Businesses may utilize AP software solutions to expedite invoice-to-pay reconciliation, as well as increase their throughput and improve the efficiency of AP teams. By automating accounts payable, companies can do more within a short amount of time.
AP automation allows AP teams to reduce the time spent on manual invoice processing and perform more value-added activities such as analyzing key performance indicators, improving financial reporting quality, and managing customer relationships.
In addition to saving time and optimizing workflows, the best AP automation software can give firms additional visibility into their overall spending, cost reduction initiatives, and fiscal management. Having a proactive spend management culture enables AP managers and business executives to make informed decisions and stay ahead of the curve. More importantly, the best accounts payable automation software should be highly customizable to meet an organization’s ever-growing needs.
By converting files into a standard digital format for workflow automation, AP automation enables organizations to have tighter control over invoice management. AP automation can also help reduce and prevent fraud through proper data verification and minimize manual work. AP automation tools should seamlessly integrate with existing accounting software, enterprise resource planning, or advanced financial systems.
AP automation software tools have different features and functionalities. Some AP solutions may not be able to handle complex AP processes, such as processing invoices of suppliers that are geographically dispersed or efficiently verifying and controlling costs and procurement.
AvidXchange provides AP software solutions that can help simplify AP invoicing and bill payment processes. Backed by a network of over 700,000 suppliers, AvidXchange has helped many companies in industries with complex invoicing processes, including banking, real estate, construction, and health care.
Accounts Payable Automation Best Practices
In order to increase the efficiency of their AP workflow process, companies need to have a thorough understanding of the accounts payable end to end process. In general, an accounts payable process involves three stages: procurement, receipt, and payment.
The procure-to-pay process, or P2P cycle, begins when a shortfall of materials or services is detected in any department within an organization. Subsequently, the requesting department submits a procurement requisition, and the purchase department either approves or rejects the request. If the request is approved, the purchase department asks vendors and suppliers to submit quotes. Relevant departments such as purchase, finance, and the department issuing the procurement request mutually choose a vendor based on considerations such as pricing, product quality, and vendor history, among others.
Once a vendor is selected, the purchase department issues a purchase order. When the vendor delivers the goods and services based on the purchase order, the receiving company creates a receiving report to confirm receipt of all requested items. The invoice verification process happens when the purchase department inspects the quality and quantity of delivered goods and verifies they match the purchase order. Before releasing the vendor payment, which is the last stage of the AP process, the purchase orders, receiving report, and invoices should all match.
In an AP automation workflow, this three-way matching can be done automatically. By switching to automated matching processes, businesses may optimize their accounts payable systems and manage a huge number of invoices, purchase orders, and order receipts without missing crucial steps.
The AP automation solution from AvidXchange allows for two-way and three-way purchase order matching. This means that data is synced instantly across all systems, eliminating the need for AP managers to manually enter invoice data.
Accounts Payable Automation Software
Businesses looking for the best accounts payable automation software will benefit from using AvidXchange’s AP automation solutions.
AP automation software can assist companies in streamlining their invoice processes. AvidXchange’s AP automation solution utilizes optical character recognition (OCR) technology to collect and digitize invoice data into an electronic, editable text format. This enables AP teams to gain more control over their internal processing operations and allows them to handle vendor invoices more quickly. Companies can automate and streamline their accounts payable process in one central location by using the best OCR software for accounts payable, such as AvidXchange.
With AvidXchange, users may receive, track, and approve invoices from any location at any time using any device. With improved visibility into their invoicing workflow, AP teams can analyze the impact of their financial actions and gain more control over their invoice processing system.
Accounts payable teams can also have access to the data they need with accounts payable automation thanks to AvidXchange’s cloud-based platform, which allows teams to monitor all invoice data on a single dashboard. During the invoice processing phase, invoices sent by PDF, JPEG, email, or paper are converted to a digital version. Using OCR technology, invoice data is captured automatically and converted to an editable electronic format.
The accounts payable staff only needs to double-check that the vendor name, amount, and date on the invoice match the purchase order and receiving report. If the invoice is free of errors after scanning, it can be sent right away to the person in charge of invoice approvals.
