Accounts Payable (AP) is the process of paying bills to suppliers, receiving goods and services, and then paying the liabilities to creditors. There is much debate and speculation over the duration companies dedicate to submitting invoices, processing the information, and paying their vendors. However, the reality is that these tasks are critical in ensuring a healthy cash flow and ensuring that all business expenses are captured and tracked.
Well, the New Year is approaching, and so we are all set to revisit the way we approach AP, and here are a few of them:
1. Accounting Built Upon Accounting Software
For businesses to adopt accounts payable software is a familiar thing. The accounts payable software market size was valued at USD 8.77 Billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 17.61 Billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 9.1% from 2021 to 2028. For expanding organizations, good Accounts Payable Software is crucial. Accounts Payable teams use software from the invoice automation Software Market to process, record, and settle discounted vendor invoices.
Having all your accounting and other essential data in one place is very beneficial. For example, it can save your company from spending extra money on employee training, and save your employees from tracking down information in several different applications. In addition, having all your essential business information in one system makes collaboration easier for teams. Besides, it allows your leadership team easy access to data for reporting and analysis.
Source: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/
2. Start using AI in your Accounts Payable
Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology changing how businesses operate. You may send contracts and invoices together, and the recipients of invoices may also receive other papers like credit notes or payment reminders. Businesses can extract pertinent information from documents, comprehend the context, and categorize them using multiple features of AI in Accounts Payable Software. Businesses can convert their paper records into digital systems and improve search functionality by automating this process.
Since AI extracts information from data, it is significant that businesses should feed quality data. This will enable organizations to have precise business intelligence that will be a competitive edge over others. It is widely accepted that companies should have the right technology, cloud solutions, insights, and business processes.
Artificial Intelligence invoice automation extracts data from invoices of different formats into the software and offers simultaneous mapping too, for quicker checks and approvals.
3. Data Security is Essential
Procurement professionals frequently take care of touchy client facts associated with their finances, payroll, and taxes. As such, freak incidences of information breaches is a massive blow to their credibility and recognition. It may even expose them to lawsuits. Data indicates that 41% of CIOs skilled in cybersecurity (from spear phishing and malware attacks) and other AP frauds are more frequently dealing with cybercrime situations. This is where Account Payable automation tools help with fraud protection to some extent The undertaking for today`s accountants and accounting companies is that you need to be powerful information creditors and handlers.
4. Utilization of Accounting Data for Business Insights
Investing in a sturdy information infrastructure opens up opportunities for businesses to implement superior technology. One of those is information visualization and analytics, which is essential for sound decision-making. The precise information is that corporations are willing to harness such technology within the workplace.
Visual processing uses 50% of the brain. The Accounts Payables dashboard offers information on future, past-due, and outstanding positions, which aids in the analysis and management of cash outflow to procurement professionals efficiently.
With the usage of advanced technology, it is noticed that accountants can upgrade the type of offerings they offer to clients. With the shift from transactional to analytical processing, accountants will also want to replace their ability units. When requested what crucial middle talents and competencies their group individuals have to enhance, 61.7% of finance and accounting experts noted essential questioning and problem-fixing skills.
5. Switch to Vendor Portal & E-invoicing
Many businesses now use portals as a single point of contact for all vendor interactions. Vendor portals nowadays provide built-in intelligent features, such as PO flips, which enable vendors to convert orders to invoices in a fraction of the time necessary to complete the same procedure manually.
Additional features like master data modifications, invoice, and payment status updates and integrated query management have significantly decreased vendor inquiries and improved user experiences all around.
Studies reveal that the e-invoicing industry will surge at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 20%, and between 2019-2026 it is likely to accomplish a market volume of $20.5 billion. However, this initiative is also expedited in the B2G (Business-to-Government) segments where specific geographies & industries are likely to adopt e-invoicing solutions owing to its numerous benefits.
It is a noteworthy change in terms of AP networks and holistic procurement platforms that are now accelerating their interest from paper to electronic invoicing potentials. When organizations consider a switch to electronic invoices, they generally notice a commendable 30-50% reduction in data entry efforts within their team.
6. Proactive AP Controls and Analytics
The definition and application of AP control in the modern world have undergone a paradigm shift. Several clients regularly monitor AP data and spot abnormalities using deep analytics and system techniques like compliance mining. The use of ML algorithms allows for continuous tracking of everything from segregation of duties disputes to duplicate invoices and payments to changes in payment methods to unlawful revisions, enabling customers to adopt a proactive compliance regime. Many systems accomplish this using built-in engines.
Most importantly, companies have made a conscious effort to lower the volume of invoices that are received and processed each day. Especially in high transaction industries like retail, tactical operations include PO consolidation resulting in downstream invoice reduction, whereby many more goods or services are invoiced collectively.
Additionally, we observe increased use of more recent strategic procurement models, such as consortium-based purchasing, which decreases the volume of bills. Finally, on the technological front, we observe a renewed emphasis on self-billing and ERS, at least in some sectors and regions.
What Next? A Bright Future with AP Automation Software!
Skip the manual, slow, and time-consuming AP processes with AI-enabled automated invoice processing. It’s high time to skip working in silos and switch to unified and integrated account payable automation software - Aavenir Invoiceflow.
Aavenir Invoiceflow offers AI invoice processing with
- Quicker invoice approvals
- No duplicate processing with 2/ 3-way invoice matching
- AI-enabled invoice data extraction
- Accounts payable KPI dashboard for effective working,
and more...
