The problem starts with the fact that invoices are often not sent to the Accounts Payable (AP) department. They are frequently sent to the person who purchased the product or service and may sit on that person’s desk for days or even weeks. Then there’s more time and effort forwarding the invoice to AP before it can be entered into the accounting system.
Sometimes departmental procedures are methodical, but create even more paper – one study found that invoices were being copied and filed up to nine times. But plenty of challenges exist within the AP department as well. Whether received directly from the supplier or forwarded from elsewhere in the organisation, invoice processing is very labour intensive. Besides the obvious mail handling and data entry activity, invoices must somehow be coded with appropriate purchase categories and GL accounts. That alone may require a lot of time-consuming research by AP personnel. In order to make sure the charges are valid, invoices need to be compared to one or more POs or a contract, and receipt of the goods or service needs to be confirmed. That takes more time. If the information isn’t available or the invoice doesn’t match the information AP has access to, the invoice needs to be sent to an appropriate person for review and approval. That takes more time. The more this is done with paper, the more time it takes and the more cost it accumulates. There is no question that paper invoice handling is the enemy of efficiency in the AP department. Scanning invoices into a document management system can help, but by no means solves the entire problem. Receiving invoices electronically helps more, but only if the rest of the process is set up to really use the information in an automated fashion. The “mail latency”, “desk float” and “information chase” associated with manual invoice processing results in a number of problems: • Management does not have visibility of outstanding liabilities • Invoices are beyond the discount period before they even enter the AP system • The potential for paying duplicate invoices increases as suppliers send second copies • The inclination to “just pay it” becomes greater when the validation process is too cumbersome • AP personnel spend a high percentage of their time answering inquiries from suppliers about payment status • Suppliers may stop delivering inventory or services when invoices are not paid on time • Audits become long, costly and problematic And that is all in addition to the direct cost of invoice processing – primarily Accounts Payable personnel and departmental operating costs. In their 2011 Benchmark study, Aberdeen Group found that the industry average cost to process an invoice was $15.61. “Laggard” companies (bottom 30%) ) had an even larger average cost of $38.77, while “Best-in-Class” companies (top 20%) had an average cost of just $3.09.
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For some rogue staffers, lifting office supplies or seeking reimbursement on a few minor “non-business related” charges is mere child’s play.
Here are seven of the most over-the-top examples that we could find of in-house theft and employee fraud:
Like a seesaw, as the economy plunges downward, employee fraud skyrockets — especially in small, private firms. The reasons for employee fraud are many and varied, but there are certain safeguards that can help keep your company safe:
Answer a few questions and get a quote. It's that simple! The process of evaluating accounts payable automation solutions can be a daunting and very confusing task with all the options and possibilities. Let's face it, accounts payable automation is not a new concept and has been around for years now. Once upon a time this type of solution was for the big boys, but today companies of all shapes and sizes can realize a significant benefit and reduction in accounts payable. If you're interested in the cost of accounts payable automation to decide if this is even doable for your organization or need a quote to satisfy your purchasing requirements then consider using our "SELF-SERVICE" quoting system. With all Finance has to get done in a given day sometimes it’s hard to find the time to step back and track how efficient and effectively your department is running. Finance deals in numbers all day. But how often are you generating numbers to find out how efficient your finance team is? But benchmarking is more critical than ever. By monitoring your functions’ performance you can determine where you can streamline, boost efficiency (and possibly cash flow) and incentivize staffers to do an even better job. So what are the best metrics out there? Here are a few to get you started. How many of them are you currently using … and how many more could you be? Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Payroll
The last thing you want is for people to think you’re trying to “catch them” doing something wrong in their jobs. Better to position metrics as a way to raise the bar and a springboard to figure out what needs to most attention. Please share any additional metrics you are using today! Feeling a bit sluggish, is it hard to concentrate, do you need that afternoon pick-me-up? Here are a few ways to help get your brain going and get energized without caffeine and junk food. 1. Dive into a book. According to a study published in the journal Neurology, reading and writing. Carry a book with you everywhere you go for an escape from the daily grind. You could read a few chapters in a waiting room, grocery store line, traffic jam, or during your lunch break. 2. Get a degree. College is not necessary and doesn’t offer you much of an edge in the workforce since bachelor degrees have become the new normal, but there is no denying that many folks aren’t driven enough to study on their own. If you feel like you need accountability in the form of a wise professor, reading assignments, and a grade that determines your educational fate, college would be a good bet. 3. Explore new horizons. The mind can grow stagnate without the occasional detour to a fresh topic of interest. Choose a historical era, musical instrument, language, craft, or hobby that fascinates you and get to work. 4. Take time to breathe. Go outside with a notebook, admire the rising sun, listen to the birds sing, and breathe deeply. Starting your day with a little big of meditation and nature will clear your thoughts so you can start your day strong. 5. Keep a blog or journal. Putting your thoughts on paper will sharpen your ability to express yourself clearly. With practice, you will be able to make even the most dry of subjects interesting and the most difficult of concepts simple enough for anyone to understand. 