4 Ways To Establish A Paperless Accounts Payable System

If you’re still managing your accounts payable using pen and paper or even outdated software, it’s time to modernize your approach. A paperless accounts payable process can help you streamline your invoicing and payment processes, reduce the risk of errors and fraud, and save you valuable time and resources. But how do you go about establishing such a system? Here are four actionable strategies for moving your accounts payable process online:

 

Assess Your Goals

Are you looking to cut costs on office supplies or minimize your company’s impact on the environment? Or are there other compelling reasons to adopt a paperless system? To determine if going paperless is worthwhile for your company, start by assessing your goals. If saving money is a top priority, calculate the amount of paper you can save with a digital system and translate this into cost savings. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a more efficient way to manage accounts payable, consider how a paperless system could improve your processes. Once you’ve determined the benefits of a paperless workflow, you can start setting up a functional system that meets your targeted needs.

 

Involve Everyone

Adopting paperless accounts payable processing can face significant resistance from those responsible for financial decision-making. Overcoming this hurdle may require addressing concerns from various parties, including IT, the accounts payable department, or upper management. To move forward with this change, it’s crucial to address each group’s concerns.

The AP department may worry about how this transformation will affect their job responsibilities and whether it could lead to layoffs. Management may require proof that modernizing the accounting department will be cost-effective and improve business processes. IT may have concerns about resource allocation and security implications of implementing new AP processing automation software. By understanding and addressing everyone’s concerns, you can explain the benefits of automating accounts payable for all departments and the entire company.

 

Evaluate Automation Platforms

Since there are numerous platforms to choose from, it’s essential to take sufficient time to evaluate and compare various features, prices, and support services.

During the comparison process, assessing whether the automation platform addresses the unique challenges you identified earlier is crucial. In addition, consider the platform’s scalability to determine whether it can accommodate your organization’s growth. It’s also important to assess the platform’s user-friendliness and learning curve to ensure your team can adapt effectively.

Furthermore, check whether the automation platform is compatible and integrates smoothly with your existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This is essential since seamless integration is necessary to avoid compatibility issues that may disrupt the entire system.

 

Eliminate Manual Processes

To establish a paperless accounts payable system, it’s crucial to eliminate manual processes by automating tasks. This includes automating invoice capture to eliminate errors and save time, electronic approvals to simplify tracking and eliminate the need for the physical movement of papers, and automating payment execution to save time, reduce costs, and enhance security. 

 

Summing Up

Transitioning to a paperless accounts payable system may seem daunting. But with the right tools and strategy, it can be a seamless process that yields numerous benefits. Organizations can eliminate manual processes, reduce errors, enhance security, and achieve significant cost savings by following the four ways outlined in this guide. Implementing a paperless accounts payable system can also improve efficiency, accuracy, and productivity, enabling businesses to focus on their core operations and growth.