AP automation tools – are you using them right?
Nowadays accounts payable automation tools are becoming more and more popular and rightly so. After all they can increase efficiency of the AP process and in turn reduce time and money company has to spend on it.
However as you probably already deduced from the heading of this article reality is not as simple as that everything changes with an introduction of a new software to your organization. At least not to an extent it could. That is why we would like to point to a few, worthwhile in our opinion, aspects of automation tools implementation.
Don’t replicate
You already had a simple solution for accounts payable before and now you decided to go with a more powerful tool as you want to improve your accounting process? It might seem natural to try to replicate some of the solutions you had in your previous system in the new one. However, try to avoid that. The implementation of new software is a chance to start fresh so it’s best not to artificially impose any restrictions on yourself. Sometimes the new solutions work on totally different set of rules so trying to duplicate something that worked in the old one either might not be possible at all or, if it is, you might have to create a complex set of exceptions and workarounds. Which in turn may make the processes not easier but even more troublesome than before. Creating new approach from scratch might seem like a taxing task but in the long run it will allow you to use the system and its functionalities better.
Customize
The standard cases are the best. Everything works as it should, the invoices are getting booked automatically and you save both time and money. But wait, why documents from this supplier always get stuck and we need to manually approve the additional cost of pallets or the price deviations, even though it is still within the limits of our agreement with them? Probably because you only have implemented a general set of rules for your company. Which is good but if you face some exceptions from them then they need manual input and the automation stops being so automatic as you hoped it would be. But in most cases you can easily avoid it if you adjust your settings. So for the example in question you set up additional specific rules on the supplier. And the changes can go both ways so depending on the case you can make them either more or less strict. You will have to spend additional time to do that but in turn you will save it in the future.
Control the process
Ok, we implemented the new system, set up all the rules, everything works as it should. But then why the KPIs are worse a year after introducing the new system than they were at the beginning? Probably due to changes that constantly happen. Business environment is highly volatile so even if invoices from a certain supplier were posted automatically in the past they might not be now as the company could have changed the way they issue them. That is why you cannot leave the system to itself but rather monitor the process to see if there are some changes to be done – layouts to change, exceptions to introduce, limits to change. The list goes on and on.
Keep up to date with the news
Automation tools change over time. They are developed, improvements are implemented, shortcomings are eliminated. Who knows, maybe one of the changes could significantly improve your process? That is why you should keep up to date with what is happening with the solution you use. That way you can use the system to its fullest potential. Also you will avoid being surprised when you see new buttons or layouts which is additional benefit.
Train, train and then train some more
The implementation went good but the results are still a bit lackluster? If that is the case perhaps user trainings could be handled better. Even the best automation tool still requires its operators to know how to use it and only then it will work to the best of its capabilities. Therefore it is really important to provide good training materials and to organize enough training sessions so the users who will use the software feel comfortable with it. One thing to have in mind is that the new tools are so extensive the best way is to divide the trainings into separate segments. That way users can learn what is appropriate for their day to day work and will not get overwhelmed with the amount of information.
Conclusion? AP automation is great but prepare well for it. It might be worth using some external help to make the process easier. We at EFF have experience working with different solutions integrated with various ERPs so we know what to look for and how to use them effectively. We also offer day to day processing in case, while implementing a new tool, you opt for full accounts payable outsourcing to enhance the savings even more.
We hope that this article was of use to you and you know now what to look for. If you’re interested in hearing more about EFF please do not hesitate to contact us. And regarding tools available on the market we sincerely recommend MediusFlow, which is a very powerful tool to automate you AP processes.