6. Be consistent. Great minds are not built overnight: they are built slowly over many years through hard work and dedication. You will not become a master inventor or Jeopardy champion in a week, but you’ll get pretty close if you’re consistent. 7. Stretch yourself. Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. If you stretch yourself, you could fall a bit short of your goal but you will reach greater heights than you would without a willingness to take risks. Contentment is your enemy. Never be satisfied. 8. Seek inspiration. Today you might feel inspired with a strong desire to optimize your brain power. But please be aware that inspiration is a fleeting thing. Just like you couldn’t drive your car across the country without stopping for gas, you can’t expect your brain to keep performing without an occasional shot of inspiration. What inspires you? There is no right or wrong answer. Do you learn best by hearing? Listen to a book on audio or podcast on your drive to and from work. Do you have to see it to “get” it? Watch a film or documentary about a topic that piques your curiosity. Is written word your preference? Throw a book or two in your purse, backpack, or the backseat of your car so you can dive into a book when life hands you the opportunity to get your learn on. 9. Know thyself. Be mindful during the work day. Is there a certain time of day you are more focused, alert, or creative? Are there a few hours where you have a tough time finding interest in work? Find the answers to those questions and build your day in a way that maximizes productivity. For example, I do well if I can do creative things (like writing this article) early in the day. In the evening, I can’t seem to focus no matter what, so I save pleasure reading, leisure, and mindless tasks and chores for later in the day. Shuffle a few tasks around to get more done. 10. Question everything. There are very few absolutes in life, so maintain a healthy dose of skepticism and never stop asking questions. Is Paperless Accounts Payable & Invoice Automation Right Fit for Your Accounts Payable Department? Find Our With This Free Webinar! Have you been thinking about paperless accounts payable processing? Confused by all the choices? Curious to learn more? Not sure if this will work in your AP department? Then this webinar is perfect for you! Register today! - 30-Minute Webinar: Paperless AP Processing - When: Thursday February 19th, 2015 - Times: 11:00 am & 3:30 pm (EST) There is NO-COST to join this webinar. Many organizations are considering ways to reduce the manual processes associated with processing, routing, coding, approving and entering supplier invoices. Want to find out what it takes to go paperless and streamline your accounts payable processing? Then you don't want to miss this webinar. Who Should Attend: AP Managers, Controllers, CFO"s, IT Managers or anyone interested in improving their AP process and going paperless to reduce costs, save time & money. - No Software to Purchase - No OCR Software Required - Capture Inbound Supplier Invoices - Route Invoices Automatically - Simplify GL Coding - Perform 3-Way Matching - Eliminate Manual Invoice Entry - Prevent Duplicate Payments - Generate Month-End Reports - Accounts Payable Dashboard - Reduce Invoice Processing Costs - Streamline Your AP Processing During this webinar we will review challenges in accounts payable, costs associated with processing invoices, drivers for improving accounts payable, paperless processing, integration with systems like Oracle, SAP, JDE, MS Dynamics, building your business case and then Q&A's. Past attendees include industries like manufacturing, retail, healthcare, higher education, biotech, pharmaceutical. transportation, financial, distribution, legal and many, many more! This is a great webinar for anyone who is wondering if AP automation, invoice workflow or paperless AP processing is right for them. Space is Limited! This Webinar Will Fill Up FAST! Past Attendee Feedback: "Excellent webinar" "Very informative" "Great information" "Thanks to your webinar we've decided to take a closer look at our AP process" "Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions" "We had no idea it was this easy" "Great webinar, right to the point Not Going Paperless? Here Are Some Tips Then To Make Life A Little Easier In Accounts Payable.3/9/2015 Let's face it, processing supplier invoices can be a daunting task, and, in some cases, a smaller accounts payable department can feel the "invoice processing pain" simply due to a lack of resources more so than larger companies who may be drowning in sheer volume of invoices. Either way the steps of processing, routing, matching, approving, coding, entering and paying invoices is error-prone, labor intensive and in-efficient. So what do you do if upper management isn't onboard with accounts payable process improvements or invoice automation? Here are a few ways that being organized and following standard processes can help. 1. Don't pay from invoice copies. This can lead to duplicate AP transactions and payments. If you have to pay from a copy, be sure to check your records for the same invoice number and dollar amount. 2. Make sure you have a W-9 on file BEFORE paying a vendor. This will save a lot of hassle at year-end when you need to prepare 1099s. Fines for not complying with 1099 reporting can be hefty and the rules change from time to time. 3. Have rules about how invoice numbers are formatted and entered. If accounts payable team members are all using their own rules about entering invoice numbers (like what to do with leading zeros), it will be difficult to track down anything. Also, make sure you have a policy for invoices that don't have invoice numbers on them. 4. Segregation of duties! The person entering the invoice should be different from the person approving the invoice who should be different from the person signing the check. 5. Centralized receipt of supplier invoices. Okay, so this is easier said than done however, having all invoices come to the accounting department first before being sent out for approval(s). This way the invoice can be logged before it enters the black hole. 6. Enter invoices one at a time. Do not enter invoices as a batch. Each one should be entered individually in order to have an audit trail. 7. Coding of invoices. All invoices should have the G/L account coding written on them as well as any notes about special handling. 8. The amount of the invoice should be entered as billed even if you don’t plan on paying the full amount. A credit memo can be entered and matched against the invoice later. The key is to remember the audit trail. 