Accounts Payable Workflow in Phoenix: How Document Management Solutions Benefit Accounts Payable Departments

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Accounts Payable Workflow in Phoenix How
Document Management Solutions Benefit Accounts
Payable Departments
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Accounts Payable Workflow

• With accounts payable workflow in Phoenix, you
  can process more invoices in less time.
  Businesses save money by eliminating paper and
  streamlining the invoice approval process.
  Implementing a document management solution leads
  a better managed, more efficient and increasingly
  profitable business.
•  
• Accounts payable workflow in Phoenix allows
  organizations to capitalize on solutions that
  eliminate unnecessary cost and add value.
  Basically, you can automate accounts payable to
  process more invoices in less time. Businesses
  save money by eliminating paper and streamlining
  the invoice approval process.

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Accounts Payable Workflow

• The superiority of electronic processes over
  paper processes is widely accepted in business
  circles. However, the migration to document
  management solutions has not been as pronounced
  as you would expect. Some specific findings by
  research firm Gartner, Inc. include the
  following
• U.S. companies spend as much as 150 to process
  each accounts payable invoice.
• More than 95 percent of all business-to-business
  transactions are still settled with paper
  invoices and checks.
• As much as 70 percent of invoice processing costs
  involve document handling, data entry and related
  manual tasks.

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The High Cost of Manual Accounts Payable

• Each time you purchase something on credit, you
  create an account payable for your business. This
  amount is owed to your supplier usually within 30
  days.
• Vendors frequently give incentives to customers
  for paying early. To get these discounts,
  companies must process and approve invoices in as
  little as 10 days.
• However, few accounts payable departments can
  receive an invoice through the mail, approve it,
  cut a check and mail payment to the supplier
  within such a short time period. And the task
  becomes impossible if invoicing errors need to be
  resolved.

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The High Cost of Manual Accounts Payable

• The manual steps in processing paper invoices
  illustrate why the process can take upwards of 30
  days
•  
• Invoice received at company
• Invoice manually distributed to accounts payable
  department
• Invoice manually matched to original purchase
  order
• Invoice manually reconciled with purchase order
• Invoice manually distributed for approvals
• Invoice manually forwarded back to accounts
  payable for payment processing
• Invoice entered in Enterprise Resource Planning
  (ERP) application
• Invoice selected for payment
• Check stock manually loaded into printer
• Check printed

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The High Cost of Manual Accounts Payable

• Check manually copied
• Check manually distributed to vendor
• Check copy manually matched to invoice and
  purchase order
• Check, invoice and purchase order manually filed
• The above accounts payable workflow in Phoenix
  could be further hindered in the following
  situations
• Businesses typically process two types of
  invoices. Some invoices originate from a
  purchase order and others dont. Although
  purchase order invoices are pre-approved,
  accounts payable still needs to make sure the
  line items agree. Discrepancies usually dont
  show up until the paper invoice arrives, gets
  keyed into the system and is matched line-by-line
  against the purchase order.

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The High Cost of Manual Accounts Payable

• Purchases made without purchase orders have their
  own issues. The accounts payable department does
  not know the invoice exists until it shows up.
  Because no prior approval took place, these
  invoices are shuffled through a time-consuming
  approval process.
• When invoices have problems, resolution involves
  back and forth communications among suppliers and
  internal departments to collect necessary
  information. This added work generates more
  paper and substantially increases processing
  costs and time. In fact, many companies require
  dedicated staff just to resolve invoicing
  disputes.

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Creating a Better Way to Do Business

•  
• The benefits of document management
  systems and automated accounts payable processes
  are quite evident. Accounts payable workflow in
  Phoenix streamlines the invoice payment process
  to under six days
• Invoice received at company and scanned into
  electronic format
• Invoice electronically and automatically
  distributed to accounts payable with associated
  purchase order
• Invoice manually reconciled with purchase order
• Invoice electronically and automatically
  distributed for approval
• Invoice electronically forwarded back to accounts
  payable for payment
• Invoice transferred to ERP application
• Invoice selected for payment and checks printed
  using an electronic form
• Check is electronically and automatically stored
  with invoice and purchase order

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Creating a Better Way to Do Business

• Accounts payable workflow in Phoenix
  eliminates the high overhead and delays
  associated with manual paper processing. By
  automating and digitizing the invoicing process,
  a document management system for accounts payable
  improves how your business operates. Specific
  benefits include
•  
• Replacing costly, error-prone paper processes
  with automated records management
• Capitalizing on vendor discounts and avoiding
  late fees
• Improving vendor relationships and increasing
  favorable terms
• Resolving vendor disputes instantly with
  supporting documents easily retrieved
• Providing flexibility to submit invoices in
  various formats
• Eliminating invoice hold-ups and automating
  document routing
• Optimizing approvals, payment cycles and
  reporting
• Automating invoice and check match ups
• Removing the need for additional staffing with
  volume increases
• Facilitating audits with quicker access to needed
  documents and transaction histories

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About the Author

• Ron Thompson, Jr. is the owner and CEO of OSAM
  Document Solutions, Inc. OSAM provides dynamic,
  customized document management solutions. For
  more information about accounts payable workflow,
  visit http//www.osaminc.com/accounts-payable-work
  flow.html