A global leader in food-based manufacturing for decades, this company is renowned for its commitment to innovation and pushing the boundaries of available technology to ensure excellence. With such a strong legacy, it was only natural for the team to challenge conventional practices within their own Accounts Payables (AP) department when operational frustrations surfaced.
100 Reasons to Automate Accounts Payable
Each week, the AP staff at this leading manufacturing company issued around 100 checks completely manually. That was 100 checks to approve, 100 checks to print, 100 checks to sign, 100 checks to place in envelopes, 100 checks to add postage and mail weekly.
Of greater importance, it was 100 payments that could be delayed in the postal service, which was happening more and more frequently. It was 100 envelopes that could be lost, which meant that the entire process had to be repeated. And it was 100 checks that could be intercepted by fraudsters, and those had been, thankfully, caught on more than one occasion before damage could be done.
A senior finance leader at the company noted, “replacing our manual AP activities with an automated process was paramount, as was moving as many of our customers as possible to electronic payment methods. We wanted to get away from checks as much as we could because of the time and the risks involved.”
