Boost efficiencies by syncing Sage with Accounts Payable automation

It's straightforward: efficiency contributes to profitability. Getting more done with less effort and cost is essential to a healthy bottom line. And that's partly why you selected Sage ERP to manage accounts payable (AP). As an established ERP provider, it offers a range of capabilities that improve AP management and drive you closer to your goal of efficiency.

But you know that "closer" doesn't cut it these days; especially when it comes to your accounts payable process. Think about everything that it impacts. Vendor relationships. Cash flow. Credit ratings. Your ability to gain financing. The list goes on.

Syncing your Sage ERP with the right AP automation solution can take your process from 'acceptable' to 'exceptional', equipping you with advanced technologies that simplify, streamline, and supercharge AR management. Let's take a closer look at how automation elevates your current capabilities.

Upgrade to flawless data entry

With Sage, you can manually enter invoices into the ERP system, adding key information such as vendor name, invoice number, and line items. You can even set up recurring invoices for regular payments — such as a rent expense — and the system will ensure that the invoices are created on a set schedule.

The only problem? Manual data entry is prone to errors, and the most generous estimates put the average error rate at 1%. While that percentage may sound small, it can have a big impact. If your company processes as many as 1,000 invoices a month, a 1% error rate would leave you with mistakes in at least 10 of your invoices. Those mistakes must be identified and corrected, causing delays that can lead to late payments. On top of this, they have the potential to complicate customer relationships and make your business more vulnerable to customer churn.

When Quadient AP integrates with Sage, it eliminates this concern. Making use of technology like optical character recognition (OCR) and machine learning (ML), vital invoice information is automatically captured and imported into the system. Using the SmartCoding feature, you can code your invoices with the simple click of a button, based on what was previously entered for similar invoices.

"It used to take two dedicated employees two days a week to manually input invoices into our system. We've reduced that to one day per week between all employees."

• Lizette Camacho, Project & Training Manager, Super Mix

Master your approval process

Invoice approvals are a frequent bottleneck in the accounts payable process. Sage helps address this by offering some approval workflows. The limitation? Workflows must be made specific for individual invoices. Approvers need to be defined, with specifications made such as whether an invoice is routed to a specific individual or position. While customization is possible, it often requires additional third-party tools and development, making it a costly and time-consuming process.

An automation solution such as Quadient AP expands these capabilities. The software includes a varied range of "out-of-the-box" approval workflows, allowing you to bypass the lengthy and difficult process of designing and building them manually. It also gives you the ability to create custom workflows with a few simple clicks, allowing you to set up special rules, such as requiring multiple approvers on invoices over a certain amount, or contingencies for instances like an approver being out of the office.

"It leaves a lot less room for error... it's much better for controls." 

• Alexis Nassar, Staff Accountant for the Utica Comets 

Not only do these features help you to save time, making your approval process more efficient, but they provide an extra layer of security when it comes to fraud prevention. In addition to the ability to set up multi-level approvals for invoices over a certain amount, you can also easily segregate duties, such as ensuring that the person approving an invoice and the person issuing payment are distinct.

The built-in AI and ML capabilities of Quadient AP provide an extra layer of security to the process, by scanning invoices for irregularities based on past payment behavior.

An intuitive interface

Sage ERPs are designed to manage all your company's financial activities. This means that, while the software provides a robust user interface, it's not tailored specifically to the needs of accounts payable. Its AP capabilities include tracking, notifications, and reporting.

Quadient AP takes these abilities and turbocharges them, enabling you to track approvals, view audit trails, and manage exceptions through a user-friendly interface. As your organization's financial needs are unique, you can easily customize the solution's display without requiring any technical coding knowledge. That allows you to quickly make a dashboard that displays the information most important to you, without having to pay for customizations, or waiting on your tech team to program it. 

"Before we had to photocopy everything they wanted to see as part of the audit. Now, I just give them temporary access to Quadient AP, and they can review everything. All the information is there – invoices, payments, POs, they can verify everything in Quadient AP, Sage 300, they can verify it in our bank for the payment. It works like a charm."

• Joanne Benac, Vice President of Finance, OTA 

From good to great

Using Sage as your ERP provides you with a good foundation for your financial operations. Quadient AP builds an exceptional accounts payable process on that foundation, enabling you to optimize every facet of your financial management to ensure healthy cash flow, happy vendors, and high-performing employees. 

To discover how Quadient AP can get maximum performance out of your Sage ERP, check out our eBook How integrating AP automation with Sage ERP puts your organization ahead.