Get Your AP Automation Proposal Out of the Mud

If your proposal for accounts payable automation is languishing, the problem may not be the technology. The problem may be in how you presented the benefits of the technology to higher-ups.

Controllers rank accounts payable as the most time-consuming, laborious, and paper-intensive finance and administration function, ahead of activities such as accounts receivable, payroll, tax, and audit and reporting, according to IOFM’s 2016 Accounts Payable Key Performance Indicators Study.

In fact, accounts payable received nearly twice as many votes from controllers as the most time- and labor-intensive finance and administration function than the next highest-ranked function.

Additionally, 21 percent of CFOs surveyed by TD Bank in 2015 admitted that outdated systems are creating inefficiencies in their finance and administration operations, while 17 percent of those surveyed expressed concern about manual processes associated with payment initiation.

Finance executives are not just grousing about broken accounts payable processes; they are willing to invest in solutions. Sixty-percent of controllers anticipated that their business would increase its capital budget for accounts payable process improvement projects, IOFM’s research found.

So why can’t more accounts payable automation proposals get past the starting line? The big reason is how most payables professionals pitch automation to senior management.

Finance executives aren’t nearly as interested in operational improvements that most accounts payables professionals focus on as they are in strategic objectives such as:

1. Enhanced visibility
2. Better working capital management
3. Increased profit margins
4. Lower cost of goods

Emphasizing these four benefits in a proposal for accounts payable automation will help win over senior management. Fortunately, solutions such as NexusPayables deliver in all four of these areas.

Let Nexus Systems help you craft a successful proposal for accounts payable automation. Contact us at 703-524-9101 or online at nexussystems.com to schedule a demo.