It’s time for your business to move to electronic payments.
Consider this – there are many financial professionals today who’ve never used a paper check in their lives. Every purchase they make, from cars to groceries, are handled electronically and with no need for paper processes.
In the last 10 years, the number of businesses using paper checks for B2B payment processing have dropped by over half, from 82% to 41%, because making the move to automated electronic payments brings order and certainty out of chaos and makes your life easier.
Moving Past Paper
Nevertheless, there’s still a lot of paper being wasted.
This waste comes at a high cost to the companies purchasing supplies, paying high transaction fees, and wasting employee resources on manual processes – not to mention a high cost to the environment.
Few finance professionals realized just how antiquated their AP processes were until the coronavirus started closing offices around the globe. Paper invoices have been sent to empty buildings, and payments may not be going out on time – if they’re going out at all.
Why then, are businesses so reluctant to move to electronic payments? And what are the key benefits of automating your accounts payable (AP) and payment process?
We’ll explore how automation can solve friction points in your payment process. Then we’ll offer solutions to the obstacles that typically prevent businesses from embracing automated payments.
It’s easier than you think to bring your procure to pay processes into the present, and best prepare them for an uncertain future.
How Making the Move to Electronic Payments Eases Friction Points
Electronic payments combined with invoice processing automation creates full end to end procure to pay automation.
And full procure to pay automation can increase your efficiency and lead to safer, faster and more communicative processes. Automation eliminates extraneous workloads, and improves your systems across the board.
Our AP automation solutions also allow you to make No Touch Payments at any time, from anywhere.
Invoice and payment Automation streamlines workflow.
The benefits include clear cash flow management, easy on-boarding for your suppliers or vendors, and a secure audit trail for tax and internal audit compliance.
So why doesn’t everyone just use it already?
Overcoming the Barriers to the Move to Electronic Payment Automation
It may seem daunting to commit to payment automation.
Many business, especially smaller ones, might not feel ready to invest in invoice and electronic payment automation.
However, it’s important to remember that automation works for your business – not against it. Nevertheless, some common issues can hold businesses back from moving with the times.
Let’s break those barriers down…
Technology:
Technology can seem complicated. But our automated ePayments solution is simple and flexible. And doesn’t require the significant investments involved with proprietary tech systems. Our automated AP and ePayment solutions outsource the difficult technological heavy-lifting, giving your business one less thing to worry about.
Integration:
Worried about integrating AP automation or ePayments with your current accounting software or ERP? It’s actually easier than you think to integrate your AP processes and accounting system with electronic payments. And our solutions will work seamlessly with your current controls, approval workflow and accounting systems. Plus they allow your AP department ready access to the status of any invoice or payment. All the information is available in one place, and in real time.
Security:
Are you concerned about invoice payment fraud? You should be! According to the 2020 ACFE report to the nations, companies lose an average estimated 5% of their revenue annually due to fraud. So to avoid an attack, your payment system should have multiple levels of security.
The good news? Fraud prevention – along with fraud detection strategies – are embedded in our AP and electronic payment automation platform and will go a long way to hinder attacks from fraudsters.
Automated invoice processing and electronic payments are simply safer than paper. With increased transparency and efficient, integrated systems greatly reduce the risk of security issues. And with everything in one place, it’s much easier to spot fraudulent transactions or otherwise dubious payments.
Staffing:
Do you think you’ll need additional or specialized staff to handle automated AP and ePayment systems? You won’t.
In fact, cutting down on manual processes is a clear benefit when it comes to staffing your AP departement. When your employees aren’t wasting time signing off on endless paper checks and invoices you’ll speed up workflow and maximize your AP staff’s potential.
Automation makes labor-intensive processes a thing of the past, reducing burnout and unnecessary workplace tedium within your AP department.
Automation gives your team the time they need to do the work that really matters.
Fear of Change:
This is a big one.
A 2017 study by Microsoft revealed that introducing new business technologies creates anxiety among 61% of employees.
But there’s no need to be frightened of AP and payment automation.
In some industries, automation is seen as synonymous with unemployment. But this is simply not the case with finance professionals. Here, automation more accurately means a shift in duties/roles.
The days of spending hours scanning and entering invoices into systems and printing and signing paper checks are past. AP staff can now focus on what is truly important – managing finances, not managing mountains of paper.
It’s Time to Embrace Automation and Move to Electronic Payments
Moving to automated invoice processing and electronic payments has never been easier than it is today.
Now is the perfect time to make the change.
We’ve helped hundreds of clients prepare for the future by digitizing invoices and enabling off-site check printing.
And by using our cloud-based subscription services, you can keep your current processes – including your ERP or Accounting System – and digitize your payments and invoices at zero capital expense.
So do your team – and your business – a favor. Embrace the future, and leave paper in the past by making the move to ePayments.