"Accounts Payable is at an inflection point".
That’s how Mark Brousseau, Consultant, IOFM Spokesperson, begins his interview when asked by The Knowledge Group’s Andrew Macleod about the biggest challenges that Accounts Payable departments face.
It’s true. Historically, Accounts Payable departments have been the quintessential back office function. But businesses today are expecting more from their Accounts Payable (AP) and Finance function. They realize that if they can get at the information and data from the AP team and the invoice payment process, they can use it to support better management of their working capital, mitigate potential risk, and make more strategic decisions for the business. But when the staff is bogged down with manual repetitive processes and paper, everything takes too long, costs too much, and frustrates internal leadership and valued suppliers. That’s where Accounts Payable automation comes in.
In this interview, conducted by Andrew MacLeod of The Knowledge Group, Mark Brousseau speaks about the future of Accounts Payable departments and invoice processing and payment automation. In this blog we will dive deeper into four of the questions presented by Macleod to assess the future of invoice and payment processing and how automation is key.
Mark’s Answer: “For the past many years, companies have thought they could throw more people at the problems associated with manual Accounts Payable processes; and there has been absolutely no benefit to that. Now, they are getting serious about automation and leveraging the wide range of technologies now available to choose from. They are embracing solutions like Yooz to handle their business’s diverse needs: Data capture powered by OCR (optical character recognition), features for fast approval and exception handling, and seamless integration with legacy finance systems”.
Automating the Accounts Payable and invoice process is all about using a combination of the top technologies to streamline repetitive work, eliminating manual tasks and errors and shifting to an efficient and cost-effective invoice and payment process. Yooz utilizes OCR, smart data extraction, machine learning powered by artificial intelligence and the Cloud for the most advanced and automated workflow out there. Accounts Payable automation means a business can do more with what they have.
Mark’s Answer: “It will be unrecognizable! Digital, data driven, and strategic. Stakeholders will unlock the value of Accounts Payable automation and leverage it in more ways than ever. CFOs will believe that if they optimize the Accounts Payable process they can better manage cash, control spend, and mitigate risk. All helping drive larger corporate objectives.”
Automating the invoice and payment process not only speeds up the purchase-to-pay process and saves a business money but it also allows for a deeper insight and visibility into the business a company is doing. Real-time reports are available with a few clicks on a customized dashboard, allowing for strategic changes to be made along the way to optimize cash flow management.
Mark’s Answer: “Instead of continuing to ask, “How do we manage this ever-growing pile of invoices?” finance leaders will ask, “Where do we stand with working capital so we can more accurately forecast cash and manage budgets?” Further, “How do we better manage our supply chain? And, best of all, “What do we do with the cash that has been freed up? Develop new products and invest in R&D!”
With smart invoice automation like Yooz Accounting and Finance departments are now able to move from a reactive back-office task to more of an active role in the strategic direction of the organization with the enhanced visibility into the Accounts Payable process and depth of reporting and metrics you can accurately pull anytime.
Mark’s Answer: “Not all Accounts Payable automation solutions are created equal. Use these three things to define what automation solution will best help your Accounts Payable department be more efficient and strategic."
Yooz currently integrates seamlessly with over 250 financial systems and ERPs and that number is constantly growing to meet our customer’s needs. Our advanced OCR and smart data extraction technology allows Yooz to read 100% of document types while our AI powered machine learning increases the accuracy the more you use it. All of this in a cloud-based solution that offers the highest level of security and in combination with a mobile feature allows you to process invoices from anywhere at any time.
While Yooz meets all of Mark’s criteria for selecting the best Accounts Payable automation solution you need to make sure to do your homework. Better yet, you can try Yooz for free for two weeks to get a true idea of how our Accounts Payable automation software solution can transform the way your business handles it’s invoice and payment processing.
Article written by Mark Brousseau, IOFM