In the ever-growing market of Accounts Payable (AP) automation software, discerning which offerings are “best in class” is crucial. Not all software is created equal, and for long term success businesses must identify solutions that engage best practices and will meet their needs both now and in the future. This guide aims to share 5 best practices to seek out when considering AP automation software – from depth of integration, ease of use, time to implementation and ongoing support, to critical accounts payable software features of fraud protection and advanced workflows.
1.Depth of Integration
The level of integration accounts payable automation software has with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is vital. ERP systems are deeply embedded within a business, central to a businesses day to day operations, so software that engages with ERPs needs to deeply integrate, as to not disrupt but rather truly streamline and enhance operations. Software that integrates with a deep, custom-built automatic sync is preferable over flat file integration for several reasons:
- Operational Efficiency: Where software connects deeply to an ERP, all the field definitions and coding will match, enabling a seamless user experience from ERP to AP software. Flat file integrations lack this depth and so often lead to users needing to create manual workarounds to achieve the same outcome, which poses maintenance challenges as the company scales.
- Seamless Data Exchange: A live sync to ERP data (instead of daily batches) ensures smooth data transfer and real-time synchronization between the AP software and existing ERP systems, reducing errors and discrepancies which can occur with manual upload and download processes required for some flat file integrations.
- Strategic Financial Management: Real-time data, insights and analytics from an actively syncing integration supporting up-to-date financial reporting and informed decision-making.
Software that integrates with a deep, custom-built automatic sync is preferable over flat file integration
2. Ease of Use
Another best practice to look for in AP automation software is a platform with a user-friendly and intuitive interface. We highly recommend reaching out to AP automation providers for a demo so you can see what the day-to-day software will look and feel like to use. It is critical that AP software feels easy for your team to use for a number of reasons including:
- Reducing the Learning Curve: Software that has intuitive design minimizes training time and resources. People across the business can become quickly proficient in using the software if it feels easy to use.
- High Adoption Rates: Software that is embraced by employees directly correlates to software with a user-friendly interface. When the team find it easy to use and adopt the new technology, this leads to higher adoption of the software – with all features utilized effectively, maximizing the overall benefits of AP automation software.
- Enhancing Productivity: by definition, a user-friendly interface is simple to use, easy to navigate and enables users to complete tasks efficiently. Simplified processes lead to increased productivity and faster processing times.
3. Time to Implementation and Ongoing Support
Once businesses have selected an AP automation software they need to be onboarded onto the software. While this onboarding process varies in complexity, given every business’ AP process and operation have nuances and differences, the “best in class” software providers will look to have SMBs up and running in hours, not months. Fast implementation is important because:
- Minimizes use of resources: Lengthy implementation periods consume significant internal resources, including time and personnel. “Plug and play” software allows teams to be onboarded quickly and reduce internal resources required to be onboarded.
- Increases user engagement: When teams are onboarding swiftly, they enjoy the benefits of the AP automation software straight away. This immediate gratification is important in any adoption of new technology.
- ROI realization: The sooner the AP automation software is up and running, the quicker the return on investment can be realized, which is crucial for any technology spend.
But that is not all. Being onboarded onto AP automation software is just the start. You will want to examine what the AP software providers ongoing support looks like. This is because in the world of technology things are constantly changing – ERP software updates may occur, regulatory requirements or systems may change and you will need ongoing support to navigate this. Additionally, “best in class” AP automation providers will be continuously improving their technology, so having access to ongoing support means you can continue to derive greater value from the software.
4. Level of Fraud Protection
With the rise of invoice fraud and cybercrime (given the increasing use of generative AI), a best practice consideration for AP automation tools is fraud protection. While many claim AP automation, in reducing manual work and human error, inherently adds protection to your business payments, automation also speeds up invoice processing and so if it doesn’t have deep layers of fraud detection, automation can be speeding up fraud. “Best in class” AP automation providers offer much greater financial protection beyond automation and give businesses visibility and control by flagging high risk invoices. Their technology helps safeguard business payments against various forms of fraud, such as invoice fraud, vendor impersonation, duplicate payments, and unauthorized transactions, which can lead to significant financial losses. Best practice fraud protection features of AP software to look for include:
- Supplier Verification: Ensuring the authenticity of suppliers by comparing supplier details against a network of supplier data. Some AP automation software providers also have the technology to identify doctored invoices and detect invoice fraud from Business Email Compromise.
- Anomaly Detection: Identifying and stopping invoice fraud, by flagging anomalies such as changes to payee bank details or unusually high invoice values compared to past supplier behavior.
5. Advanced Workflows
Invoice capture and processing is often seen as the key feature of AP automation software. However, in a world moving towards e-invoicing (where paperless invoice data will be directly sent from one ERP to next), the key AP automation software feature you should be focusing on is workflows. Best practice for AP automation software is to offer advanced workflows that supports features such as approval hierarchies, permissions, delegations, 2-3 way matching and so on because it enables:
- Improved Productivity: Automated workflows route invoices to the right approvers, minimizing the need for manual chasing. With automated workflows, staff can focus on higher-value tasks rather than routine, time-consuming tasks, increasing overall productivity.
- Visibility and Control: Enhanced oversight of the approval process.
- Enhanced Compliance: By defining clear workflows, businesses can ensure that they adhere to internal controls and external regulations, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
When selecting AP automation software, it is important to prioritize these five best practices –depth of integration, ease of use, time to implementation and ongoing support, fraud protection and advanced workflows. Assessing an AP automation provider against these “best practices” will ensure you select a solution that is “best in class” and will support and protect your in the long run.
If you would like to learn more about how TRAILD is incorporating these best practices in its AP automation software, reach out to speak to a member of our team.
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