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BEST PRACTICES FOR
PROCESSING ACCOUNTS PAYABLE INVOICES
The departments of
Accounts Payable are always under
pressure to make robust controls,
increase the efficiency time consuming
manual processes and decrease costs. It
is very difficult to achieve this
because these processes are distributed
in nature. For example, the approval
process of invoices has to happen on
many levels, generating huge volumes of
documents which are very difficult to
manage effectively. Also, the AP
departments are faced with high pressure
due to compliance issues like the
“Sarbanes Oxley Act” which try to manage
the paper based processes in a better
way.
When these issues go out
of hand then the need for automating the
accounts payable process becomes very
strong. Due to automation the amount of
paper involved in the processing will
decrease drastically and the department
will be able to optimize the process of
approval and payments of the invoices.
One way to automate the AP processes is
to use the “imaging and workflow”
solutions. Many organisations use this
technology to decrease costs and
increase efficiency of their AP
processes.
With the “imaging and
workflow solution”, the Accounts Payable
staff will be able to view the images of
the invoices which are part of the
automatic system. Every step of the
process beginning with the receiving of
the invoice to the approval of the
payment is documented in to the system.
This process starts when the invoice is
received from the vendor. The invoices
and documentation which are all paper
based are scanned and converted to
images and uploaded in to the system.
Then these images can be seen by users
who are authorized to access them. These
invoices get routed automatically with
defined conditions and notifications.
This automatic and step by step process
of approving invoices is one of the most
efficient methods to keep a steady flow
of the documents.
Also, the need to spend
time in finding paper files is reduced
dramatically, thereby improving the
productivity of the employees. This
system will enable you to customize the
internal controls for every business
process which results in fast access to
the required documents and also results
in reduced cycle and faster approval
times.
There are several other
benefits when you use the “imaging and
workflow” technology. The direct
positive impact is increasing the
efficiency of the AP departments. This
solution will reduce the costs
significantly, streamline the overall
process and automate the internal
controls. Instant access and automated
internal controls will eliminate the
probability of losing or misplacing the
paper documents and even prevents the
duplicating of the invoices. It also
helps to make the payments on time
thereby improving your business
relationship with your suppliers.
Another significant
advantage of this system is that several
members of the firm can collaborate
securely in real time to discuss any
issues. Also, these documents can be
accessed by other employees instantly
when they are given access. It cuts of
the faxing, shipping and copying costs.
This solution is very
effective in reducing the over all costs
of the AP process.
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