Partner Article

Accelerating the Benefits of Invoice Automation

Cloud applications enable organisations to get up and running with automated invoice processing in hours, not days – but how does it work, and how should you choose the right service? Palette’s UK head, Lucy Beck explains

Patience is a virtue, as the old saying goes – but most businesses don’t have the time to be patient. They want to boost efficiency and save costs, the sooner the better. One of the most effective ways for organisations to achieve this is by automating their accounts payable processes.

The benefits are well-documented, including ongoing savings of 30% or more per invoice, as well as closer control over finances, reducing the cycle time for invoices, cutting days sales outstanding, and streamlining of business relationships.

However, traditional automation solutions can demand significant upfront investments in both costs and time to purchase, deploy and get running effectively. Previously, this has meant that only organisations above a certain size and scale would benefit from AP automation. Furthermore, in the current climate, the costs and long lead times can mean that any size of business may well approach the technology with caution before investing.

But traditional, on-premise licensed software is no longer the only way to deploy invoice processing and automation software. Cloud applications are available to help companies move to paperless invoice management, typically for a per-invoice or per-month cost, with no investment in hardware or software needed. While this makes such services extremely attractive to businesses, it’s also vital to ensure that the cloud app or service can fulfil their needs for efficient, flexible invoice handling.

To help ensure that you get the functions and quick deployment that you need, here’s a checklist of the key factors to look for in a cloud-based invoice automation service.

Unwrapping the paper

The starting point for any automation solution is handling the paper documents that still represent the majority of invoices received by businesses. It’s important that the cloud service is flexible enough to offer and support multiple options for preparing your invoices for electronic processing and approval. Does it allow you to scan and upload documents yourself, perhaps using established solutions from ReadSoft or Kofax? Can you use a service bureau to receive, sort and scan the invoices? Flexibility in how you start the invoice automation cycle is key to easy deployment.

One size doesn’t fit all

Your business needs are individual, so the cloud processing solution should offer options to suit your specific requirements and invoice volumes, from standard file formats to advanced line-level matching. For example, smaller companies with relatively low invoice volumes, or those in the process of changing financial systems, may only want a basic service that integrates with other systems and exchanges files in standardised formats.

Companies with more advanced requirements – such as integration with specific business or finance systems, or extending beyond invoice processing into purchase-to-pay management – should look for cloud solutions that can deliver richer functionality, such as specific modules for order processing, line-level matching and more.

What ERP?

The solution should integrate securely with your existing business systems, including ERP systems such as SAP, JD Edwards, Movex and others, so it should support a wide range of data and file formats. This supports seamless transfer of information, and helps finance staff maintain an up-to-date and accurate view of the company’s active invoices, enabling easier financial analysis and management.

Access all areas

Perhaps the most important aspect of the cloud solution is that it should give users secure, browser-based access to their invoice workflows from any device, without needing specific client software on their PC or device. This enables users to check and approve invoices when it suits them, from the computing device that they prefer (or have access to at the time), which in turn helps to avoid invoices getting delayed, and risking penalty charges or interest. The solution should also enable users to call up records of invoices that have exceptions, and of processed invoices, to enable queries to be resolved quickly.

In conclusion, cloud-based invoice automation solutions can help even the most impatient companies to quickly realise real efficiency gains and cost savings – and not just because of the per-use utility pricing model. These solutions also give companies better control over their accounts payable processes. Sometimes a lack of patience can be rewarding, too.

www.palette-group.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Beck .