a way for most finance departments to get started. Together they save time and lead to lower costs while employees are enriched by being able to perform tasks with higher added value. Combining these tools for your payables system lead to greater security for all processes, data, and compliance.

François Lacas, COO, Yooz.

Did you know?

£1 500 is the average annual storage cost,
7.5% of documents managed by a company end up lost,
3% of documents managed by a company are misclassified,
£97 is the average cost for misclassified documents,
£117 is the average cost of reproduction for a lost document.

Accounts Payable Software Comparison

When it comes to an accounts payable software comparison you need to understand four key factors in order to make an informed choice:

Your existing structure (and bottlenecks)
Where you want your process to be
The benefits you can – and should – expect from automation
What you should look for in an AP Automation software platform and provider in terms of function, technology, practicality, and price

After all, the solution is not just about digitalization or automation but also changing the foundation of the process itself. That means you want to find the best fit that not only improves the workflow but also staff morale.

How to Automate Accounts Payable in Microsoft Dynamics 365?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, does an exceptional job of handling and clarifying several critical business inputs. However, although it does well as a general tool in the finance department, Accounts Payable and invoice processing is a highly complicated and very specific role which requires the right specialized solution to optimize financial performance. In fact, matching your automation solution with your ERP system has significant benefits. Not only can a business reduce their manual-based invoice processing costs and time by around 80% but they can also reduce the likelihood of late payments and strained customer relationships.

For this reason Yooz offers a complete and customizable automated accounts payable combination with Microsoft Dynamics 365. This allows accounts payable staff to receive full visibility into key financial processes to reduce the risk of fraud, lost documents, and duplicate invoices. Don’t worry… Yooz implementation experts are specifically trained to understand each process and workflow to build a customized integration and fully automated purchase-to-pay process.

AP Automation Connected to Sage

With Yooz's no-touch solution seamlessly integrated with the Sage Intacct ERP, businesses can automatically capture vendor invoices, update data real-time, and process invoices directly in the Sage platform itself. AP Automation connected to Sage provides a unique, accurate, controlled, cost effective, and more secure purchase-to-pay process.

Not only with Finance and Accounting departments benefit from increased visibility into their payables at any time, but they will also be able to make more informed decisions using real-time data. Best of all, they can decrease their administrative costs by as much as 70%.

A Paperless Accounts Payable System Means Shedding the Paperweight

Do you realize how much paper moves through the AP department in a day? Month? Year? Many organizations don't grasp just how much a paper process is weighing them down and causing them to fall behind their competition. Fortunately, shedding the paperweight is easy when you transition to a paperless accounts payable system to streamline the entire invoice process. It's a sure way to see immediate benefits in terms of time, space, and costs as well as accuracy and security.

The End-to-End Game: Automating Your AP from Procurement to Payment

When it comes to Procure-to-Pay (P2P) automation in the Accounts Payable process, most companies are still taking a piecemeal approach that leaves some serious gaps between what’s technically possible and what really happens once a purchase order goes out or an invoice arrives. Needless to say, this methodology can possibly do more harm than good, leaving gaps and room for error that didn’t previously exist.

However, other companies have realized that the best approach is to completely automate your AP from procurement to payment with a seamless technology solution. Not only will this increase efficiency and reduce approval processing times (from an average of 28 to just 3 days), but it can also lower operational costs by up to 80 percent compared to manual and/or paper-based payment systems.

The Importance of Accounts Payable Strategies

“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 return to normalcy.

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.

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. Read more to learn about just how much a business can benefit.

The Role of Sage Intacct in Accounts Payable with Yooz

A leading cloud-based financial management solution provider, Sage Intacct is now a strategic partner with Yooz. This new partnership will increase the business value of company's finance and accounts departments by providing better visibility round-the-clock visibility into payables and helping them to make more informed decisions using real-time data. Learn more about how Sage Intacct in accounts payable can help your business.

Rev Up Your Engine with Paperless AP Software

Accounts payable paperless software  can really get the engine of a dealership roaring, regardless of size or how spread out its operations are. Leveraging AP software not only reduces costs by empowering the automotive industry's bottom line to go paperless, but it also creates a whole new level of transparency and visibility that profoundly changes the way a dealership does business from procurement-to-payment. 

Automating Your Invoices in Sage 200cloud

Having an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in place can be an important factor in gaining control over your business, allowing you to manage key business processes through a single integrated system from stock management to customer service to finance. For many small and medium size businesses, this means automating your invoices in Sage 200cloud.

Going a step further and seamlessly pairing your ERP with additional software such an accounts payable automation solution? This will deliver a powerful holistic digital experience that offers a long-term competitive advantage.

Learn more about the seamless integration between Yooz and Sage 200cloud.

Acing the Accounts Payable Payment Process

Are you a gambler? Because if time and information are money then Yooz is a sure bet to help you win more of both by acing the automated accounts payable payment process.

Learn about research-based finance leader priorities and how they are addressed using intelligent automation. Yooz’s tried and true five-step approach can help slash processing costs throughout the entire procure-to-pay process, from digital invoice intake to verified electronic payment.

Time to place your bets!

Accounts Payable Automation Using Sage 50

Automating your accounts payable system is about more than simply choosing and implementing the first solution that you discover. In order to have a seamless process, any solution that you adopt must also integrate with your existing ERP or operation software. This is why the Yooz partnership plays an important factor in automating your invoices with Sage 50.

Automating Your Invoices in QuickBooks Online

In today's fast-paced economy it is essential that every business take a step back, evaluate its operational processes, and make any necessary modifications. Only in this manner will they be able to improve workflows and stay competitive.

Nowhere is this truer than in the finance department, the place that monitors and controls the lifeblood of any organization: cash. And, of all the operational processes there, implementing an account payable automation solution is the best way to optimize and master the invoice management process. If you are a user automating your invoice with QuickBooks Online, the seamlessly integrated partnership Yooz is key to unlocking a myriad of benefits.

RPA in Accounts Payable: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

Maximizing the potential of the AP department is a complicated issue, however, many finance managers and business leaders are unsure of where to start when it comes to technology adoption and how to identify what exactly needs fixing. Enter Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in accounts payable.

RPA is a technology that is helping accounts payable find its true potential simply by taking the robot out of the human. It automates certain processes that are currently repetitive, time-consuming, and error-prone daily tasks done by hand. These all become faster, more accurately, and even safer.

However, don’t worry: what RPA doesn’t do is replace humans and eliminate jobs.

The Value of AP Efficiency

From the very first step of data collection all the way to payment, the quality speed of your Accounts Payable (AP) process during each step in the workflow has a direct impact on the profitability and success of your business. Understanding why - and how - the process works can help ensure that you reap the benefits of automation and help you to improve Accounts Payable efficiency.

Automating Your Invoices with Talentia

The partnership between Yooz and Talentia is a seamless integration that will help to maximise the benefits of your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and your accounts payable process. Learn more about how automating your invoices in Talentia will provide the real-time information to support motivating and retaining employees.

Should I Be Using Invoice Recognition Software?

The use of automated invoice processing tools such as invoice recognition software is becoming more widespread across the UK and the impact is obvious. Not only does this technology help to extract and automate data from invoices, in doing so it helps companies of all sizes save time, reduce costs, and narrow down any possibility of error or fraud. When implemented as part of a complete end-to-end automated accounts payable solution finance teams can start to really fulfil their potential and go above and beyond the traditional accounts payable process.

Accounts Payable Automation

Discover how to process invoices in Accounts Payable in a way that reduces the cost per invoice by up to 80%, cuts processing time from weeks to days and empowers staff.