We’re in the 21st century.

It’s time the payments & AP industry shifted to 100% digital mode, don’t you think?

Over the past 10 years, we have seen many businesses implementing AP Automation to streamline invoicing processes.

Most processes associated with accounts payable and accounts receivable are outdated, paper-intensive, manual, and somewhat inefficient.

Accounts payable departments heavily involved in manual activities cannot touch the high volume of payments for invoices received from vendors. This is due to the semi-automated process, being ineffectively implemented.

If your business still processes vendor invoices manually, your business is already out of the race.

To hasten invoice processing, choosing the best AP automation software is the only choice you have.

Table of Contents

• What is AP Automation?
• Roadblocks to Look Out For
• How to Decide which AP Automation Software to Choose?
• Rule 1: Map Existing AP Invoicing Processes
• Rule 2: Identify Workflow Opportunities
• Rule 3: Finalize AP Structure and Define Goals
• Rule 4: Consolidate Information
• Rule 5: Finally Choose the Best AP Automation Software
• So Which Is the Best AP Automation Software?
• Introducing Karbon Payout

What is AP Automation?

Accounts payable (AP) is money owed by a business to its suppliers/vendors, reflected as a liability on a company’s balance sheet. Using AP Automation can help businesses eliminate the use of paper checks to pay the vendors digitally. When you have multiple accounts payable, it is not just recommended but is necessary for a business to implement an AP automation software.

Roadblocks to Look Out For

• Electronic maintenance of software and bug fixtures with organized data will be a little troublesome.

• Storage Limitations– An incredible workflow support with unlimited storage might be missing for submissions, expenses, payments and approvals.

• Financial Return of Investment(ROI) needs to be well compiled to gain maximum benefits- specifications are invoice costs, low capture of early payment discounts, and High staffing cost to maintain software.

• Non-Financial ROI – Low control, non-streamlined process, complicated auditing, unsatisfied employees.

You need to understand all existing processes for constant software-based improvements. Here are some things to keep in mind before finalising your software.

How to Decide which AP Automation Software to Choose?

Rule 1: Map Existing AP Invoicing Processes

From the moment an invoice is received, there is merit in mapping out the time it ideally takes for the invoices to be entered into the system, approval time and processing time.

Piece together a complete list of people involved in this process and how each cog of the accounts payable machinery works in synchronization with the others.  

This will help you get a better idea of what needs improvement and start looking for an AP automation software that caters to those exact issues.

Rule 2: Identify Workflow Opportunities

When trying to streamline your AP department workflow, it is essential to look out for opportunities where improvements can be facilitated through the implementation of AP automation. Identifying problems pro- actively is the secret.

No workflow is truly perfect and this process of identifying problems will ensure your workflow gets better with time.

Rule 3: Finalize AP Structure and Define Goals

Once you choose an AP automation software that fits the bill, define what goals are to be achieved from this whole process.

Constantly keeping an eye on your AP structure and looking out for improvements will help you set sensible goals which will contribute to the success of your efforts.

You need to stay on track and keep making progress on your journey to success.

Rule 4: Consolidate Information

If your AP data is distributed across a multitude of places, it can quickly give rise to a lot of problems that come up when dealing with local information management.

When you have a centralized system to take care of this, for example, the cloud, it helps you understand the importance of centralized systems while resolving last-minute “crunch-time”. It is no secret that a centralized system is an efficient system.

Rule 5: Finally Choose the Best AP Automation Software

Once you have internalized your goals truly, you will start to research and compare solutions that resolve your pain points. It is essential to know that there is no singular “absolute best” out there.

It takes planning and effort to get it right.

Draw up an efficient plan that lays out competitive advantages each software has over the other. Make a simple “pros and cons” list, that will do too. Do not shy away from this process.

It involves a lot of grunt work to be put it, but it’s only going to save you more time and even more money in the future if you do things right today.

So Which Is the Best AP Automation Software?

If you handle multiple payments daily, chances are you already have an AP automation process in place. But it is also possible you don’t have the best software in place.

The process of selecting an AP automation software can be tedious and difficult, especially without technical knowledge. We helped you with the metrics for choosing the best AP automation software.

But if you are looking for a practical answer, why not start with Karbon Payout?

Introducing Karbon Payout

Karbon Payout is an automated payments platform that lets you streamline all your payments in one single dashboard. Be it bulk payment, vendor payment, or payroll, Payout has you covered.

Here’s why our clients love us –

1. Smooth Vendor AP Process – You can configure Payout to automate your vendor payments and be stress-free from a timely payments process.

2. User-Friendly Interface – Spend less time making payments and more time on growing your business.

3. No Scope for Errors – Because of a high degree of AP automation, there is no scope for error.

4. Highly Stable Payment System – Our intelligent payment system will automatically select the best available payment channel from NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS to ensure 0 payment failures.

5. Revolutionized Beneficiary Addition & Management – With a single click, you can send payout links to your vendors, where they can add themselves as beneficiaries to gain a two-way informational path.

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