How to secure a paperless future with accounts payable software

It’s no mistake that the Accounts Payable team have suffered from laborious, and monotonous manual tasks, but the pandemic put paid to that with companies having to quickly adapt to the circumstances and embrace digitization.

This has led many organizations to think about future-proofing their accounting systems with automation, but going paperless can seem daunting so we’ve put together the top three things to consider before taking the plunge.

1. Analyze what your current processes are

Before you even start looking at AP automation software you think suits your needs you’ll need to understand and analyze your current processes and identify any pain points you’d like to address.

Some of the most common issues that can occur are; time-consuming invoice approval processing times, system security gaps, and response time to financial reporting inquiries.

Once you’ve nailed these pain points the next step is always to present to your C-suite, and back up your findings with evidence of how much automation versus manual process could save the company money.

The evaluation of benchmarks and KPIs will ensure that senior leadership feel happy with the switch.

2. Teamwork makes the dream work

Once the senior leadership team are on board with the new accounts payable software it’s time to get everyone else on the same page.

A great way to do this is to ensure your account leads are knowledgeable about the system, as well as offer open forums, and training where needed, plus demonstrations on how it can make their day-to-day tasks and responsibilities that little bit easier, allowing your employees feel confident in moving forward with the new system.

Once the whole company feels excited about the transition it’s time to take the next step.

3. What are the goals for switch?

Now everyone is ready for automation the next thing you need to do is establish goals and commitments to the change, some of these could be:

• ERP system integration for great visibility and quicker approvals
• Enhancing inventory management with improvements to supplier access and faster invoice and payment approval
• Greater collaboration with real-time updates that can be accessed remotely
• Errors greatly reduced

One thing that you will need to decide is how much paper will still be part of your future processes, while going paperless is an ideal scenario it’s good to be realistic, the most successful implementations need to work with the people who use the accounts payable systems on a daily basis.

4. How to choose the right Accounts Payable software provider

Technology moves quickly these days, with businesses investing in new systems only to find they are outdated three months later.

The average worker uses around 10,000 sheets of paper every year, that’s a staggering amount, and also another reason to aspire to a paperless office.

Technology like Pdf and AI help to speed up the entire process. AI can ‘look’ at documents and identify which department it needs to be sent to, this becomes even easier for companies who adopt cloud automation.

We get it, going paperless can be a little bit daunting, that’s why having the right provider will not only make the switch painless but also make the culture change needed to make it work easier too.

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