The Game-Changing Impact of Accounts Payable Automation at Growing Businesses

Whether an individual or an entire team handles your company’s accounting functions, implementing a cloud-based solution to automate their accounts payable process is the ticket to greater employee productivity, departmental efficiency, and strategic growth. That’s because AP is so fundamental to a company’s cash flow position. It’s central to your organization’s financial health, reputation with vendors and creditors, and, ultimately, your ability to increase market share.

Let’s take a look at the advantages of replacing an outdated, manual AP process with a digital solution—and why it’s critical to your company’s future.

Cloud Accounting Brings AP Automation to SMBs

First, it’s important to understand why now is the time to embrace up-to-date AP technology: it’s finally within reach of small and medium-sized businesses. Not too long ago, only larger firms with the financial and IT resources to build on-premise financial management and accounting systems were able to reap the benefits of an automated AP process.

It’s for this reason that the supply management research and advisory experts from Ardent Partners place “a more automated accounts payable process” as the first among their accounts payables predictions. They credit the rise of cloud-based solutions that make the game-changing technology (finally) accessible to SMBs who need the enhanced functionality to compete and grow.

So what AP tasks can be automated with a cloud accounting solution?

• Payment approvals
• Payments—via check, cash, or funds transfer
• Vendor management workflows
• Expense allocations across entities, locations, and departments
• 1099s and other tax files
• Amortization expenses

For more details, take a few minutes to look at Sage Intacct’s accounts payable software features. The key takeaway is that you can configure your cloud-based accounting solution to work within your company’s existing controls and administrative operations in order to get to the next level—however you define your growth goals. And you can do so affordably. Your new automated AP system will enable your accounting team to: 

Eliminate Process Bottlenecks—And Boost Productivity

The AP process is filled with potential time- and energy-suckers. Waiting on invoice approvals, searching stacks of paperwork for vendor contracts, and even mailing out paper check payments—these are among the many inconveniences of a manual (non-automated) workflow. And consider the limitations of your boxed software and spreadsheet-based system: rekeying transactions, manually pulling data from multiple sources, and stumbling over any number of process workarounds. A cloud-based, automated AP software solution digitizes everything, clearing the pipes to makes every task smoother, easier, and faster.

Love the idea of greater efficiency? Get inspired by reading How Cloud Accounting Delivers the Hidden Value of Wasting Time.

Reduce Organizational Costs—And Take Advantage of Opportunities

Lowering costs and maximizing cash flow are primary concerns for growing companies. Unfortunately, manual processes that depend on entry-level accounting systems result in higher than necessary labor costs, human-error related costs, and per-invoice processing costs. A more streamlined, automated AP process, on the other hand, actually saves time while guaranteeing data accuracy, resulting in your ability to lower departmental costs and maximize your human resources, without adding headcount.

In addition, you’ll be able to pursue financial opportunities you couldn’t before, such as early payment discounts and putting your employees on value-added—not simply administrative—projects that actually drive growth. Explore more insights in How Intacct’s Cloud-Based Financial Software Supports Growing Businesses with Automation.

Focus On Strategic Activities—And Support Business Growth

Automating back-office AP functions bring your accounting team up-front-and center, where they’re needed to support business expansion. “No longer a simple back-office function,” says Andrew Bartolini, Chief Research Officer of Ardent Partners in their 2016-2017 ePayables Tech and Innovation Outlook Report, “AP groups are now well-positioned to become true ‘hubs’ of visibility and intelligence, extending the value created within AP more broadly across both the enterprise and supply chain.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

Contact us to learn more about automating your AP process with today’s best-in-class cloud accounting software solutions.