Being chased by creditors or debt collectors is every business owner’s worst nightmare. For it not only impacts their business’ operational efficiency, but it also, much to their dismay, gives it a bad reputation in the market. To avoid getting stuck in a similar situation thus, efficient handling of accounts payable is vital.
Businessmen can attain the same in two ways, either manually or via the use of technology. While the former is prone to errors and involves higher costs, the latter, on the contrary, relies on accounts payable software to automate it all and get it done in your stead.
These tools are programmed to help businesses make their vendor payments on time and in doing so, help minimize labour costs to a great extent. How exactly? Let’s sought to answer…
What is Accounts Payable Software?
Accounts Payable is a software designed to help businesses handle invoices and payments using automation. With its aid, companies can monitor and process their outstanding bills anytime, anywhere. These tools come with sundry in-built functionalities to help you accomplish the same.
These include invoice capturing, approval workflows, payment scheduling, fraud prevention, reporting, and compliance checks. Minimizing manual labour thus, these reduce the possibility of human errors and help keep costs associated with manual processing in check.
Tipalti
Starting Price
Price on Request
How Does Accounts Payable Software Help Businesses Reduce Labour Costs?
There are various ways in which accounts payable software can minimize your labour costs. We have listed some of them here to give you a clear understanding of the same…
1. Automation of Repetitive Tasks
Accounts payable software automates repetitive tasks like data entry, invoice sorting, payment details verification and more, which otherwise require a considerable amount of human effort.
It begins by automating invoice capturing using OCR. Having done that, it works on matching the invoices to purchase orders, so any and every discrepancy in billing gets detected and resolved in time. It further triggers approval workflows, so the right people get to approve the right payments at the right time, without requiring any manual follow-ups.
By automating accounts payable tasks this way, it helps businesses cut down on their labour requirements, thereby lowering the costs incurred on hiring and retaining them.
Finifi io
Starting Price
Price on Request
2. Reduced Errors & Rework
Accounts payable processes, if handled manually, are susceptible to human error. Any mistake in data entry, invoice capturing, requesting approval etc., thus can cause unwanted delays, requiring additional time for investigation and resolution.
Accounts payable solutions can help businesses evade these risks using automation. For these make certain that all the data gets entered correctly and payments get processed in accordance with the pre-determined rules. Since these tools are capable of generating audit trails too, they further make error tracking and redressal easy and efficient.
By reducing errors this way, these help businesses save time and money required to both correct mistakes and hire people who can troubleshoot and address them. This results in a direct reduction in labour costs.
Sage Intacct
Starting Price
Price on Request
3. Streamlined Approval Workflows
Businesses that rely on manual approvals and follow ups for payment processing are bound to face unfortunate delays. For these require bills to travel through a variety of departments to get approved, which can take days or even weeks.
Not only is this process time-consuming, but it also adds on to a business’ operational costs, especially costs required to hire employees for handling of approval workflows.
Accounts payable software can streamline the approval workflow by making sure the invoices reach the concerned authorities and get approved by them in a timely and effective manner. It is also programmed to send approval reminders, lowering reliance on manual follow ups.
By speeding up the approval process this way, it helps businesses lessen their workforce requirements and improve the overall efficiency of their accounts payable processes.
Volopay
Starting Price
Price on Request
4. Improved Visibility & Reporting
Businesses can get maximum visibility into their financial data, including outstanding bills, payment updates, cash flow projections etc., using accounts payable software. These software solutions offer centralized dashboards and real-time reporting to help them attain the same without a hitch. This enhances their decision-making skills for better operational efficiency and financial management.
For instance, it helps managers identify obstructions in the accounts payable processes for timely resolution and payment processing. Business owners can likewise use cash flow projections provided by the software to make sound financial decisions.
If looked at from a labour cost perspective, optimized visibility, in conjunction with better reporting, reduces the need for administrative work and people qualified to handle it. This reduction is directly proportional to lower labour costs.
Xero Accounting Software
Starting Price
$ 29.00
5. Integration with Other Business Systems
Accounts payable software also allows integration with other business software, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and accounting software. This eliminates the need for manual data entry and helps transfer financial data from one system to another without any hassle.
For instance, when an invoice is entered into the accounts payable software, its details can be easily transferred into the company’s accounting software without any manual aid. This not only lessens the burden of administrative work but also the need for additional staff to carry out the same, reducing labour costs through and through.
Highradius
Starting Price
Price on Request
Conclusion
For any business to not only sustain but flourish in the fast-paced world we live in today, it is essential to have minimal labour costs. Due to the various reasons listed above, accounts payable software thus is their sure shot way of achieving the same quickly and efficiently.
For, by adopting AP automation, businesses can cut down on the amount of manual labour required to manage their accounts payable processes and by virtue of it, their labour costs. The time and resources saved this way can be put to better use for smarter growth opportunities and financial success.
Thus, if you are looking to reduce labour costs and enhance your financial operations, the market is filled to the brim with software solutions to be placed at your disposal. Some of the most famous ones amongst them include Tipalti, NetSuite, Xero, Sage Intacct, Highradius, Lightyear, Stampli, Volopay, etc.
All these tools are available on a subscription basis that would most certainly prove to be the best investment you can ever make for your business.
Written by
Yashika Aneja 
Yashika Aneja is a Senior Content Writer at Techjockey, with over 5 years of experience in content creation and management. From writing about normal everyday affairs to profound fact-based stories on wide-ranging themes, including environment, technology, education, politics, social media, travel, lifestyle so on and so forth, she... Read more
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