9. Have a new vendor welcome letter that you can send informing them of where invoices should be sent, what information you require to process their invoices (like a vendor ID number) and any forms you need completed. Vendors will appreciate the information to ensure their payments aren’t held up. 10. Watch your payables carefully to take advantage of any discounts being offered by vendors. It can add up to a nice sum by the end of the year. 11. Setup your vendor files alphabetically and file your paid invoice as soon as completed. There are many more ways to ensure a smooth accounts payable process if upper management won't go for process improvement. Feel free to list your own ideas that may help others looking for ways to make their accounts payable process better. Vision360 Enterprise provides accounts payable automation solutions that streamlines invoice capture, smartly routes invoices for approvals, allows for intelligent matching and invoice coding and seamlessly transfers invoices to your Oracle ERP system. This will reduce labor costs, improve productivity and eliminate 100% of paper invoices from your accounts payable process. By connecting accounts payable processing with your Oracle ERP system AP Departments can now take full advantage of productivity and efficiency gains that an accounts payable automation system provides. - See more at: http://www.bluecreeksoftware.com/oracle-integration.html#sthash.z6F4suR3.dpuf The benefits of integrating Vision360 Enterprise accounts payable processing with Oracle ERP system. - Seamless integration reduces the need for technical resources - Allows for rapid deployment - Accounts payable dashboard provides 100% visibility to supplier invoices - Eliminates 100% of paper invoices - Captures email invoices electronically - Eliminates the need for data entry - Powerful coding tools - Perform 2 & 3-way matching - Data validation engines ensures accuracy - Centralized processing and controls - Complete audit trail of approval activity - Generate instant efficiency reports - Instantly access invoices from electronic archive - Enforces your security, processing rules and compliance We do not take a one size fits all approach to any engagement. Our strength is in our ability to objectively evaluate the business problems and challenges that affect every day. By leveraging our business process solutions experience, coupled with our technical expertise we are able to effectively analyze and recommend a variety of viable solutions to fit the needs of any business problem and challenge we are faced with. A typical day in accounts payable is anything BUT typical. A day in accounts payable should really be called, Mission Impossible! Why you ask? The accounts payable department and responsibilities of the AP staff go well beyond paying bills. A few of these tasks include opening mail, sorting invoices, matching, getting approvals, coding, entering invoices, check runs, answering calls, filing paper, dealing with closes and audits. With everything that's going on in an accounts payable department its no wonder that keeping track of invoices can be a challenge and chasing down invoice for approval can even be more of a headache. Here are 3 ways email reminders can help make life better and keep your payable process on track. 1. Email alerts let approvers know when NEW invoices arrive that require review and approval. The approver simply opens the email and clicks a link within the email. The link then brings them to the invoice or invoices that requires their attention. 2. Email alerts can also notify and escalate invoices that have gone untouched for a predetermined amount of time to manager for approval. Example, an invoice arrived from a supplier that offers a 5% discount if the invoice is paid with 10 days. Unfortunately, the approver had been out on vacation and didn't see the first email alert. So, an email notification and automatic escalation sent the invoice promptly to a next level manager that was able to approve the invoice and take advantage of the 5% supplier discount. 3. Email alerts eliminate the need for accounts payable staff to waste valuable time chasing down invoices only to hear that the approver never received a copy or that they sent it to accounts payable and AP lost the invoice. With email alerts and escalations gone are the days of the "blame game" where accounts payable is caught in the middle. By utilizing email alerts as part of a comprehensive accounts payable process improvements initiative departments can expect to realize a significant level of improvement, reduction in manual steps and peace of mind. Vision360 Enterprise helps companies of any size to improve their accounts payable process. Whether you have one accounts payable clerk to a full shared service center, entry level or global enterprise, Vision360 will help you reduce and eliminate the manual processes associated with receiving, routing, coding, approving and entering invoices. Vision360 Enterprise will save you time, labor and increase efficiencies across your organization. We all know how important it is to keep customers happy. Don’t meet their needs or make them mad and they may leave you. Even worse, their comments may cause others to leave with them. Just like customers, you also need to keep vendors happy. If you don’t you may find your credit line cutoff and that you cannot get essential products and services. Imagine what happens when you cannot get the product you need to sell or use in your manufacturing process. Pretty soon it impacts your company’s ability to satisfy customers. The accounts payable days analysis is a statistic you can calculate that indicates how good of a job you are doing managing accounts payable and keeping your vendors happy. Days payable outstanding (DPO), defined also as days purchase outstanding, indicates how many days on average a company pay off its accounts payable during an accounting period. Days payable outstanding means the activity ratio that measures how well a business is managing its accounts payable. The lower the ratio, the quicker the business pays its liabilities. It also shows the average payment terms granted to a company by its suppliers. The higher the ratio, the better credit terms a company gets from its suppliers. From a company’s prospective, an increase in DPO is an improvement and a decrease is of course, "not good for business and cash flow". Value is a two-way street. Of course, vendors want to provide their clients with the best possible return on their investment. But they're a business, too. If a client makes a project difficult to staff, hard to schedule and costly to execute, more likely than not it will affect the initiative's outcome and value negatively. On the flip side, though, there are clients, even very large ones, that help vendors get through their internal processes, bureaucracy and political hurdles. Clients that smooth the way for vendor teams internally are going to get a superior value from their investment in our services. Effort will be spent on the work the vendor was hired to do, not on jumping through