4 AP automation software features to look out for

Using AP automation in your organization can help you gain a number of benefits including making your processes more efficient and giving your accounts payable employees more flexibility while simultaneously increasing their productivity and output.

Looking ahead, we’re going to walk through several key automation software features that you should look out for when deciding on accounts payable automation software.

Why AP automation?

Before we dive into the key features you should look out for in the accounts payable automation software of your choice, it’s important to understand why AP automation is important in the first place.

Profitability and cost savings

One of the primary advantages of AP automation software is the immediate increased profitability and cost savings it has the potential to provide by going paperless. Paper-based systems can be expensive and require significant investment over time in items such as filing cabinets, shelving, folders for storage, printer ink, maintenance costs, and a large amount of paper.

By reducing this overhead, your business can reap the benefits through higher profit margins and increased cost savings over time.

Increased productivity and time savings

When you’re working on processing, updating, recovering, and organizing paper documents by hand, the process can get tedious very quickly. You’re always at risk of misplacing documents, damaging the paper you have on hand, and using up your valuable time “pushing paper” instead of working on value-driven activities for your business.

Implementing a digital solution into your accounts payable departments and automating the bulk of the work can create numerous opportunities for quick scaling and growth towards your business objectives.

Key AP automation software features

There are several key features that every accounts payable automation software solution should have in order to perform at its highest level.

This includes the ability to track and organize every AP document type, capabilities for receiving documents across multiple channels, automated confirmations and connection requests, and artificial intelligence (AI) to read and “understand” documents automatically.

1. Tracks and organizes all AP document types

When looking for an AP automation software solution, your chosen software should be a document gateway that accepts every type of accounts payable document type. Whether you’re working with purchase orders, invoices, claims, packing lists, or any types of transactional documents, your AP automation software should be able to accept and work with that document type.

2. Allows you to receive documents from any channel

For maximum flexibility and efficiency, your accounts payable software should be able to unify all of your electronic and paper channels, effectively streamlining your communication and creating a curated list of every transaction that was done. If your organization has multiple scanners, DMS systems, or in boxes, your AP automation solution should be able to aggregate all of these together to simplify your life.

3. Automates confirmations, status updates, and correction requests

One of the most exciting benefits of automating your accounts payable processes is the ability to fully automate your confirmations, status updates, and any correction requests. This gives your employees tremendous flexibility and allows them to work more efficiently if they can quickly respond to an automated alert and provide their feedback. Instead of having to gather everyone in your office, automated notifications, updates, and requests can be handled on the go.

4. Automatically reads and understands documents

When it comes to invoice data capture, having an AP automation solution that can extract data from numerous different types of file formats and layouts is invaluable. Your automation software should leverage some of the newest technologies in machine learning and artificial intelligence, and incorporate “self-learning” capabilities where it can.

Dive into accounts payable automation with Rossum.ai

We’ve discussed four key features accounts payable automation software should have in order to help your business grow and scale faster than ever. Fortunately, Rossum.ai has all of these factors and more.

This includes tracking and organizing all types of documents you may see in accounts payable, giving you the ability to receive documents across multiple channels, and automating your documents as much as possible while simultaneously including status updates and alerts to keep a pulse on the action.

If your company is ready to take your accounts payable to the next level and automate the tedious and burdensome parts of the process, learn about how Rossum can help your business with AP automation today.