A Roadmap to Automated Invoice Processing

Every financial decision-maker wants adaptability and efficiency from business invoice processes. When faced with unexpected economic shifts and yet more regulatory changes, a robust accounts payable (AP) process is not only a nice-to-have, it’s crucial for financial stability.  

In this blog, we’ll explore how automation can help you optimise efficiency and outline step-by-step tips on making this a reality.

What is Your Current Supplier Invoice Process?

A comprehensive audit establishes how you currently receive, process and pay invoices. This provides the opportunity to identify discrepancies, monitor compliance, measure efficiency and detect fraud. 

Find out the number of invoices you currently receive and how these are processed. Is your AP team hunched over spreadsheets and manually rekeying data? How much time is spent grappling with duplicate invoices? How long does an invoice take to process? How do you reconcile supplier invoices? Calculate the late payment fees you incur and the time spent chasing invoices. You’ll also need to check your visibility into invoice spend – what could you be missing? 

How Much Does Your Current Invoice Process Cost? 

By calculating the number of invoices per month, the average hourly salary per employee, and the time spent on data capture, approvals and exception handling, you can see how much invoice processing is costing your business and establish opportunities for improvements. 

To make this task easier, an AP solutions provider will help you get the lay of the land. 

Check out this complimentary Invoice Policy Template and 7 Tips for Getting Started. 

Is it Time to Automate Invoice Processing? 

Yes! If you still conduct invoice processing manually, you’re not alone, but you are severely limiting your efficiency and sustainability. What happens if invoices get lost or you end up with duplicates? How do you quickly and easily access the data? The answer is you can’t – not without automated invoice processing. Spreadsheets aren’t built for modern AP processes, they’re difficult to integrate, and can often be riddled with errors. 

Strive for Greater Efficiency in your Accounts Payable Process

Read our 10-step guide to optimising efficiency and reducing costs in your supplier invoice process.

Download here

How Does Automated Invoice Processing Save Time and Mitigate Risk? 

By using AI-powered technology to import invoice images direct to your finance tool, cross-checks and audits become headache-free. Centralised invoice capture eradicates confusion and delays, while electronic invoices remove the need for laborious data entry. People make mistakes, however highly trained they are. By removing unnecessary human intervention from AP workflows, you can eliminate errors and instances of fraud. 

How Does Invoice Processing Automation Give Employees Flexibility? 

Managing invoice processing from a mobile device or app means employees don’t have to return to the office to keep the workflow moving. Payments can be made faster, frustrations eased and user experience improved With SAP Concur solutions, you can combine Expense, Travel and Invoice spend into one centralised platform, giving you even greater visibility. 

How Does Automated Invoice Processing Impact the Bottom Line? 

Employee experience and efficiency is a clear benefit of automation, but cost cutting is another factor. By accelerating the payment cycle, and tracking every transaction, you can save on late payment fees. The time spent chasing paper invoices and data entry also costs your business money. This is before you calculate the missed opportunities for supplier discounts, which digital reporting tools would quickly illuminate. 

How Do Automated Invoices Improve Supplier Relationships? 

When a supplier puts in a call to your AP team, your employees must drop everything and handle the query. This can mean searching through spreadsheets and piles of paper to track down the answer and arrange a call back. Some automated solutions offer email notifications or access to a portal where suppliers can get instant answers without interrupting your team. 

How Can Automated Invoice Processing Help Cashflow? 

Gaining a clearer view of how payment cycles are impacting your cashflow is another benefit of automated invoice processing. By integrating invoices with travel and entertainment expenses, you gain actionable insights to help drive continual improvements. You’ll also get a full invoice trail for auditing purposes, so your AP team can make the necessary tweaks for an even more efficient process. 

Get Everyone On Board with Automated AP 

Mastering efficiency in the supplier invoice process is a strategic step in your road to digital transformation, taking in technology, processes and management. Take time to consider who will be impacted, build leadership teams, get company-wide buy in and communicate with your suppliers for the best outcome.  

To create your own roadmap to optimised efficiency and reduced costs, read our ‘10-steps to an efficient supplier invoice process’ eBook.