Payment automation can expedite invoice payments and boost productivity. But only if your team knows how to use it well. Manually processing invoices, matching payments with their corresponding financial data, and reconciling these items is time-consuming and error-prone for accounting departments. Implementing an automated billing system is critical to your business’s growth.
Better Customer Experience
Employees can now concentrate on more crucial activities thanks to payment automation in the age of labour shortages. It is especially beneficial for cash flow but can also reduce employee burnout and boost morale. B2B invoices can be complex, and manual processes can leave much room for error. Upgrading to a B2B payment automation system will decrease errors and enhance the general experience for your clients and suppliers. Automated systems allow you to directly deliver invoices and remittance advice to payees through self-service portals or email. It reduces the number of excuses your customers may have to delay payments and can lead to quicker collection times. Hyperautomation speeds up the processing of invoices by automating data entry and matching documents. It eliminates the need for AP to manually verify and check invoices against purchase orders, receipts, and other transaction documents. It can cut the time to process an invoice by more than 50%, significantly reducing the average time it takes for businesses to get paid.
Reduced Risk of Fraud
Whether an employee is embezzling from the company or trying to scam suppliers, payment fraud can devastate any business. But it’s easy to reduce the likelihood of these issues with a reliable, transparent digital payments system. Accounts payable automation helps your company avoid fraud by providing secure authorization and ensuring checks are paid to the correct recipients. These systems typically verify information such as the recipient’s bank account and routing number to ensure accuracy and prevent duplicate payments or payments to unknown recipients.
Moreover, AP automation eliminates human errors that can be costly to your company by reducing rework and duplication. It also helps your business keep up with payments by automatically transmitting positive pay files daily and limiting access to the master vendor file to only authorized users. This segregation of duties makes it more difficult for employees to blend their personal and business activities, which may indicate potential fraud. Lastly, a detailed audit trail of all transactions provides transparency and can help your team immediately identify suspicious behaviour.
Increased Efficiency
Automating payment processes eliminates manual errors in processing invoice payments and capturing financial data. This results in improved visibility and more accurate bookkeeping, reducing the risk of wasted or incomplete transactions and fractured supplier relationships. Payment automation allows a business to complete the accounts payable process on time by reducing the time-consuming tasks of invoice matching and verification. It includes capturing invoices, approving payments and sending payments to suppliers via various methods such as ACH, virtual card payments, wire transfers or checks.
In addition, the speed and accuracy of automated payments also increase a company’s ability to capture more cash flow discount opportunities and optimize working capital. Unlike a manual process where an AP manager must manually approve each invoice, an automated solution can be supported by an authorized user of the platform on any device, wherever they are located. It eliminates bottlenecks and enables more cash flow discounts to be captured. It is important as vendor relationships continue becoming central to a company’s success. Ultimately, this helps companies improve performance and drive business growth.
Increased Visibility
With digital payment solutions, a business can have more visibility into the accounts payable (AP) and payment processes. These systems give users a thorough picture of all AP and payment processes in real time, providing insightful data that can be leveraged to boost corporate efficiency and expansion. Automation improves data accuracy while reducing manual work for AP teams. Additionally, it reduces the possibility of costly mistakes resulting in repeated work, duplicate payments, and excessive processing fees.
Enhanced visibility allows organizations to leverage strategic tools that optimize cash flow, like negotiating more favourable vendor payment terms. For example, automated AP processes can speed up payment cycles, allowing businesses to take advantage of early payment discounts without
sacrificing working capital.AP automation also eliminates the need to spend time fielding supplier
inquiries about invoice and payment status by providing them with a portal where they can see this
information in real-time. It helps build stronger relationships and improves the overall customer experience. It also shortens payment cycles, allowing suppliers to get paid faster and decrease their day’s outstanding sales.
Stronger Supplier Relationships
Getting paid on time is essential to any business, and the best-in-class companies know that transparency is the key to good supplier relationships. However, many accounts payable departments need help with manual processes that cause invoices to be delayed or even missed. A payment automation solution streamlines AP workflows, including the approval and authorization process. It,s helps reduce the number of invoices not paid on time due to a lag in the process or human error. It also enables a faster turnaround between receipt of an electronic invoice and the payment being authorized for release. It can make a major difference to cash flow and supplier relationships. Lastly, automated payment systems allow businesses to offer multiple ways for their customers to pay. It can include ACH payments, virtual card payments or payments made via a digital portal. In turn, this may remove some customers’ excuses for not paying on time and could help improve working capital liquidity. It can be especially helpful for small, mid-sized businesses that manage credit limits.