hoops. The vendor staffs up, their people get to work and they are able to focus – which always results in better quality and value at the end of the day. Once negotiations are closed, vendors want to shift their focus from winning the business to meeting the goals and expectations of their client. Yet they sometimes encounter major delays, bureaucratic hurdles and work stoppages based on internal processes and politics. This only hurts the client's project, yet it is often caused by the client organization's own internal structure and approach to management. So. Look at your vendor management processes. Would you want to work with you? Are you making your vendors happy? Do they have a fast-track, once you've signed with them? Or do they have to navigate a complex system of approvals and oversight? Are your schedules in alignment with theirs? Do your internal teams understand what's going on, who's involved and what the goals are? How many levels of management do they encounter? Do they have a point-of-contact with authority? Vendors usually expect to navigate these processes with every client. Even giant companies with hugely complex internal systems and challenging politics can get great value from their vendors by providing them with the tools and management resources they need from the start. As businesses invest millions into their technologies, and vendors do more and more of the work, any organization that engages with technology vendors on key initiatives risks a great deal by failing to be good to work with. DANGER! READING THIS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE YOUR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE PROCESS TO HYPER SPEEDS!2/24/2015 You've got a dashboard in your vehicle that tells you the status of your fuel, engine temperature and oil pressure. Your vehicles dashboard will warn you when problems begin to occur so that you don't further damage your vehicles engine. What if you had the same status and prevention signals in your accounts payable process? What if you could be alerted to the status of your supplier invoices and any potential problems BEFORE it is too late. With Vision360 Enterprise you can do just that. Vision360 Enterprise provides accounts payable departments complete visibility to the entire AP process from a single dashboard view. Vision360 will send alerts, reminders and escalation flags to ensure that your accounts payable process does not break down. If you don't know the status of your supplier invoices at this very moment? You need Vision360. Don't wait for problems to happen. As companies seek opportunities to contain labor costs and streamline operations, Accounts Payable departments face conflicting pressures to enhance their level of service while at the same time reducing staff costs. New technologies have long held the promise of achieving improved operational efficiencies while saving money. To address the costly burden of manual entry, filing, and retrieval, Accounts Payable departments have embraced standardized ERP systems, electronic invoicing, document imaging, workflow, and archiving. But perhaps nothing to date has presented AP departments the transformational opportunity afforded by Vision360 Data Capture, a solution that virtually eliminates data entry. 5 REASONS YOUR AP CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON 1. Invoice Approval Process Relies Heavily on Manual Routing of Invoices 2. A Suppliers Phone Inquiry Is Your Reminder to Pay the Invoice 3. You've Paid the Same Invoice More Than Once 4. You keep missing opportunities to take discounts 5. Your AP process is slower than oil Vision360 will capture all of the required data from your supplier invoices, verify the data for accuracy, match the data against external sources like your vendor master and purchase order files ensuring completeness and the highest level of accuracy possible. Vision360 captures invoice details from hundreds of thousands of suppliers invoice each day. There is no need for templates or to purchase costly OCR software. Convert supplier invoices into data that can be matched, routed and integrated with any ERP system. With Vision360 Enterprise accounts payable departments can expect to eliminate all of the manual touch points and process associated with process, paying and maintaining supplier invoices. With Vision360 Enterprise there is nothing to purchase, no software licensing restrictions, no annual software maintenance and very little IT resources needed. Vision360 Enterprise automates the routine steps involved in approving invoices. Once supplier invoices are captured, the invoices can be routed to approvers based on business rules, through multiple levels of approvals, coded and released for payment. In a recent study by the Institute of Financial Operations (IFO) on Accounts Payable Automation, over 95% of the respondents said they still receive paper invoices in the mail. It is 2015, it is time for your company to improve the way you company processes incoming invoices. By now you have probably heard that Accounts Payable (AP) processing isn’t as efficient as it should be. You probably have heard the risks of misplacing invoices, not paying them on time, the time it takes employees to file and retrieve these invoices or documents, and much more. You are more than aware that AP automation will give you the efficiency, cost controls, visibility, and accuracy of information that your industry demands to be successful. Our ERP System Can Do That - While your ERP or accounting system might have an accounts payable module, they notoriously lack the functionality, control, insight, and automation required to support the accounts payable process. ERP simply were not built for processing accounts payable invoices; some of the major issues with managing A/P in your ERP module include their inability to handle invoice approvals, lack routing rules, and the ability to distribute coding, there is no disputes and dispute resolution, the need for additional dependent modules, the lack of sophisticated reporting, the need for outside applications to fill functional gaps, their inability to automatically update invoice information, and extreme process and workflow inefficiencies. Not to mention that if your ERP partner does offer an AP automation module it probably will come at a high price. We Don’t Need Automation – Do you want to save time and money and realize fast ROIs? AP automation allows organizations to get on top of their invoice management agenda, providing solutions with unrivaled ease-of-use, flexibility and powerful matching capabilities. Automated AP solutions provide increased productivity, reduced processing costs, improved process transparency and minimized errors and fraud. Other benefits include multi-channel interaction, rapid ROIs, touchless