Those that read me on a regular basis know that I write almost exclusively about Accounts Payable Automation. Today’s article is about good change in AP when you go from a paper to an automated process.

There are 7

1. More Time- I write about this a lot, but still haven’t made the impact that I think it deserves, and that is, AP Automation is only as good as the time that it frees up.

2. People are used better – If you automate AP correctly your people will be doing more high impact things for the business that have a better return.

3. Faster approval process – Paper will slow down your approval process. One of the signs that you are well automated in AP comes from the fact that your invoices are approved faster. Now, this doesn’t mean you pay your vendors earlier, but it does mean better cash management.

4. Less filing cabinets – whether you maintain the number of filing cabinets or destroy the cabinets you have the point here is a wonderful outcome of AP Automation is the filing cabinets will become irrelevant. I don’t know why this give people such pleasure… I really feel sorry for filing cabinets 🙂

5. AP fire drills – I don’t know if you will ever be able to stop someone from needing a check “yesterday” but you can with AP Automation stop the need to do long searches for an invoice that no one, including the vendor, has any idea where it is in the approval process. I did a study several years ago that found it cost an organization $7.95 every time the phone rang and it was a vendor on the other line asking about an invoice.

6. Empowering others – When you automate AP you naturally give people the ability to do for themselves (something I am trying to teach my kids). In the paper world of Accounts Payable, invoices and information had to be stored in a central locations. When AP is automated that central location becomes software, that if done right, can be accessed with permission so business unit owners can find the information themselves.

7. No more paper cuts – yes… enjoy this wonderful outcome… when the paper is gone – so are the paper cuts.

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