Accounts Payable Automation has become a game-changer for organizations, significantly reducing invoice routing delays and streamlining financial operations. In this digital age, where efficiency and accuracy are paramount, businesses are increasingly turning to automation to expedite the accounts payable process.
ACI’s AP Automation Lite solution is pivotal in mitigating invoice routing delays and making financial processes smoother, faster, and more reliable.
What are the common challenges of manual invoice approvals?
Manual invoice entry is a time-consuming and error-prone task. Paper invoices can be lost, misdirected, or misfiled, making retrieval extremely difficult if information needs to be verified for accuracy or compliance issues.
Working with paper invoices also adds considerable costs in terms of paper, printer ink, printer maintenance, storage, and other expenses that can be eliminated with AP Automation.
The role of ACI’s AP Automation Lite
One of the critical advantages of ACI’s AP Automation Lite solution is the centralization of invoice processing. In manual systems, invoices often circulate through various departments for approval and validation. This routing process can be cumbersome, leading to delays and errors.
However, AP Automation Lite ensures that all invoices are directed to a centralized platform, where they can be processed quickly and efficiently. The software minimizes manual intervention, reducing the chances of delays caused by human error or inefficiency.
Optimized invoice approval process
Accounts payable automation software enables organizations to create predefined workflows for invoice approval. Each invoice is automatically routed to the relevant individuals or departments based on established rules, such as predefined spending limits, departments, or vendor-specific criteria.
Our automated system sends alerts and notifications to stakeholders, reminding them of pending invoices and deadlines for approval. This proactive approach ensures that invoices refrain from languishing in approval queues, reducing routing delays caused by neglect or oversight.
By streamlining the approval process and providing a clear audit trail, accounts payable automation speeds up approval cycles. Invoices that once took days or even weeks to gain approval can now be processed in a matter of hours or even minutes, reducing the overall invoice routing time.
More profitable vendor management
Effective management of your organization’s vendors is critical to your bottom line. Since AP Automation significantly decreases invoice routing and approval times, you’ll be able to pay your vendors early or on time, keeping them happy, improving your brand reputation, and increasing the chances of offering you better credit terms in the future.
Paying your invoices early also allows you to leverage early payment discounts, increasing your bottom line.
Clear, real-time visibility into your AP system
Our AP Automation solution provides real-time visibility into the invoice routing process. This means that organizations can track the progress of invoices, identify bottlenecks, and take action to resolve issues quickly. In manual systems, tracking the status of invoices is often challenging and time-consuming.
In traditional accounts payable processes, paper invoices can get lost or delayed in transit. Our automation systems eliminate the need for paper invoices by enabling electronic submission and routing, ensuring that invoices reach their destination instantly, regardless of physical location.
AP Automation Lite also offers robust reporting and analytics features, making it easier to analyze historical data to identify patterns and areas for improvement in their AP processes, further reducing delays over time.
What is the implementation process for ACI’s AP Automation Lite?
ACI operates as an extension of your IT team to create an easy transition to AP Automation. We’ll do all the heavy lifting with minimal interruption to your daily operations so you can focus on running your business with peace of mind.
A dedicated, experienced ACI project manager supervises our proven, predefined implementation process. They’ll walk you through the implementation step-by-step to have you up and running in as little as 30 days.
We understand that change can be hard for many people, so we’re on hand to answer all your questions and address your team’s concerns. ACI helps change management by making everything simple and accessible.
Can ACI’s solution integrate with our existing software systems?
We designed our AP Automation solutions to work together with any accounting system that can import and export data files. We interface with today’s most popular ERP software, including SAP, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Lawson, Baan, Sage 300 (formerly Accpac), 4th Shift, Capp Auto, and Yardi.
Our secure cloud-based document management system, FileManager™, allows for seamless data transfer into your accounting system, making document retrieval, editing, and updating fast and simple.
How does ACI ensure data security and compliance with its solution?
ACI’s AP Automation Lite includes document & data capture and secure cloud storage, allowing organizations to store invoices electronically. This reduces the physical storage requirements and makes it easier to retrieve invoices for auditing, reference, or compliance purposes, further reducing delays caused by manually searching for paper documents.
Automation systems come with customized, built-in validation checks and compliance controls, helping ensure that invoices meet all regulatory and internal compliance standards and reducing the likelihood of rerouted invoices due to errors or non-compliance.
Access controls are entirely customizable to prevent intrusion by unauthorized parties. These controls can be easily changed with just a few keystrokes, ensuring that your data is always safe and secure.
Final thoughts on AP Automation
Accounts Payable Automation is a transformative technology that profoundly impacts your business operations. By centralizing invoice storage, automating workflows, providing real-time visibility, and offering tools for accuracy and compliance, businesses can significantly expedite their accounts payable processes.
The results are improved efficiencies, more considerable cost savings, enhanced vendor relationships, and improved overall financial stability.
For more information on how ACI’s AP Automation Lite solution can help optimize your business, call 800-719-9621 or click the button below.