Best Accounts Payable Software
By referring to the market guide for accounts payable invoice automation solutions, businesses can learn about the important features of AP automation. This allows them to create a shortlist of the accounts payable software solutions that best meet their needs and requirements.
Accounts payable software allows companies to manage, automate, and streamline their accounting processes and financial data. AP software can help teams eliminate manual and repetitive AP tasks, as well as minimize erroneous invoices, ineffective reports, and mistakes in balance sheets. Organizations can improve their accuracy and reduce the occurrence of typical accounts payable issues by choosing the right AP automation software.
Using the best accounts payable software can help companies streamline their AP processes. Invoice processing solutions should enable AP teams to customize their workflows while matching their existing approval processes. This is particularly true for organizations that manage and handle large volumes of invoices simultaneously.
Invoices may be scanned and coded automatically with AvidXchange’s invoice payment automation technology. The invoice information can be matched to the receipt or purchase order, and the invoice can be sent to the person in charge of approval. Payments to vendors can be authorized once the invoice has been approved. Invoice automation does not need to replace current approval systems, and AvidXchange can seamlessly integrate with existing AP approval workflows. Additionally, AvidXchange’s cloud-based platform allows users to view payment status on a single dashboard at any time.
Cloud-Based Accounts Payable Solutions
Before selecting the best accounts payable solution, companies may benefit by looking at accounts payable software features. A cloud-based accounts payable automation solution with end-to-end capabilities can help businesses save time and money on manual processing.
When using cloud-based accounts payable solutions, there is no need to upgrade to new systems. System updates to a cloud-based program are available almost immediately and are carried out automatically.
While cloud storage is not really free, it has the potential to provide almost endless storage. The amount of space available for storing files and folders on a hard drive is minimal when compared to the amount of storage space available in the cloud. In addition, there is little chance that invoices will be misplaced or lost in the mail with cloud-based AP solutions. Moreover, a cloud-based platform such as AvidXchange allows accounts payable administrators to keep track of detailed audit trails and see how invoices are progressing in real time.
Unlike paper-intensive accounts payable processes, digital AP solutions can speed up invoice processing and store data safely in the cloud. This can significantly reduce the risk of losing important information, which is more likely to happen when handling physical documents and paper checks.
AvidXchange’s cloud-based invoice management and payment automation suite enables companies to automatically receive, track, and approve invoices and make fast and secure payments to suppliers.
Accounts Payable Software For Large Business
Regarding accounts payable for large business enterprises, AvidXchange can offer automation solutions. As one of the best procure-to-pay software options, AvidXchange can provide scalable solutions to support the needs of growing businesses, as well as automate complex AP processes.
AvidXchange has also created accounts payable software for banks. AvidPay, AvidXchange’s bill payment software technology, enables organizations such as banks to automatically process bill payments. AvidPay has been integrated into the product range of BankTEL, an AvidXchange subsidiary that provides accounting solutions for financial institutions with AP and payment automation technologies.
While procure-to-pay fully automates the procurement of products and services, source-to-pay focuses on spend optimization. Source-to-pay includes researching on new vendors as well as sourcing goods and services prior to the submission of procurement requisition. A source-to-pay software leverages digital analytics and machine learning to provide enterprises with actionable insights.
AvidXchange’s software solutions can help businesses optimize their source-to-pay processes. AvidXchange can automatically code invoices and initiate the invoice approval process to streamline invoice processing. AvidXchange converts paper invoices into data using optical character recognition technology.
Accounts Payable Solutions
Partnering with accounts payable processing companies can help in ensuring timely invoice payments and increasing operational efficiency. An AP processing company such as AvidXchange can help companies manage their bill payments with top-notch invoice and payment automation solutions.
With over 210 integrations between its AP automation solutions and industry-leading accounting software systems, AvidXchange offers end-to-end accounts payable solutions for the middle market. This means that businesses can continue to use their existing accounts payable systems and tools, and companies do not need to redesign their workflows or learn new operating systems.
In addition, AvidXchange’s AP and payment automation solutions can integrate with QuickBooks. AvidXchange provides QuickBooks users with simplified and streamlined invoice processing and payment procedures.