processing and easy scaling. Solutions cover the full invoice management process from capture through validation, process management, archiving and reporting. Rather than spending time on redundant tasks like data entry, filing, sorting, copying, etc. employees can concentrate their efforts on work more directly related to your bottom line. Automation Doesn’t Really Save Money – The cost to manually process an invoice can range from anywhere between $5 – $25, and with strategic automation, this cost can be reduced to an average of $2.50! High costs include those associated with the errors of manual data entry, invoices getting lost while they are routed from one individual/department to another, exceptions processing, accrural delays, failed audits and duplicate invoices. Automation provides a 90 – 95% reduction in paperwork which leads to a 25% increase in labor productivity. We’ll Lose Control - Automation actually provides greater visibility, allowing authorized users to see invoice status at any time. Invoices are no longer left unattended, and employees are held accountable for their role in the approval process. This in turn leads to greater control since processes are automatically updated as invoices make their way through workflows, providing more time for focus on exception handling. We Can’t Afford Automation – Actually, you can’t afford not to have AP automation. With the right solution in place, you’ll save time and money currently spent on manual processes while avoiding things like double payments and forgotten invoices. And, with cloud-based solutions, there is no upfront software purchase required and no dedicated IT team to be put into place. Using this type of solution enables organizations to realize faster ROIs by basing return on documents processed rather than viewing it as a project. We’re Too Small For Automation – No matter what the size of an organization, there are employees assigned the task of manually entering invoice data when they could be focusing on more strategic responsibilities. Just like with larger businesses, there is money to be saved through the implementation of an accounts payable workflow, including lost invoices and failed audits. And with the use of cloud-based solutions, costs are minimized with solutions available to fit any budget. We’re Too Big For Automation – AP automation solutions were actually first designed with larger organizations in mind, so they are able to handle large volumes of invoices. With the abiity to create effective workflows and integrate with existing ERP systems, automation is a no brainer for the larger business that has many more departments and employees for a single invoice to pass through. There is a greater chance for error with a manual system used in a big business since there is a higher number of invoices and more people handling them. Automation takes manual procedures out of the mix allowing for increased control and visibility. We Don’t Have Time to Implement Automation – There are many AP automation solutions to choose from, many of which require no dedicated IT teams or special training. You can decide whether to outsource, insource or use a combination of both. Any time spent on implementation will be quickly regained through rapid ROIs. About Vision360 Enterprise: With Vision360 Enterprise there is nothing to purchase, no software licensing restrictions, no annual software maintenance and very little IT resources needed. Vision360 Enterprise automates the routine steps involved in approving invoices. Once supplier invoices are captured, the invoices can be routed to approvers based on business rules, through multiple levels of approvals, coded and released for payment.
The benefits of integrating Vision360 Enterprise accounts payable processing with MS Dynamics:
- Seamless integration reduces the need for technical resources - Allows for rapid deployment - Accounts payable dashboard provides 100% visibility to supplier invoices - Eliminates 100% of paper invoices - Captures email invoices electronically - Eliminates the need for data entry - Powerful coding tools - Perform 2 & 3-way matching - Data validation engines ensures accuracy - Centralized processing and controls - Complete audit trail of approval activity - Generate instant efficiency reports - Instantly access invoices from electronic archive - Enforces your security, processing rules and compliance We do not take a one size fits all approach to any engagement. Our strength is in our ability to objectively evaluate the business problems and challenges that affect every day. By leveraging our business process solutions experience, coupled with our technical expertise we are able to effectively analyze and recommend a variety of viable solutions to fit the needs of any business problem and challenge we are faced with. For more information contact us or call 603-437-1400 x308 It's never been easier for employees to complete and submit expense reports. Vision360 Enterprise Expense allows staff to create electronic expense reports, attached receipts and submit to managers for review and approval. Vision360 Expense will streamline the expense reporting process and improve the review and approval flow between departments. Vision360 Expense turns lengthy, tedious paper-based approval processes into one-click approvals. Managers can easily review and approve expense reports from anywhere, at anytime – no paperwork involved. All expense reports and receipts are in one location making review and approvals faster and easier than ever. Enforcing reimbursement and expense policies and streamlining the expense process has never been easier. How Does It Work? Employees simply fill out the reimbursement form, attach their receipts and click submit! The expense report is sent directly to their manager for approval! That's all there is to it. 1. Eliminates paper from the review and approval process 2. Attaching digital receipts this keeps things organized 3. Having visibility to expense reports during the approval process cuts down on the number of status inquiries from employees 4. By using electronic expense reports employees can manage expenses from anywhere 3. Electronic expense reports can be quickly approved ensuring that employees get reimbursed promptly for their expenses SUBMIT APPROVE PAY Vision360 Expense will allow you to monitor all aspects of your business travel and reduce excessive spending. Gain visibility into your company's spending with comprehensive data, reporting and custom reports. Regardless of when a transaction occurred, what form of payment was used, or which supplier or vendor was selected, you'll get detailed analytics into your overall travel spending. Then, you can set rules to increase control, eliminate loopholes, improve spending behavior, and lower your overall expenses.
