Generating revenue and building great products are top priorities for early-stage business owners.
Employees are overworked, life can be hectic — yet work functions still need to be done. There aren’t a lot of processes in place when you’re ramping up a new business, making it more challenging to scale as your sales grow.
As the company grows, a lack of internal processes results in chaos and mistakes. Accounting is an area where automated processes reduce manual efforts and allow businesses to scale.
The accounts payable (AP) function is responsible for managing expenses, paying invoices and managing cash flow.
While AP doesn’t generate revenue, it is an essential business process that contributes to a business’s financial health and profitability.
1. Save Time By Automating Accounts Payable Workflows with Sage Intacct’s Accounts Payable Software
Paying bills and managing expense reimbursements is often a tedious and time-consuming job within the accounting department. As your company grows, you need to either hire more accounting clerks or put standard operating procedures into place to take control of increasing workloads. The Sage Intacct’s accounts payable software automates the workflows needed to approve invoices, confirm services, manage expenses and expedite vendor payments.
Automating accounts payable workflows will save your business both time and money. You can reduce the number of hours it takes to manage the AP process, thus reducing labor and overhead costs. In some cases, companies report saving up to 100 hours per month by automating their accounts payable tasks.
Automation also helps your business grow since it is easier to train new employees on existing processes than to let employees figure it out on their own. By automating and standardizing accounting processes, companies can grow faster without hiring additional staff.
2. Enhance Internal Invoicing Processes
Invoicing is the core process for the accounts payable function, and the process of manually approving and processing invoices is often complex and time-consuming. Tracking down approvals from busy department managers, creating purchase orders and authorizing payments all take a lot of effort for busy companies.
Automating the internal invoice approval process is the first step to reducing costs and streamlining communications across the organization. Automated processes need to be flexible and configurable to account for changing processes as a company grows. Sage Intacct’s automated accounts payable software accommodates multiple workflows and adapts to new methods in a timely manner.
3. Reduce Manual Processing and Data Entry
Many issues in the accounts payable process are caused by manual data entry. These errors can be avoided by creating standardized data fields and options in the AP software, reducing confusion and manual updates.
Another way to avoid manual data entry mistakes is integrating AP software with purchasing and payment software. By creating standard data management processes, data is automatically entered by the software, reducing the need for manual data entry tasks.
4. Improve Expense Amortization
Expense amortization allows AP professionals to reduce the cost of equipment and asset acquisitions over time. The manual process of expense amortization is complex. It requires extensive reporting and tracking to ensure expenses are posted to the correct general ledger account and amortized using the correct schedule. Automated AP software will streamline the amortization process by creating standardized rules and procedures, saving hours of manual processing and internal auditing.
5. Improve Internal Communications With Real-Time Reporting
Many businesses may rely on internal review meetings and spreadsheets to track and report on the accounts payable process. While the information shared in meetings is essential, a lot of time can be saved by creating real-time reports and dashboards using automated accounts payable software. Senior executives and managers will have interactive dashboards to review expenses, cash flow status and vendor relationships. With real-time reporting in the Sage Intacct AP software, executives can view data from their desktop, eliminating the need for reviewing spreadsheet files and attending review meetings. Online reporting also gives accounting and finance teams a holistic view of the company’s financial health without using third-party data analytic software.
6. Provides Complete Visibility Into the AP Cycle
With automated accounts payable software, business owners and managers have complete visibility into the AP cycle. Real-time reporting and dashboards allow key executives to monitor changes in supply, demand and critical financial indicators, which can lead to making essential business decisions. Decisions are based on current data instead of lagging indicators generated from traditional balance sheets and other financial reports.
7. Improve Spend Management
If your organization includes a lot of remote workers, managing expenses can be difficult — if not impossible — when using manual accounts payable processes. With automated accounts payable software, costs are controlled through automated expense approval processes. Sage Intacct spend management software lets you govern all company spending compared to your budgets, so you never spend more than you should.
Automate Your Invoice, Expense and Billing Processes with Sage Intacct Accounts Payable Software
Working smarter is the key to expanding your business and reaching revenue and profitability goals. Sage Intacct’s automated accounts payable software provides the tools you need to eliminate manual data entry and reporting tasks, saving hundreds of hours in labor costs. Reporting and internal communications will be improved with real-time reporting data and interactive dashboards, so all leaders view the same data, allowing them to make critical business decisions. Sage Intacct accounts payable software will enable your business to grow without the typical small business growing pains. Contact us today to learn what we can do for your business.
About IBC: At IBC, we have a deep understanding of the critical business needs and processes specific to associations, non-profits, and unions. We ‘get’ your culture, your goals, and what drives you, too. Focused exclusively on and dedicated to delivering the most effective AMS , LMS , and Cloud Financial Software for our clients, we’re well-versed in identifying and applying the integration techniques that will save you time and money. Since 2001, our cutting-edge products, unparalleled responsiveness, and award-winning services have helped organizations like yours increase their operational and financial performance by leveraging best practices and proven solutions. For more information about IBC, please visit the website at www.ibconcepts.com or call 443.603.0215.
