Most businesses don’t spend very much time on their accounts payable until there is an issue. However, when you optimize this department, you can find ways to save on bulk purchases and other supplier agreements. You also gain control over your cash flow, and this allows your business to run smoothly and be prepared for emergencies. Making payments late incurs fees, paper invoicing slows down the approval process, and it takes time to make sure that you are getting the best terms from suppliers. Take a look at some of the ways that you can optimize your accounts payable process.
Start Using OCR (Object Character Recognition)
When you use a scanner to digitize paperwork, you are getting a digital copy of an image, but you will still need to enter the data into your database. It is a time-consuming process. OCR is technology that both scans the document and pulls data from it. The data can be directly input into a spreadsheet or other database, and it streamlines the process. This is a great way to save time and improve record accuracy.
Create Supplier Portals
A supplier portal is a system where businesses and their suppliers can track orders, shipments, and invoicing from a central location. This helps to optimize your accounts payable because suppliers can submit invoices through the portal, and employees can track all of the information about orders in one location. Companies no longer have to receive an invoice, send it for approval, and then send it to accounts payable. All of the information needed by each department is available in one place.
Small Businesses Can Outsource
For some small businesses, digitizing their accounts payable might be a simple process, but for others, it can be complicated and expensive. There are different outsourcing options from hiring a company to come in and get your system set up to having them handle the accounts payable for you. There are third-party organizations that specialize in setting up an OCR, creating an appropriate workflow for the entire process from the order to the payment to the supplier, and more. Outsourcing can benefit a business by making sure that the business gets the best deals and pays invoices on time.