A free weekly webinar series is underway at BlueCreek Software the developers of the Vision360 Enterprise accounts payable automation system. When it comes to accounts payable processing the landscape is so full of systems, software and technologies that often times people just shy away.
Our weekly webinar series is intended to help take some of the mystery and guess work out and help to get people pointed in the right direction. "We cover a lot of information in a very short amount of time". says Richard Pigott Sales Director with Vision360. "These days people don't have a lot of time to seek out and research all of the possibilities so we try to incorporate as much as we can in our webinar to make their job a little easier". Some of topics covered in the weekly webinar include: - Challenges faced by accounts payable departments - Costs associated with processing supplier invoices manually - How paperless invoice processing works (an overview) - Invoice routing, approvals, 3 way matching, coding, exceptions & integration with ERP's - Building a business case for accounts payable process improvements This webinar is perfect for accounts payable managers, Controllers, CFO's, IT Directors or anyone interested in learning how to eliminate manual processing, reducing overall costs and streamlining the AP process. Attendees will receive free information and white papers to help them decide if accounts payable automation is right for them. There’s something to be said for hard work, but if all those tireless hours take away from what makes you then it’s time to strive for some balance. Here are a few ways to improve your life. Create “break” appointments. If you struggle to tear away from work on your own, then why not pencil it in? Create a phone alert, add it to your Outlook calendar and consider that “me” time a must-do. Put exercise on your to-do list. One of the best ways to clear your mind and de-stress is to get your body moving, so do what you can to stick to your fitness routine. Whether it’s an early-morning gym session or a late-night walk around the block, those precious moments are sure to help you stay sane. Limit at-home work hours. Technology makes it easy to work 24 hours a day, but that doesn’t mean you should. If you need to work at home, then set a time limit beforehand so that you don’t overdo it. Leave your phone at home. Truth is, you don’t need to be connected all the time; that isn’t healthy. When you’re heading to the gym or the grocery store, leave your phone behind and check out for a while. Turn off your computer extra early. If you find yourself tossing and turning because you can’t stop thinking about work, then try tuning out a bit earlier by shutting down your laptop several hours before turning in. Don’t charge your phone by the bed. Can’t help checking your smartphone every time it lights up or beeps? Do yourself a favor and leave it in another room—out of sight, out of mind. Schedule social time with friends. When you’re extra busy and exhausted, going out can be the last thing you’d like to do—but it’s also crucial that you maintain a life outside the office. Make plans far in advance so that bailing simply isn’t an option. Put hobbies into your planner. Whether you love to read, paint, or play music, it’s important that you keep up with the pastimes that make you feel most like yourself. Hold yourself accountable by signing up for a class with a friend or hosting a weekly book club meeting. The winter months are often cold and dreary, zapping your employees’ motivation. Rather than letting the winter blues get the better of your workforce, take a few proactive steps to ensure employees are happy and productive this winter season and beyond. 10 tips for increasing employee productivity during the winter months:
1: Complete and Clear Visibility Visibility is a critical issue in most AP departments, many of which are still paper based. Aberdeen Group’s Procure-to-Pay Study found that 80% of invoices are still paper, leading to a multitude of visibility issues. Lack of clear visibility starts with the invoice receipt process. Invoices tend to be sent to numerous field offices rather to an Accounts Payable designate. These pre-approved invoices are then manually forwarded to Accounts Payable and entered into the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, providing zero visibility on the front end. Delays can arise from invoices sitting on managers’ desks for days which can also lead to unnecessary rush invoices when line-of-business managers demand quick payment to maintain supplier satisfaction. When Accounts Payable departments are chronically backed up at the end of periods, there is a risk of not recognising liabilities. Incomplete accruals can understate expenses and overstate income. This can lead a company susceptible to financial statement cut off fraud occurring as companies get desperate to show earnings or reduce losses. Lost paper invoices can also obscure a company’s visibility into liabilities. These consequences of a paper based system argue against continued reliance on this outdated model. 2: Accelerate Period End Close with Greater Accuracy Companies are being forced to close their books more quickly and more accurately. While there are benefits such as delivering meaningful information to management in a timely fashion enables faster and more tactical decisions, closing the Accounts Payable books can become very difficult. A faster, more accurate Accounts Payable close can be achieved by
