I have written a little about Accounts Payable Automation and Document Management, but I have never written about the two in context of competition. The next few days I am going to be writing about differences that you can evaluate as you choose an AP Automation service provider. My hope is, but the topics, I can help you cut through the clutter and noise to find the service provider that best fits you needs.

Document Management

The goal of document management is the take, what was previously paper, and turn it into an electronic document and store that document. There are two things to consider when matching document management to automation: (1) It generally accommodates for more than just invoices and (2) its primary benefit (which is big) is to eliminate the need to manage and go to filing cabinets, which helps with search and retrieval.

Automation

The primary job of automation is to free up time and use people better. This is not just with Accounting Payable Automation… this is with any automation. The point behind automation is to eliminate as many manual tasks as possible and your people can do more skilled things.

Competition

When looking at competing offerings it is important to know what you are getting into and how it matches up with what you want to do. On the surface it seems like an easy choice to go with the one that has the most options, but I have found the more options you add the less specialized the offering becomes. An example is going with document management will help with invoices, contracts, and other documents, but if your goal is to improve your Accounts Payable process you can fall short because of lack streamlining that automation can bring.

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