At a conference I attended last year, an AP manager joked that, naturally, as a child she had always imagined her future would be running an AP department. She then mentioned the quote above. Indeed, in most businesses accounts payable is a support function, without strategic importance. In this article, I want to briefly consider when modernizing AP makes sense.
For companies who have supplier invoices as a significant part of their cost, such as manufacturing, distribution and retail, modern processing of supplier invoices is critical for two main reasons:
We doubled the number of invoices, and we are still the same number of staff.
- Andrew Ainsworth, Finance Manager Elekta UK (read full case study)
At dinner at a recent conference I challenged our own CFO on what makes automation of AP a priority. For him, it was the ability to undertake important finance initiatives with the extra resources automation would free up.
For another one of my clients, it was the time saved to all the managers, who used to spend hours in the office with a stack of invoices. With an automated AP process these managers could instead focus their time on meeting with clients up-selling their products.
If you see value in modernizing accounts payable in your organization, start by defining the state of your current process to identify where you have inefficiencies and issues today and where you can/want to take action. Then set targets for what you wish to achieve and identify partners who can help you get there.
If you need help getting started, this white paper might be a good resource for you: A buyer's guide to AP invoice automation solutions