Your Ultimate Step-By-Step Guide To Invoice Automation

Manual invoice processing is still extremely popular, however it is slow and can result in delays and mistakes. Invoicing delays can lead to higher costs and invoices must frequently travel through different departments before they're accepted (and and paid). Furthermore, manual processes are more susceptible to risk of fraud because of the time it takes to transfer invoice data to internal systems.

Invoice automation solves key issues

Automation can be utilized to remove the human element, and eliminate the issues that arise with manual processes. Automation also speeds up processes, decreases costs, and ensures a greater level of control of processes and their outcomes. A thoughtful approach to automating invoices helps the accounts payable (AP) teams address issues with workflows without having to make major radical changes to their existing systems.

How can you implement an automated invoice processing solution

Consider taking the following steps to incorporate an automated solution into your current process:

Review current processes and set goals: Companies should answer a series questions to gain an understanding of the current process of handling invoices. What is the company's approach in handling invoices? Are they paper or electronic? What's the average amount of length of time to create an invoice? And how many invoices are processed every year? It's much easier for businesses to pinpoint bottlenecks and implement improvements to their current procedures once they are aware of them.

Identify organisational requirements: from there, companies must determine the requirements that their invoice automation solution must meet. For instance, if a business aims to improve the accuracy of payments and eliminate inefficiencies, selecting a software that has a simplified invoice matching process is a must. The business should develop an inventory of their most important requirements, and choose based on the results.

Choose the most efficient automation solution: Once businesses have identified their requirements it's time to evaluate  accounts payables  the software vendors and select one that is most suitable for their approval workflow. The right software should automate the process of processing invoices and integrate with the existing customer relationship management (CRM), financial system, or workflow software for business. It should also centrally and digitally keep all data with simple and secure access, and help simplify auditing and compliance, so that businesses can quickly and efficiently respond to requests for information.

Integrate into ERP systems Once businesses have chosen a electronic invoicing solution and integrate it into their enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in order to cut down the time it takes employees to switch between multiple software applications to enter the same information. This allows for total transparency in company expenditures, and makes sure that all employees are working from one data source.

Automating your invoices can bring you many advantages

Automating the manual process of invoicing is about more than just keeping up with the latest technology. It offers many benefits which allow businesses to effortlessly expand their processes. The benefits include:

Automated workflows: Automation of invoices streamlines workflows by closing gaps and eliminating the problems due to manual processes. Automating tasks helps reduce the load on financial teams, improves the accuracy of payments and cuts down on unnecessary expenditure because of late invoices.

Improved security: businesses can cut down on the risk of fraud by automating the invoice process and restricting access to unauthorised employees. Automated software is able to flag duplicate invoices, and then raise the issue for immediate review.

Reduced costs and improved profitability: businesses with cash flow optimization can benefit from significant savings in overhead and reduced the cost of processing invoices. Businesses can optimize cash flow to find the best payment terms and take advantage of early payment discounts.

Improved visibility and real-time data With invoice automation, businesses are able to see more clearly the status of their payments and invoices. You can track every step and obtain real-time data to help you make informed decisions regarding your cash flow in the future.

Automated invoicing eliminates the need for manual input

A business's success is contingent on the performance of its AP department. It is responsible for keeping track of what's owed to vendors and ensuring the payment is approved prior to they're processed. If it relies on invoices that are manually processed, and the likelihood of human error, delays in payment and even fraud are high.

At DespaQ We help companies reduce invoice processing delays, reduce costsand increase efficiency using our AP automation solutions. Utilizing the most efficient automation software, businesses can optimize and automate their AP processes in a matter of minutes. They can also remove the labor-intensive data entry process and quickly locate documents within a reliable, robust system. Best of all, our AP automation solutions seamlessly integrate with existing finance systems, retaining information in a safe central archive for quick and error-free access.