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According to a recent study by PYMNTS, nearly 86% of CFOs believe that digitising their accounts payable process is key to their financial success. That number jumps to 98% when examining companies with over US$1 billion in annual sales.
Despite this, many companies still have questions about whether it’s worthwhile to adopt another financial tool. However, a brief overview of the benefits makes it clear that automation is key to hitting your AP targets.
What Is Time Worth?
Ever hear someone wishing there were more hours in the day? A process automation system can’t make the sun shine longer, but it can help reduce workload.
Solutions like Beanworks reduce the amount of time it takes to process an invoice. Payables are automatically routed through custom workflows, so POs, invoices, payments, and expenses are delivered to the appropriate team members for approval and payment. It also sends out reminders when there are tasks to be completed.
Smart technology employed by Beanworks reduces the amount of time spent on invoice data entry by 83%.
To Err Is Human
Everyone makes mistakes, but data entry errors are like throwing a wrench in the gears of a machine. Fortunately, Beanworks captures invoice data with 99% accuracy. The solution is equipped with SmartCapture, which uses artificial intelligence-enabled data capture to speed up data entry, reduce the risk of fraud, and accelerate the payables process.
Line Item Capture, another Beanworks feature, simplifies data entry by extracting information like descriptions, unit cost, and quantities.
Stop Throwing Away Money
Manually processing an invoice isn’t just a waste of time, but it is also saddled with high costs. Levvel Research states that the average price of manually processing an invoice is $15. Automation can reduce that to $5 or less.
Using an automation solution for Accounts Payable can reduce the cost of invoice processing by 60-80%.
For example, if you manually process 500 invoices a month, it costs your business US$90,000 per year. But with automation, you would save US$60,000 — which could be put to much better use.
No One Is an Island
When it comes to AP, no part of your finance team can afford to be isolated. There has to be collaboration and communication. Unfortunately, the changing nature of the modern office can complicate matters if you are still using manual processes and segmented solutions.
Surveys have shown that 30% of workers consider themselves hybrid employees, with another 35% being fully remote. You need a solution that allows your team to collaborate together and access vital data from any location.
Beanworks allows everyone with a stake in the AP process to simultaneously access an invoice and dispute charges, seek clarification, or explain discrepancies. All it takes is a single click.
Risks Never Rest, Why Should Your Protection?
Fraud is an evergreen concern in the world of finance, but you can rest a little easier if you are employing automation. The software automatically flags duplicate invoices and introduces enhanced financial controls, while protecting you 24/7 from things like phishing scams or payments to unapproved vendors.
Custom workflows also reduce the risk of fraud by allowing you to separate responsibilities, such as who approves an invoice, and who makes the payment.
Escape the Maze
Performing an audit shouldn’t be like wandering through a labyrinth. There should be a well-defined path from start to finish.
Electronic invoicing simplifies the audit process through digital storage, allowing you to search invoices by vendor, GL code, amount, legal entity, or any other information on the document. You can also access the complete workflow history of an invoice, giving you insight into the approval steps taken, comments, and dates for when specific actions took place.
Tailor-Made for a Perfect Fit
The needs of your company are unique. A one-size-fits-all solution to payables may be of some use, but it will keep you far from operating at optimum efficiency. You need to be able to customise a solution to the specifics of your operation.
With AP automation, you can create customised workflows that route PO’s, invoices, and payment approvals to the appropriate team member. Beanworks also allows you budgetary controls like the ability to set budgetary limits based on department, vendor, or project.
A Place for Everything
If you’ve ever lost your keys or remote control, you know how frustrating it feels to be unable to find something when you need it.
Beanworks stores your documents in real-time on the cloud and they can be located by searching for keywords such as vendor or date range. Then, with one push of a button, you have access in mere seconds to what you are looking for.
By providing your team with full visibility, Beanworks makes it easy to find out how far along an invoice is in the payment process, and which stakeholder is currently signing them off. That means no more time wasted looking for invoices or scrambling to make payments when a bill slips through the cracks.
To learn more about Beanworks features that will reduce your expenses and protect you from fraud, register to attend one of our free weekly webinars.
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