What is a Bill Payment Platform?
A bill payment platform is a software or online service that enables companies to pay their bills electronically. A bill payment platform typically stores and manages the account information including routing information and preferred payment method between two companies’ buyers and suppliers. Certain platforms can provide payment reminders, payment history details, and other features to help AP staff manage their bills. Bill payment platforms are often provided by financial institutions and third-party service providers like AvidXchange who are built for middle-market companies who need to balance to cost of a full-fledged platform with the features and capabilities needed to grow their business. Types of bill payment platforms include online payment software, electronic bill pay services, payment management companies who do your billing for you.
Using an electronic bill payment platform has many advantages over a manual bill paying system. First, electronic bill payment is much faster. Processing invoices by hand takes a lot of time, and wasted time typically results in wasted money. Billing software like AvidXchange can automate your accounts payable process so that invoices are moved along the workflow automatically, only stopping for approval where necessary. This can save a lot of time on repetitive manual tasks that could just as easily be done by a computer.
With electronic bill payment platforms like AvidXchange, the accounts payable team can have full visibility into the automated process. The automation is capable of following whatever kind of workflow the accounts payable team has in place. The accounts payable team can oversee the whole workflow and improve it where necessary thanks to the complete transparency of the system.
If you are wondering how to organize your bills and pay them on time, electronic bill payment platforms could be a relevant solution for you. Billing software could provide your accounts payable workflow with added flexibility, security, and efficiency, which could help your company stay competitive in a crowded market.
Online Payment Software
Some online payment software can provide your business’s accounts payable team with the flexibility to work anytime, anywhere. The best online payment system for this purpose is one that utilizes the cloud, like AvidXchange. Storing accounts payable data on the cloud can provide a greater level of security and flexibility than data that is stored physically.
An online payment management system can protect your accounts payable data by storing it in the cloud. Accounts payable data often deals with sensitive financial information, so it is important to keep it well protected. Storing your data in the cloud ensures it is safe and protected from unwanted access. Online payment software that utilizes cloud storage can also help your accounts payable team in the event of accidental data loss. There are many ways data could be lost, and it rarely happens when you expect it. Data that has been backed up in the cloud with an online payment management system is much more likely to be recoverable.
Online software can also improve your accounts payable processes by making it possible for the accounts payable team to work from anywhere and access data at any time. Accounts payable teams who are wondering how to organize bills online might find it useful to be able to work together on the same platform, even if the team is not all together in the same physical location.
Electronic Bill Pay Services
There are different types of electronic bill pay services available. If you are wondering which are the best electronic bill pay services for you, the answer depends on how large or small your company is. A free bill organizer program might be all a small business needs, but for mid-to-large-sized businesses, a more powerful electronic billing platform is likely necessary. Larger businesses have more demanding and more complex accounts payable needs, and free software designed only for basic organization probably will not be enough.
Among the list of electronic bill pay services that would be more appropriate for a middle-market company are electronic bill services like AvidXchange. This type of electronic billing platform has the capability to integrate with more complex accounts payable workflows. Electronic bill pay services like AvidXchange can automate your company’s bill payment processes and make payments electronically. This method helps reduce the risk of human error and fraud. You could also save money on overhead costs by eliminating the need for paper supplies such as checks and envelopes. A more limited billing platform intended for small businesses is unlikely to have these capabilities. For a mid-to-large-sized business, the best electronic bill pay services are those that can handle a more involved accounts payable workflow.
Payment Management Software
Switching over to a payment management app might sound intimidating. But in reality, the transition can be very smooth. Payment management software like AvidXchange can integrate seamlessly with the workflow your accounts payable team currently has in place. If they are already using some kind of payment platform, AvidXchange has the ability to integrate with that as well. You could use business payment software to automate your accounts payable process without needing to create a whole new workflow. The best payment software can be integrated quickly and easily, since the whole point is to make life easier for the accounts payable team.
Order billing and payment management can be challenging without the help of payment management software. A payment management app can streamline your accounts payable workflow by automating it and still provide visibility into the status of bill payments and approvals. This enables the workflow to move along more quickly and efficiently without sacrificing the accounts payable team’s insight into the process. The increased visibility and organization could make it easier for the accounts payable team to identify how the workflow could be improved even further.
Payment Processing Services
Payment processing software can improve your accounts payable workflow by using automation to process payments faster and more accurately. By reducing the need for tasks to be completed manually, payment processing software can make your accounts payable system more efficient. Completing each step of the process manually can be very time consuming, but payment processing software could eliminate the tedious manual tasks that might waste the accounts payable team’s valuable time.
Payment processing services that can be considered the leaders in the payment processing software industry can help improve even the most complex accounts payable processes. AvidXchange’s payment processing software can automate your whole bill payment workflow and enable you to process invoices quickly and securely with online bill payment. They process over 50 million transactions per year, so they are well equipped to assist your accounts payable team in streamlining and organizing their bill payment process.
Payment processing software could be a solution for an accounts payable team at a mid-to-large-sized business that is struggling to keep up with payment processing. Utilizing a quality platform that includes features like the best ACH payment processing is one of the ways a business can improve its accounts payable efficiency.
Online Bill Pay Services
Not all online bill pay services work the same way. Each one is designed for a particular purpose and a particular type of business. Businesses with complex invoicing processes need a bill pay service that can handle the high demands of a complicated accounts payable workflow. For example, banking typically involves a very complex accounts payable workflow. Online bill pay services like AvidXchange can provide banks with the ability to improve their accounts payable efficiency.
Online payment processing can automate every aspect of the accounts payable process. A bill pay service like AvidXchange has the ability to guide invoices automatically through the process of data entry, approvals, document management, and reporting. The automation could also be integrated with an existing accounting system so that invoices flow directly into it for payment processing.
Banks and other financial institutions could save time by using online payment processing. Their accounts payable workflow can be made more efficient and kept more organized with automated online bill pay services provided by an online payment processing platform. Automating the accounts payable workflow wherever possible also reduces the risk of human error. This could be a very useful feature for banks, because when dealing with finances, there is very little room for error.
Payment Software Company
Companies that are struggling to maintain an efficient accounts payable workflow might be able to benefit from a payment software solution. Aside from the many advantages of a paperless, automated process, a payment software company like AvidXchange can also provide an easy method of organizing payment methods. AvidXchange’s network of over 700,000 suppliers are already integrated into the AvidXchange payment software solution. These suppliers’ bill payment preferences can be automatically adhered to by the payment processing software, eliminating the work required for your accounts payable team to figure out how each supplier wants to receive payment.
Payment software companies that provide this kind of built-in supplier network could save your accounts payable team even more time and money. Finding the right payment software solution for your business’s needs can improve your bill payment process. By automating your accounts payable workflow, you can free your accounts payable team from tedious, repetitive tasks so they can spend their time more effectively. A smooth accounts payable process can be achieved with the help of a payment software company’s services.
