The phrase ‘money never sleeps’ is never more relevant in today’s fast-paced business environment. Managing a company’s accounts payable (AP) process is challenging, as it requires both security and efficiency to optimize financial operations and empower CFOs and other decision-makers to make informed choices. There is an easier way than managing the AP process manually: by integrating time-saving AP automation tools like Ottimate, Corpay, or Tipalti with Sage Intacct to help improve accuracy, reduce errors, and optimize cash flow management.
Why do we like these tools and recommend clients take a look? To be blunt, because we’ve done it a lot and we see the impact AP automation software has – every single time. Here’re the top 5 benefits we’ve seen our clients enjoy after we’ve helped them implement one of these tools:
1. Automated Processes
Automation software can reduce invoice processing time from an average of 17.4 days (manual processing) to just 3.1 days for top-performing AP teams. Let’s say that again… Reduce invoice processing from 17.4 days to 3.1 days.
Cutting checks is a labor-intensive process, and to be honest, is a waste of time. You’re physically printing checks, verifying signatures, making sure the envelopes are addressed correctly, and that they’re mailed on time. Some clients issue hundreds of checks each week, which can become a major drain on resources.
Automating this process can turn a full-day task into something that only takes about an hour. After automating their AP process, one of our clients shared this with us: “Thursdays used to be my least favorite day of the week, now it is the best.”
2. Reduced Risk of Fraud
Fraud is something everyone is concerned about. It’s especially worrisome for a business dealing with clients’ sensitive financial information, as a single breach could damage trust, reputation, and bottom lines that impact people’s livelihood.
It makes sense that the more physical checks a company sends out, the higher the chance one could fall into the wrong hands. This isn’t just a hypothetical concern. It’s a real issue that has impacted businesses… like a few of our clients… three in the past two years. By transitioning to a secure, AP automation system, companies can stop their manual check-processing, implement stronger controls, improve security measures, and according to a study, reduce fraud risk by up to 60%.
3. Better Communication with Vendors
Just like the old childhood game ‘Telephone,’ information gets distorted as it passes through different levels of an organization, sometimes leading to misalignment between management and vendors. By automating the AP process, it’s easy to see in real-time if payments were made and if payments have been applied.
While the old-school way of snail mail has its time and place, it’s inherently slow. Checks take time to clear, and there is a large time of uncertainty between mailing the check and receiving it, sometimes stretching into weeks. This delay can cause cash flow issues and leave the company and the vendor in limbo waiting for confirmation.
4. Aligns with Growth
71% of AP professionals have cited automation and smart systems as integral for AP moving forward. This is especially key focused on growth and scalability, and facing an increasing number of vendors to pay as they expand.
Automating the AP process with Sage Intacct allows that growth to happen seamlessly without the need to hire more finance staff or overburden the current team with more work – because why add more bodies when you can just boost efficiency instead?
5. Integration Built For You
By integrating automation tools like BILL, Paymerang, or Tipalti with Sage Intacct, your business can handle higher volumes of vendors more efficiently while still maintaining accuracy and control as your company scales. These AP automation tools streamline your accounts payable processes, allowing you to process invoices, better manage payments, and maintain financial oversight with less manual intervention.
Not only that, but the flexibility to use Sage Intact in combination with the other AP tools your staff are already familiar with helps reduce the learning curve during the implementation of a new system.
6. Enhanced Visibility
We hear this term all the time, but why does enhanced financial visibility truly matter to a business? Because it provides the data that tells a company how well they’re doing – this transparency is essential for growth and longevity as it helps identify opportunities for cost savings, optimize resources, and spot potential issues before they snowball out of control.
AP automation creates a seamless data flow into various reports and dashboards within Sage Intacct, offering deeper financial insights for the entire team. This real-time access to data improves decision-making and enables more accurate forecasting, budgeting, and financial planning – all of which are critical to running a successful business.
This list is only skimming the surface of the benefits we see companies gain when they automate their Sage Intacct AP process with tools like Ottimate, Corpay, or Tipalti. Well-organized and efficient financial management leaves more time for decision-making and the important stuff that matters, like growth initiatives or contemplating whether pineapple belongs on pizza (it does by the way!).
If you’d like more information on how you can automate your Sage Intacct AP process, reach out to one of our experts today. Your future self (and AP team) will thank you!
