Let’s face it – paper is a thing of the past. Compared to automated electronic payments, paper simply cannot compete.
Paper payments are more time consuming, take up space, and invite the dangers of inaccuracy, loss and fraud.
Who wants any of that? Least of all for something that creates more paperwork?
Digital transformation can free you from the burdens of antiquated paper invoicing and payment. Switching to automated electronic payments will make your AP process safer, faster, and more streamlined.
This is the dream behind digital transformation: A world where no one has to deal with the tedious drudgery of paper invoicing and payments again.
But while this vision is being welcomed by many sectors across the world, for some reason B2B payments seem resistant to change.
Maybe it’s because people are reluctant to adapt. The old “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” attitude. Or maybe people think that switching to automated payments will be expensive or time consuming.
We’re here to show you otherwise. Paper is broken. It does need to be fixed. And with our great value procure to pay automation solutions, you can make the change in no time at all.
Going All-In : Why Half-Measures are Only Half-Solutions
Your business practices need to be sustainable, nimble and scalable.
This year has thrown a lot of unexpected challenges at businesses. And this has led to a proliferation of ad-hoc, temporary measures thought up in a hurry.
While these practices might be great for surviving an unforeseeable crisis like COVID-19, it’s important to realize that they’re not exactly built to last.
It’s a false economy to trust in hastily-planned processes for any longer than is strictly necessary.
Take the practice of staff scanning and emailing invoices and checks from their home office, for example. There’s nothing wrong with this as a temporary solution. Indeed – this plan was an absolute lifesaver for many businesses at the start of this year.
But as we adjust to life in this ‘new normal’ of remote working, it’s easy to see the downsides.
Scanning invoices is a half measure, not a solution.
It comes with many of the standard drawbacks of paper invoicing. These include a laborious process, data entry errors, lost invoices and payment of unapproved expenses.
And it was ultimately only meant as a temporary fix to what we now know is ongoing situation.
According to CFO.com, 54% of US CFOs in a June survey expect to make remote work a permanent option. And 73% of financial executives said that the work flexibility that has come out of the COVID-19 crisis will make their company better down the road.
The workforce is trending towards flexible work options and there are signs that this is one thing that is going to stick around rather than return to previous form.
So why not overcome the barriers to moving to ePayments commit to full automation, at a time when it’s never made more sense to do so?
Benefits of Automated Electronic Payments – Simplified
Procure to pay automation including automated electronic payments save your company time and money. But it does so much more!
Here are the benefits of automated invoice processing and automated payments, according to Business Insider:
- Improve productivity by 90%
- Provide 24/7 remote access to the process
- Increase security by 85%
- Speed up processing cycle times by 73%
- Lower processing costs by 81%
Does your procure to pay process allow for work from home?
Does it help identify and prevent potential fraud?
Is your AP department future proofed?
If not, you need to start looking at automated AP systems right away.
Leave Checks Behind and Remove Payment Silos
We’ve all felt the negative effects of silos. Funds that can’t move. Backlogged systems. Departments and teams that don’t communicate efficiently, if at all.
These kinds of bottlenecks in workflow create tedious protractions in what should be simple processes. This can be a huge burden on any business.
If your accounts payable department still uses antiquated methods, silos like this can even pop up even within a single AP department. For example, checks, ACH payments, and wire transfers may be handled in different processes.
Silos don’t just mean a breakdown in communication. According to Tech Republic, they also prevent good analytics and impair your ability to analyze results and forecast for the future.This analytics issue is compounded by over-reliance on paper processes. How can you easily track your finances if each payment is bound to an inconvenient, unreliable, and questionably secure piece of paper?
Our solutions give you a single point of integration so everything is in one place. And every single piece of your AP data is always at your fingertips – no matter where you are in the world!
We cut cut through the inaccuracy, risk and clutter of paper checks while empowering CFOs and controllers with greater control over their processes and insights into data and analytics.
Automated Electronic Payments Using vCards Can Earn Rebates
Using CoreIntegrator’s OnPay Solution, automated electronic payments will definitely reduce how much it costs your company to pay an invoice.
But did you know that paying invoices can actually earn your company money?
It’s not often that the accounts payable department gets to be a profit center. But virtual card payments not only automate the payment process, they can improve your company’s bottom line!
So while our solution allows for automated paper checks, ACH and wire transfer payments, smart businesses have started sending payments instantaneously and electronically with virtual card payment automation that works with any ERP or Accounting System. And earning a 1% rebate on every invoice!
Plus, with single-issue virtual-cards, accounts payable departments can focus less on processing payments and more on financial responsibilities.
Fraud Protection: A Must-Have for the Remote Workforce
Automating your AP process also has the benefit of helping to eliminate fraud. And sadly, fraud has never been a more relevant issue.
One study predicts that by 2025, 75% of working professionals will be working from home for at least one full work week per month.
As more of the workforce moves to remote working, fraud will become an increasingly prevalent concern.
Employees’ home computers might not have the same security measures you’d expect from an in-office setup. Lacking a VPN or proper virus protection invites the risk of fraud in a way that can’t be ignored.
Fortunately, our integrated payment solution also provides the benefit of protecting against fraud.
For example, our procure to pay automation solutions provide:
- Complete audits trails of all transactions
- Cloud based applications on Microsoft Azure platform
- Duplicate invoice checking
- Vendor name verification
- Vendor address verification
Our procure to pay automation solutions significantly reduce your company’s vulnerability to fraud.
And if fraud should occur, our AP automation solutions will tell you what happened, how it happened, and who was behind it.
Conclusion – Move Beyond Paper Checks With Automated Electronic Payments
Now is the time to leave checks to the past.
Paper checks are wasteful of time and money. They leave your company vulnerable.
But you can transform your AP department with procure to pay automation including automated electronic payments. And in doing so make your company’s AP processes safe and secure.
Eliminate outmoded paper processes and embrace the benefits of secure, easily-trackable digitized payments.
This is even more important at this time, when managing your remote workforce has never been a bigger priority
We’ve helped hundreds of clients step into the future of automated AP processes.
Why not join them, and leave paper checks in the recycling bin (after shredding them!) where they belong?