5 benefits of AP automation software for your business

There’s been an intriguing shift in recent years with how businesses are handling their accounts payable, with many businesses shifting towards AP automation in order to save time, increase productivity, improve accuracy, and reduce costs.

In a State of Accounts Payable report, 32 percent of surveyed companies began to automate their AP departments in 2021, and it is expected that more businesses will follow.

By implementing automation software in your business, you’ll be able to take advantage of the benefits, significantly improve the efficiency of your AP department, and receive thousands of data points that your business can take action on to improve your AP processes even further.

In this guide, we’re going to walk through some of the benefits of AP automation software in detail and explore how automation can be a game-changer for your business.

1. Save time & increase productivity

Using automation will allow your company’s accounts payable department to streamline the AP process and reduce delays and bottlenecks.

Typically, when approval for an invoice is required, they sit on a desk or in an email inbox and wait for the appropriate person to get to the invoice. While the invoice was sitting, valuable time was being taken up by playing the waiting game.

With automation and automated routing, your business will be able to eliminate all of those delays and get invoices processed faster. You’ll be able to apply specific rules to your AP workflows, ensuring that each invoice is sent to the appropriate person. Additionally, your automation software will send periodic reminders to the approvers in order to keep their invoice queue top of mind.

2. Use AP automation to improve your accuracy

Humans are far from perfect and can make honest mistakes when working through your company’s accounts payable workflows. Accounts payable automation gives your business the ability to remove the human element from certain parts of your AP process, and significantly reduce the number of errors made.

With the way this automation software is designed, there are built-in “verification checks” that ensure common mistakes are singled out and caught early in the process.

Automating your accounts payable removes the need for keying line items in manually or for typing out invoice headers by hand. As an additional bonus, you’ll be able to validate your invoice data against enterprise resource planning (ERP) data, allowing you to catch duplicate payments before they move further down your workflow.

3. Reduce invoicing costs

Using automation can reduce invoicing costs, allowing your business to reduce expenses and increase profitability. When you automate the accounts payable process, you’ll be saving on labor costs, since your AP department will be able to work more effectively with fewer employees.

Additionally, when you save on labor costs, you’ll also reduce hard costs such as postage, office supplies by going paperless, and additional expenses that are required for manual invoicing.

4. Detailed dashboards, data, and insights

Accounts payable automation software solutions will give your business detailed dashboards, data, and insights that can be used to make positive business decisions and improve your company’s efficiency.

You’ll have a clear window into your payment cycle and see where invoices sit, how long they remain in each step, and who you need to contact to push the workflow forward.

At the end of business cycles, you can export this data and use it in your reporting and analysis tools, letting you quickly and easily aggregate and analyze all of your company’s AP data.

5. Simplify audits & compliance

When it comes to audits and compliance, automation software can help businesses simplify document management. When you automate your accounts payable workflow, all of your messages and documents will be linked to the transaction they took place on, with easy access to any purchase orders, receipts, or invoices that are relevant to that particular transaction.

Automating your accounts payable process in this way will allow your company to focus on the important aspects of your business that drive growth, and have peace of mind that your AP process is working at maximum efficiency.

If you’re looking for an industry-leading accounts payable automation solution for your business, learn more about how Rossum.ai can help you automate your accounts payable process and make your business more efficient and effective.