Key Features Businesses Should Look for in an Accounts Payable Solution

Accounts payable processes come with a lot of manual data entry and inefficient workflows that add up to additional burden within the accounts payable department. Inefficient accounts payable (AP) processes hold up businesses from leveraging supplier relationships to their fullest potential. However, AP software can automate all the accounts payable processes and saves you a lot of time and effort.

Automation streamlines invoice processing, including data capture. You can scan invoices and extract receipt data automatically for invoice processing. Automation can also match invoices to purchase orders and send for payment processing without much manual intervention. Approval workflows are implemented as per the predefined business rules, which can prevent organizations from paying the same invoice more than once.

Key features that enterprises should look for in AP automation:

Data capture

Accounts Payable software scans all invoices regardless of origin, including paper-based invoices, and automatically captures key data. Data fields such as purchase order number, invoice type, invoice amount, and supplier details can be read and extracted automatically. The solution uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to read receipt data and ensures accurate data entry.

Automated workflows

AP software enables businesses to create flexible and customizable workflows to suit business needs. Everything from approval-based workflows to defining invoice values, supplier names, purchase orders, or even creating exception reports can be configured with AP software.

Matching

Matching is a process of validating shipping orders, purchase orders, and invoices to check amounts, quantities, and items received as per descriptions. Any discrepancies are a possibility of fraud or errors while ordering products. The matching process is extremely time-consuming and tedious, which is why automating this process would not only save you time but also ensure products are received accurately. 2-way, 3-way, 4-way, and n-way matching are the four matching mechanisms that help you validate invoices against purchase orders. You can match items, product quantities, prices, or any other criteria by configuring any matching mechanism. Automating matching processes would reduce account payable work so they can focus on reinforcing vendor relationships.

Easy payments

Accounts payable software should integrate with third-party ERP systems to facilitate supplier payments. Payment automation would help businesses leverage early payment discounts, and automated notifications would prevent companies from paying penalties. Invoice data can be easily imported into SutiAP, so you don’t have to enter the data for payment processing manually. Automating supplier payments would build strong relationships with suppliers, which ultimately helps in negotiating better deals in the future.

Data visibility

Businesses must be able to view accounts payable processes down towho ordered what, who signed deliveries, who matched items, and who made payments. The traditional way of doing this requires you to make repetitive phone calls or send several follow-up emails to the AP department.

AP solutions will give businesses the visibility and insights they need into spending and supplier payments, so enterprises can have a clear idea about how much the company is spending on suppliers. This can help get better deals with suppliers and allows businesses to identify where businesses could save money by negotiating with suppliers. Analytics will help you gain complete insight into spending and helps you make critical spending decisions. This way, you will have everything at your fingertips, and you can quickly identify discrepancies if any. Having complete visibility into invoices yields significant savings and makes your work easier while eliminating manual data analysis. 

Security

When choosing an AP software, businesses should look for a solution that combats fraud and provides a complete audit trail. This includes access privileges and detailed insight into complete information. Choosing an accounts payable software that comes with security protocols can help address challenges associated with supplier management.

Whether you process hundreds of invoices per month or just a few, choosing the right AP solution can help save a significant amount of time and money. Automating accounts payable processes allows employees to focus on their core activities, and the finance department can redirect their efforts on other activities, resulting in significant business growth.