The right Accounts Payable automation in place can lead to more accurate closings. Invoices and all backup information are automatically entered into the ERP and workflow leverage the ERP’s account codes and approval framework to create a permanent record of every transaction. Every step of the close simplifies, allowing for organisations to perform this activity more quickly and accurately. 3: Turbo Charge Productivity Accounts Payable department is hindered with paper, resulting in loss of productivity due to filing, retrieving, and faxing, copying, mailing or looking for papers that have been misplaced, misfiled or lost. Further comprising productivity is that Accounts Payable processes are too complex. The number of manual internal controls and little standardization as well as Accounts Payable department interruptions leads to increasing loss of productivity. 4: Leverage Your ERP Investment ERP platforms, despite having powerful capabilities, have struggled to meet expectations or deliver on their value proposition. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, only 36% of finance executives are confident their technology spending is yielding an optimum return. The lack of value in ERP implementations is due to the use of old, manually intensive processes that hamper the system’s potential. The ERP is an excellent repository for all financial data, it is not designed to support the processes around each of those transactions. The original invoice being stored in the ERP provides access to that document, but has no impact on how it got approved, whether it received the required signatures or whether proper policies were followed. The key to unlocking the value in an organisation’s ERP investment is to develop simplified and standardized process for repetitive tasks such as invoice receipt, review and approval. Companies have invested in sophisticated ERP implementations, but old pre-ERP processes are simply transferred to work with the new system, leading to inefficiencies and expensive communications and collaboration. Through simplifying and standardizing processes, removing unnecessary steps and improving overall efficiency. All captured information needs to be tightly integrated with a consistent set of processes to be able to maximize efficiency, speed, visibility, cost reduction and controls. A streamlined process also requires all participants, regardless of position or experience, to have access to all appropriate information while interacting intuitively and intelligent with the transaction. 5: Improve Quality Errors can be costly through departmental productivity and corporate reputation. Companies need to understand where and why errors occur and to systematically address and eliminate them to improve quality and reduce costs. Each step of the AP process is time consuming, and the cost of one error can be significant. Paper based processes are known to have higher error rates – keying errors, matching errors, lost and/or misfiled documents etc. Errors can also impact quality of service since they irritate vendors and frustrate internal clients. A quality program is the cornerstone of any effort to develop a “continuous improvement culture”. Having a baseline understanding of the time and resources required to perform a function and tracking progress as quality initiatives are implemented. Quality programs pay direct dividends. 6: Facilitate Spend Analysis, Planning and Forecasting Organizations must accurately budget, plan and forecast to maximize business performance. If corporations can’t accurately analyse previous or current spending trends, their ability to plan and forecast is severely affected. A major impediment to accurate budgeting, planning and forecasting is the inability to analyse costs at the appropriate level of detail. The lack of transparency makes it impossible to perform the proper level of analysis that informs future planning activities and realizes cost savings. Proper invoice coding is also essential. Coding frequently introduces complexities into budgeting, planning and forecasting cycles because it is error prone. Resolving and re-keying coding errors can be time consuming and inefficient, but if not done properly, the errors are prolonged and create enormous gaps in an organisation’s ability to analyse previous spending. 7: Embrace Best Practices Accounts Payable departments are not able to implement best practices without clarity in corporate policies and procedures. Lack of a standard codified approach to the disbursement process creates a multitude of problems for AP:
The most effective path to AP best practices is the automated enforcement of policies and procedures via workflows that incorporate best practice policies. Automated workflows that enforce AP business rules can ensure that all transactions
8: Strengthen Internal Controls All finance professionals are aware of the fraud risks their organisations face. The PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Economic Crime Survey found that 45% of companies worldwide are victims of fraud. In addition to revenue loss, significant collateral damage includes loss of reputation, decreased staff motivation and declining business relations. There are three main categories of fraud faced by AP departments include Corruption, Asset Misappropriation and Fraudulent Statements. The way to gain control is with best practices that create the foundation for a strong controls environment. Through simplifying processes and centralization, automated and preventative controls and technology leverage. 9: Optimize the Company’s Biggest Asset: Cash Accounts Payable is about getting the bills paid, but the process can be costly, paper intensive and time consuming. A PricewaterhouseCoopers study states that an average AP organisation makes 19 copies for each document, loses 1 out of every 20 documents and spends 25 hours recreating each lost document. Other paper based costs include storage, document transportation, supplier dispute resolution, internal and external audits, duplicate payments, late payments, penalties and errors. Best practice workflows ensure simple, standardized processes where documents are brought online at the outset are fully integrated with the ERP and are then routed to all participants in a given business process including non-ERP users.
