Streamline Your Summer with AP Automation

Summer is right around the corner, and it’s time to break out the sunscreen and flip-flops! But if you work in Accounts Payable (AP), you know it can be tough to find time to set your out-of-office message and take a vacation during this busy season.

Currently, AP’s top challenges are mostly tactical problems caused by having manual or paper-based processes1. Outdated processes are burdensome as they make it challenging to focus on more strategic initiatives or high-value tasks that are impactful to your organization. Even worse, the hidden costs of manual processing can drain resources, making it difficult to save money and grow your bottom line.

If you’re looking to have a stress-free summer, it’s time to consider implementing automation in your AP department. 93% of finance leaders believe that end-to-end automation can improve their overall processes2, illustrating that more organizations have started recognizing many the benefits of Invoice and Payment Automation, including increased efficiency, greater security, enhanced visibility, and business continuity.

Streamlining your AP and harnessing these benefits is the secret to finding the time to take a much-needed vacation and soak up the sun by the pool or beach. Here’s how each of these benefits can help you achieve peace of mind during the summer:

Increased efficiency:

In 2023, the average time to manually process a single invoice is nearly 11 days, which can cause significant delays and take away from the strategic and value-added functions AP can provide2. Invoice Automation saves 80% of time on invoice processing, meaning you’ll have a chance to take advantage of early payment discounts and keep your suppliers happy. Payment Automation also creates greater efficiencies by eliminating 90% of the steps in payment processing, creating a time-savings of 80%.

Greater security:

Recent survey data shows that 1) 65% of organizations were victims of payment fraud attempts or attacks in 2022, and 2) checks remain the payment method most vulnerable to fraud, with 63% of respondents reporting their organization faced fraudulent activity with the use of checks3.

Payment Automation solutions help organizations reduce risk and better mitigate the risk of fraud by significantly reducing the number of paper checks mailed to vendors and providing heightened security features, including data encryption, and restricting system access with multi-factor authentication.

Best-in-class Payment Automation providers also offer Positive Pay and Payee Positive Pay at no cost. Check payments are made using this service, which matches the account number and amount of each check cashed and matches the name of the individual or the organization that the payment is meant to go to, respectively.

Enhanced visibility:

Paper-based processes provide little to no visibility, meaning organizations are often unsure if an invoice has been approved and paid. Invoice Automation helps an organization enhance visibility with real-time reporting to give you instant access to invoices and their approval status. This can help your organization better navigate economic uncertainty during any season and help finance leaders make informed, strategic decisions at a moment’s notice.

Business continuity:

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of using automation during the summer is business continuity. Going paperless in your AP department and embracing cloud technology means you can quickly approve invoices and securely pay your vendors from anywhere at any time. You’ll be able to process AP in just a few clicks no matter what.

Summertime is the perfect chance for busy AP professionals to take time away from their jobs, but antiquated accounting practices make it nearly impossible to relax. Implementing AP Automation in your finance department means you can lessen your workload and create time to step away from the office. With automation in place, the department will run smoothly and effectively while you’re away.

To get started with AP Automation before summer starts, schedule a demo with Paymerang today.

Sources:

1Ardent Partners’ Accounts Payable Metrics that Matter in 2023

2InsightAvenue, 2022

32023 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey

John Zaudtke

John Zaudtke

John leads sales at Paymerang, overseeing a team of outside and inside sales professionals and directing the day-to-day activities to deliver rapid growth. His goal is to drive a world-class sales organization that is able to connect with financial professionals in a diverse set of industry verticals and help them benefit from Paymerang’s transformative finance automation solutions. John spent the last three years in an outside sales role with Paymerang, managing the company’s K-12 Education and Financial Institution verticals. He has over 15 years of sales experience from companies big and small, like Ricoh, Snag, and The Brink’s Company. A highly motivated and energetic leader, John loves coaching and mentoring others, both in the office and outside on the lacrosse field.