Written by: Beanworks
When the pandemic struck, businesses globally began1 automating their accounting systems to make
payments while their people worked from home.
However, the benefits of accounts payable (AP) automation aren't confined to convenience. Today, finance teams view digitization as key to making efficiency gains and improving cash flow
management.
The consequences of an inefficient AP process are significant. If your accounting team cannot complete tasks quickly and accurately, your business may suffer from:
That’s a lot of loss going on. And each one of those challenges can be calculated to a hard number for your business.
For example, if you're still working with paper checks and paper invoices - and recent statistics2 suggest that over 40% of you are - then it's time to re-evaluate your AP process.
The manual efforts involved in processing paper translates into expensive labor costs. It takes longer to reconcile POs and invoices and complete transactions, which means your Days Payable Outstanding (DPO)3 is higher. According to IOFM’s 2021 World Class AP Performance: Efficiency Benchmarking Metrics Report4, the cost can be up to 300% more than if this were managed electronically.
By employing a smart AP platform it is possible to mitigate the challenges above while increasing efficiency and cost savings.
Let's explore the actions you can take across the four key workflows in AP.
You can simplify these processes by adopting both automated and non-automated solutions.
1 Mastercard Study Shows COVID-19 a Catalyst for Digital B2B Payments Adoption, August 2020.
2 The 2021 State of AP Report Whitepapers.
3 Days Payable Outstanding (DPO), Investopedia, January 2022.
4 IOFM's 2021 World Class AP Performance: Efficiency Benchmarking Metrics Report.
Download the full whitepaper here »
About Beanworks
As a company built by accountants for accountants, we empower accounting teams to succeed by automating all things AP — making it both simple and delightful.
