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Resources   /   Glossary

Accounts Payable Process Improvement

As a middle-market organization, you know how impactful it can be to improve and systemize your processes. Implementing effective strategies not only makes it easier for you and your team to stay on target but also speeds up the onboarding process as new hires are better able to grasp the tasks they need to perform. All processes can see benefits from streamlining, and accounts payable processes are no exception. Unfortunately, many accounts payable teams still rely on traditional, manual processes that are slow and mundane.

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The time of paper is passed. Not only does it introduce all kinds of inefficiencies as well as drain your team with endless tedium, but it also exposes your accounts payable processes to greater risks of fraud. Despite what you may hear on the news, the fact is that it’s much easier to forge a signature on a check or invoice than to hack I.T. systems. One of the best ways to bring true accounts payable process improvement to your organization is to turn to accounts payable automation.

You can use automation to bring your accounts payable process out of the paper age and into the digital age with paperless invoice processing, automatic online payments, and even automatic procurement. The key to getting all these features is to find solid accounts payable automation software. This can allow you to digitize your paperwork and create automatic workflows saving your accounts payable team time and money. You don’t have to waste any more time with excessive paperwork or spend money on costly ink and printing materials. With the best accounts payable automation software, like the software from AvidXchange, you can completely revolutionize your accounts payable processes, freeing up your team to work on more rewarding and strategic initiatives.

In selecting your accounts payable system, you want to ensure that you make a great choice. Some accounts payable solution providers focus on offering accounts payable software for large businesses or enterprises. For a middle-market organization, these solutions can be far too expensive and are often not designed to meet the specific needs of your business.

Accounts Payable Process Improvement Ideas

There are several different ways you can make your accounts payable processes more efficient, more affordable, and less soul-crushing for your employees. One of these accounts payable process improvement ideas is to utilize B2B bill payment automation. Never have to worry about payment delays and instead get your suppliers paid instantly through trusted and secured payment options. Not only can you cut down on costs, but automation makes it as easy as a few clicks to get your suppliers paid. Automation is also one of the great P2P process improvement ideas. Not only can software like this make you more efficient, but it also gives you the ability to access your accounts payable processes from anywhere at any time. Cloud-based solutions such as the one provided by AvidXchange create one easy-to-access dashboard where you and your team can see exactly what is going on with your accounts payable processes.

The best improvement ideas follow accounts payable automation best practices. That means ensuring that you can find a trustworthy, stable solution provider that has years of experience and has been trusted by many different organizations in a variety of industries. For example, AvidXchange is just such a provider. Our solution complies with and exceeds all the best practices in accounts payable processes.

Process Improvement Ideas For Invoice Processing

Automation is also one of the greatest process improvement ideas for invoice processing. There are many accounts payable software solutions that offer paperless invoice processing. If you’re wondering how to manage accounts payable effectively, turning to a solution such as the one from AvidXchange may be just the answer you need. Our overview video is a great accounts payable process improvement presentation because it shows all the ways that automation can make your accounts payable processes simpler and more cost-effective.

Imagine for a moment that there you never had to process another invoice manually again. With a paperless accounts payable system, that’s possible. The way it works is simple. As soon as a paper invoice comes in, it is scanned into the system. From there, automation takes the wheel, and the data is entered, checked for errors, and then automatically routed to the appropriate person in your organization for approval. The best accounts payable automation software also allows you to customize your own approval workflows for your invoices as well as ensure that approved invoices are automatically sent straight to your accounting system for payment processing. This is the power of automation. No more carrying paperwork from desk to desk and office to office. No more misplaced invoices or having to wait on mail couriers delayed by bad weather. Process your invoices instantly and easily with paperless invoice processing that follows all invoice approval best practices.

Accounts Payable End-To-End

When it comes to improving your accounts payable processes, it helps to understand the overall accounts payable end-to-end process. This process generally is described in three steps, procurement, receipt, and then payment. Procurement is where it all starts. At this point, you are making a purchase order to get supplies and materials from a supplier. The receipt is the point at which the products purchased are received by you, the buyer. Then comes payment. This stage comes immediately after the goods have been delivered and consists of invoicing and bill payment. After that, you’re done. You have gone through the entire accounts payable end-to-end process.

The big picture is a little more complicated. The accounts payable end-to-end process in SAP, for example, requires you to keep multiple separate teams whose sole responsibility is to manage, track, and record various items of paperwork. Don’t make your new employees spend hours reading an accounts payable procedures manual. Automation makes everything simple. Using a software solution such as the one provided by AvidXchange, you can automate the entire end-to-end process, from procurement to payment processing. This means that your accounts payable department doesn’t have to spend their days doing paperwork and can focus on activities that are more important to the growth of your business.

How To Simplify Accounts Payable Process

As a middle-market business, you’ve probably gone through periods of rapid growth that almost seem to come in spurts. Knowing how to handle these periods so that they generate maximum profit and success for your business is vital. That’s why you want to know how to simplify accounts payable process tasks. When you simplify the tasks, they don’t hold you back. That’s one of the biggest problems with traditional, paper-based processes in accounts payable. They can get in the way of scalability and create real roadblocks to your success. Accounts payable automation makes it far easier to scale because everything is cloud-based. You don’t have to worry about paperwork piling up and then getting lost because everything is digitized and automatically organized.

What your business needs is a solution that will make the entire accounts payable process simpler at every point along the accounts payable invoice processing flowchart. You may be wondering how to keep track of accounts payable, but the answer is simple: automation. AvidXchange provides an accounts payable solution that will not only make your processes simpler but will also provide you with actionable insights and ensure that everything is automatically tracked and recorded for auditing purposes. If you are not yet sure how to manage accounts payable effectively, try automating your processes. Having one digital place to see everything makes management easier than ever. Moving paperless is truly one of the best ways to make accounts payable more efficient.

Accounts Payable Process Steps

When working on improving your processes, it helps to break things down. Taking a look at a sample accounts payable policy and procedures manual can be a great way to see if you are on track. Reviewing your accounts payable process steps can help you understand where you are succeeding and where your processes could do with a little sprucing up. Comparing your processes to the best practices in accounts payable process steps can also help you to see if you are meeting and exceeding standards. Paperless accounts payable can improve your entire end-to-end process of accounts payable. You can reduce the number of steps needed to accomplish your objectives by letting the software do some of the heavy lifting. That’s the whole idea behind accounts payable automation.

How To Improve Accounts Payable Process

Today, we’ve talked about how to improve accounts payable process workflows. We’ve also shown how to streamline accounts payable process tasks through the use of automation software. Our goal with this article has been to answer the question: how can accounts payable process be improved? If you have wondered how to improve payment process workflows, AvidXchange might be a good place to start. Our solution covers all three stages of the accounts payable process and brings the power of digitization and automation to the world of accounts payable. Experience the difference that paperless invoice processing and instant, electronic bill payments make with the solutions from AvidXchange.

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