Invoice management is all about managing and simplifying the process of accounts payable.

Having a “complete” view of the Accounts Payable (AP) process using a streamlined and automated end-to-end invoice management system gives your company control over all the processes and any financial implications.

Managing the Accounts Payable process and achieving efficiency is discussed here.

Automating the processing of invoices by integrating straightforward workflow and document matching software with existing systems removes manual and repetitive tasks.

Being able to access comprehensive financial management information quickly speeds up the decision making process for audit and reporting purposes as well as providing the “what if” scenario.

By being able to automatically consolidate and reconcile  orders, invoices, payments and related documents to help manage allocations, cash flow, payments ensures that any delinquent payments, exceptions and queries in the system are quickly dealt with improving customer and supplier relationships  respectively.

An accounts payable system which is largely paper based takes up time and the effective management of human resources who are having to manually input invoice content, matching and validating invoices with purchase orders, handling supplier inquiries.

This is further compounded by escalating exceptions and discrepancies to senior management for clarification or sign off which consumes management’s time and is costly having to resolve invoice queries which could be handled by the Accounts Payable team assuming they have an overview of the financial system.

Managing your accounts payable – Can you answer these questions?

Do you know the answers to these questions?

1. How many invoices are outstanding?
2. How much money does the company owe?
3. Where in your system are the exceptions and queries and how many do you have?
4. Who are the suppliers that are problematic?

What are the benefits to automating Accounts Payable?

Invoices typically come into an organisation by post, fax, email and are then categorised.

They are forwarded to the relevant department or person for approval of the invoice which is then matched to a purchase order, verified, approved and signed off for payment.

If it exceeds the company’s payment limit it then has to go up to management for further verification. Assuming the invoice is then ok it is input into the accounting system ready for payment.

Invoice queries slow the process

• Is it from a valid supplier?
• Is the invoice correct and does it match the PO?
• Is it a duplicate invoice?
• Is the invoice just part of the total order value?
• Does the invoice match the delivery note?

The benefits in implementing an effective AP solution?

• Easy financial reporting and tracking of all invoices in the system.
• Reduction in invoice queries having to be dealt with by senior management.
• Automatic matching of invoices and validation so only accurate invoices are accrued.
• Pay suppliers on time and avoiding late payment surcharges which in turn leads to better supplier relationships.
• Avoids month end deadlines because there are no peaks and troughs.
• Reduced stress and pressure on the AP team resulting in a more productive and efficient department.

How much could automated invoice processing save you?

Automating the accounts payable process saves time, money and reduces the exceptions in your system!

In our next blog: How to speed up your Payment Allocation (AR) Process

Next steps

For more information on our AR and AP solutions please call us. Or, contact us by filling in the contact form and one of our expert advisors will be in touch.

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The post Accounts Payable Solutions. How to automate the process. appeared first on Digital Print Management.

e-billing is not sending a PDF bill as an attachment to an email.

The importance of optimising both a paperless and an e-billing process shouldn’t be underestimated! Both processes can co-exist in harmony.

E-billing provides a number of great features such as the option to retrieve documents in PDF, Excel, EDI, XML or CSV formats allowing you to view and interact with your online invoice/statement, query invoices and download copy invoices if required.

5 reasons why e-billing should be implemented alongside your current print and mailing process:

1. Get payments faster

Emailing your bills for payment can reduce your DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) cycle by as much as 70% by reducing the physical time taken to send out invoices to your customers.

Many companies emphasis the importance of sales, sales, sales yet are inefficient managing debtors often complying with payment terms that are in excess of their own terms.

Why supply a company that takes that long to pay after you’ve supplied the goods or services?

Here’s the real conundrum what is the point of telling your sales force to be proactive in generating sales if the company is not managing the payment terms with your customers?

Accounts payable solutions are designed to speed up the process and distribution of statements and invoices. By reducing the turnaround for example from 4 to 1 day for posting/emailing out your invoices, but enforcing company payment terms are ineffective then the benefit for e-billing is largely negated!

2. Current financial climate

The current climate requires effective payment strategies and reducing the time taken for a customer to pay has a positive effect on your bottom-line. Helping the company to grow and remain competitive.

Having a robust credit management system designed solely to get the cash in for the business supports the billing effort!

Choosing an end to end invoice processing and scanning solution will speed up the accounts payable process and e-billing is a part of that process.

3. The easier you make the process the easier it is for your customer to pay

An effective e-billing solutions allows bills to be delivered as secure electronic documents directly into the customers inboxes without any link to a site to register and collect invoices.

Incorporated in to the body of the bill should be a payment option using a form within the invoice or a link to the company’s payment website, this in turn facilitates quicker payment because if the customer has opened the email, viewed the invoice, the psychology is simply “I’m there now so I may as well pay it!”

4. Transpromo marketing

An effective eBilling solution provides the opportunity to cross sell or up sell services and products by utilising messages displayed in the bill?

Marketing messages can be added to each bill both within the email and on the e-bill attachment. By taking advantage of the process you are driving qualified traffic to your website to potentially re-order or view more of your goods and services.

5. Keeping up with technology

There is an assumption that moving to e-billing will be costly and difficult to implement internally which is a valid argument. But by outsourcing the process, there is no need for big spending on software as the e-billing provider takes care of that keeping the cost of implementation to a minimum improving efficiency, reducing costs from the generation of the e-bill to the pay process.

After all is said and done the take up of e-billing is slow in the UK particularly when compared to the rest of Europe. According to Deutsche Bank research only 10% of companies in the UK undertook a strategic move to e-invoicing in 2010! Many companies have adopted an e-billing process but are quick to point out that the take up has been slow and almost two-s third of their customers prefer a paper bill.

What do you think?

Have you implemented an e-bill solution? Is it working effectively? Do you use paper and e-bills as well? What strategy have you employed to encourage your customers to take up e-billing?

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The post 5 Reasons to outsource your e billing. appeared first on Digital Print Management.