Invoice Processing Flowchart: Optimizing Operational Performance Through Accounts Payable Automation Software

Invoice Processing Flowchart


The sheer volume of invoices that many organizations process can be significant drain on operational resources. Whether the goal is to increase operational efficiency, speed up the invoice processing cycle or reduce overhead costs, companies should consider automating their accounts payable process. Implementing accounts payable automation software can enable organizations to streamline the invoice processing flowchart and improve operational performance.

With accounts payable automation software, manual data entry is eliminated, allowing accuracy to increase as invoice processing processes become automated. Organizations can add in pre-established rules to streamline the invoice processing flowchart and set up automated notifications for stakeholders to ensure any outlying processes are managed quickly and effectively. In addition to accessing time savings, organizations may be able to access discounts from vendors by paying bills much sooner. Automating invoice processes can reduce the opportunity cost of manual errors and the time it takes to reconcile invoices, accounts and reports.

Finance executives should look carefully into the benefits of accounts payable automation software and begin to test the feasibility of implementation. From an executive perspective, the right automation software can help eliminate the risks associated with manual processing errors and reduce the need to manually audit invoices. Accounts payable automation software can collect, digitize and convert invoice images into automated workflows and data fields, increasing the accuracy versus manually processed data. With the automation of processes, turnaround time for invoice processing is drastically reduced and operational resources can be allocated to tasks that generate higher value.

Organizations without accounts payable automation software may also be missing out on the opportunity to measure and analyze invoice processing metrics. With access to analytics data from an automated system, organizations can monitor their accounts payable processes and look for trends to inform the finance process. Tracking invoice processing metrics can help companies highlight areas for improvement or determine what policies or processes may need to be changed for optimal results.

Invoices can make-up significant portion of an organizations workload and should not be overlooked. Identifying the opportunities of automation, beginning to test the feasibility of implementing accounts payable automation software and gaining access to meaningful metrics can all be part of the process to improving operational performance. Automating the invoice processing flowchart can be an effective solution to increase accuracy and speed, reduce errors and free up resources to focus on higher-value work.