1. Invoice Processing Costs:
What's your cost to process a single supplier invoice? There are many factors that affect the cost to process a single supplier invoice. Many of these costs are attributed to the "clerical duties" performed by skilled accounting staff. These clerical duties include opening incoming mail, sorting and staging invoices into batches, sending paper invoices to approvers for proper coding and approval, performing manual data entry of key invoice data into the accounting system for payment processing. Many studies have been performed by trade associations i.e. Paystream Advisors, Aberdeen Group, The Accounts Payable Network, IOFM and many more. The statistics have shown that the average cost to process a single invoice is roughly $15 dollars and companies with significant accounts payable processing challenges have seen their costs in the range of $38.00 per invoice. Organizations that have implemented some level of accounts payable process improvement have realized a significant savings of 60-80% over manual invoice processing with per invoice costs reduced to $3 dollars or less per invoice. 2. Invoice Processing Speeds: How long does it take for your supplier invoices to process through your organization for payment? The time it takes can greatly vary depending on the number of manual steps an invoice needs to go through for proper approvals, matching, coding and entry into your accounting system. According to the "Aberdeen Group" the average processing time to process invoices manually is between 24 - 30 days, while companies that have implemented some level of accounts payable process improvement have seen their processing times reduced down to 5 days or less. 3. Productivity Per Team Member: Are your accounts payable team members equally productive? Take the number of accounts payable invoices per month and divide by the number of invoices processed. You should also factor in the tasks performed by each team member. It is estimated that 75% of the labor and time associated with processing supplier invoices is performed by the accounts payable department. Measure the time it takes to process an invoice today and you can be assured that accounts payable automation will double the throughput and significantly reduce the costs to process an invoice. 4. Variance Analysis/Correction Rates: Variances can be caused by many factors, however the time it takes to correct them can cost your company more than 10 times the costs to process a single invoice correctly! Are line items coded correctly? Are manual keying errors causing bottlenecks? Are you able to report on variances in a timely manner? With accounts payable automation rules can be put in place to correctly process invoices and flag those invoices with issues and route them for resolution and instantly report on any variance or processing issues. 5. PO Matching Process and Speeds: The process to manually match an invoice and the time it takes can vary dramatically between organizations, processes and definitely between people. Let's face it - some people are just faster than others and some accuracy vary. With accounts payable automation business processing rules can be applied to "automatically match" invoices against your purchase order, receiver, vendor master or any other criteria. When applying these "auto-matching rules" invoices can be "automatically coded" to eliminate the need for manual data entry, hence eliminating the "fat finger" problem. 6. Invoice Entry: Invoice entry largely relies on skilled accounts payable staff to take the time to enter by hand the information from a supplier invoice into the company's accounting system. As you might expect manual data entry is "error-prone" and relies on people. With accounts payable automation the data captured during the routing, matching, coding and approval of invoices is transferred into the accounting system, "error-free". With Vision360 Enterprise accounts payable departments can expect to eliminate all of the manual touch points and process associated with process, paying and maintaining supplier invoices. With Vision360 Enterprise there is nothing to purchase, no software licensing restrictions, no annual software maintenance and very little IT resources needed. Vision360 Enterprise automates the routine steps involved in approving invoices. Once supplier invoices are captured, the invoices can be routed to approvers based on business rules, through multiple levels of approvals, coded and released for payment.
Many organizations are challenged by wanting to break free from slow and costly paper based systems. Accounts Payable departments are constantly being challenged to cut operating costs whilst ensuring invoices are paid promptly. Manual AP processes are costing companies on average $15.00 per invoice; that’s a staggering on-going cost for a company who may be thinking they are managing the invoice paper flow!
A typical manual AP process includes: Invoices coming into the company from different suppliers or cost centers in different layouts and delivery formats – USPS mail, email, pdf, fax and more. Supplier invoices are forwarded to the relevant person responsible for that invoice. There is a longer lead time due to manual routing, processing and sign off procedures. Inefficiencies due to time spent matching the invoice to the purchase order, verifying, approving and signing off for payment. Inability to maximize discount benefits associated with early payments. If it exceeds the company’s limited amount it may well have to go to senior management for a 2nd or 3rd level approval. If approved the invoice is then manually input into the accounting system and made ready for payment. Paid invoices are then filed away in file cabinets and boxes for archiving. Archive costs for compliance and accounts audits. Typically, there may well be invoice queries for a variety of reasons, is the vendor valid, is the invoice correct and does it match the PO or is it a duplicate invoice, accountants need invoice copies, auditors request copies and many more. www.bluecreeksoftware.com Why automate the accounts payable process? 1. To give complete processing control to the accounts payable department. 2. By automating the accounts payable process you gain complete visibility of the accounts payable function using an end-to-end invoice management system of all processes and, any financial implications. 3. Capturing the invoice information at the point of receipt eliminates the need for manual data entry. 4. Automatically consolidate and reconcile purchase orders, invoices, payments which helps manage allocations, cash flow and payments. 5. Invoice processing automatically matches and verifies scanned invoices with purchase orders. 6. The process is centralized so up to date live information is made available to the accounts payable team at every stage of the AP process. How does adopting an AP strategy reduce my paper flow? It’s the start toward adopting an e-invoicing strategy for your organization by automating the processing of invoices and choosing to integrate a straight-forward workflow and document management software with your existing systems to remove manual and repetitive workloads. Using a centralized accounts payable process that’s integrated into your current system provides: -Automatic allocation of the right invoice to the relevant transaction -Automatically post invoices for payment -Automatically queue exceptions for handling -Deliver information on exceptions to the AP desktop -Make payment status available to everyone instantly What are the major benefits? 1. Reduce invoice processing costs 2. Eliminate manual data entry 3. Significant time savings 4. Exceptions resolved quickly 5. Supplier conflict resolution 6. Early payment discounts 7. Reduced supplier inquiries 8. End duplicate payments 9. Realize a significant savings in 6 – 9 months Vision360 Enterprise helps companies of any size to improve their accounts payable process. Whether you have one accounts payable clerk to a full shared service center, entry level or global enterprise, Vision360 will help you reduce and eliminate the manual processes associated with receiving, routing, coding, approving and entering invoices. - |
AuthorVision360 Enterprise Accounts Payable Automation Solution by BlueCreek Software reduces time wasted chasing down paper invoices by automating invoice approvals, eliminating manual data entry, eliminating paper invoices and reducing processing costs. Categories
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