AP Automation benefits for the CFO
As the CFO, your focus is based upon the financial performance of the entire organisation. You rely heavily on your team to provide complete and accurate data in a timely fashion. Before implementing an accounts payable automation solution, here is how you might spend your day.
Before automation:
You analyse the information they provide and report those results to the CEO. For scenarios that have a negative impact on the organisation, you have to do some digging. You have to identify the root cause of the situation to prevent those scenarios from happening again – and you usually have limited details of the transaction.
You are also responsible for banking relationships. You provide reporting that banks require on a specific schedule. You must be aware of, and most likely approve major capital improvements. You’re in charge of the annual financial audit. This includes the ability to put controls in place as the auditing team sees necessary. These controls could be for fraud prevention as well as cost controls. You have to understand what is included in your accrual postings to verify their validity.
You have segments of the business in different software systems, and you need to merge all of the data into one ‘big picture’. If you have to make changes, you dissect the information from these different sources back down to segments and then re-compile the data. This entire process relies heavily on secondhand reports and other people’s opinions – a labour-intensive task that can be prone to miscalculation and error.
After automation:
Once AP Automation has been implemented and integrated with your ERP or accounting system:
- You have real-time reporting at your fingertips. You can drill down into any transaction to get the facts – rather than relying on “editorials” from various departments.
- You have greater control of indirect spend and are able to make decisions based on accurate financial reporting – not guesswork or opinion.
- You have simple email approvals for your executives. This makes them happy because they don’t have to sign into “yet another” system.
- There’s a secure and transparent audit trail that keeps you happy because that ensures everyone is compliant.
AP Automation benefits for every role:
Our series on AP Automation benefits for different roles shows how our Accounts Payable Automation solution can make a qualitative difference – no matter where you engage with the accounts payable process. We want to highlight how technology can impact all of the people purchasing and invoice processing touches, empowering roles in the organisation with transparency and accountability.
These scenarios also illustrate the importance of a solution that has the flexibility to match the culture and complexity of the AP process. Many organisations have variables such as multiple locations, multiple ERPs, multiple currencies, and separate business processes. In other words, exploring the day-to-day “before and after” user experience that all the roles AP touches. Which translates into saving time and reducing the need for more resources.
Integration:
The data integration process can often seem overwhelming. Our industry-standard Integration Engine alleviates this burden with powerful integration capabilities built into a straightforward, easy-to-use graphical user interface.
Book your demo today to see how AP automation can work for you.
