Accounts payable is, by definition, a department where money leaves the company. But there are ways to prevent additional loss and even to generate revenue in this department as well.
With AP automation covering the process from invoice intake to payment, your AP team is equipped to lower costs, prevent costly errors, negotiate discounts, generate rebate revenue from card payments, and support identification of growth and savings opportunities.
1) Lower Costs
Here at NextProcess, we’ve found that organizations using fully automated accounts payable save an average of $14.93 per invoice processed compared to organizations that manually process invoices. How much time employees spend on invoices is a major factor in how much processing costs, so when you speed up and streamline processes to reduce touch points, you can lower invoice processing costs to less than $5 per invoice.
2) Prevent Costly Errors
With an outdated, inefficient AP department, your company could be losing money to overpayments, late payment fees, and duplicate payments. An automated AP software system that can track deadlines and cross-reference payments will help prevent these and other costly errors. The software can also help identify discrepancies, such as a supplier charging two different prices for the same product.
3) Negotiate Discounts
Negotiating with suppliers is an often overlooked way to save money. Automation systems ensure you can guarantee early or on-time payments when bargaining with suppliers. Some vendors are open to offering early-pay discounts, especially once they have an established relationship with your company. This is an area where AP will need to work with Procurement.
4) Generate Revenue
Virtual payments save your company money compared to paper checks, which are costly to print, process, and mail. In addition, virtual cards or bank cards earn your company money through rebate programs, letting you monetize your accounts payable system. When you automate payments with NextProcess, our system delivers virtual card payments through MasterCard’s network and your company earns monthly rebates. Our system also streamlines and tightens security around payments to suppliers that don’t accept virtual cards.
5) Support Growth
With AP processes operating efficiently and providing real-time cash flow data, your financial team can leverage that data to support operational decision-making and identify growth and savings opportunities. Capturing real-time data is one of the biggest advantages of AP automation software. With cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) systems, the system updates in real time. Access to timely, accurate data gives your company a distinct advantage in operational decision-making.
If you’re interested in saving and even making money with accounts payable, contact NextProcess. We’ll set up a free demo customized to your company’s needs so you can see our software in action.
