Step 1: Reduce Paper and Drive Cost Savings
AP professionals can easily cite a variety of drawbacks to paper-based workflow processes, including:
Invoices that go missing or are difficult to find
Lengthy processing and approval cycles
Failure to capitalise on available early payment discounts
Unnecessary charges due to late payments
Limited tracking, reporting and auditing
Employee time dominated by data entry, scanning and other cumbersome tasks
Human error
Paper storage and retention costs
The reliance on paper processes and manual workflows has resulted in the average time to process a single invoice over 11 days - while making real-time visibility into invoice approvals, payments and cash flow difficult.
According to Ardent Partners, AP departments can reduce invoice processing costs by 80% by automating manual processes such as keying, paper handling and filing. But invoice automation can impact businesses beyond cost savings alone. Faster processing time, quicker approvals, improved use of man hours and reduced human error and risk are just a few additional benefits organisations can realise through automation.
