Assessing profit and loss (P&L) statements on a routine basis is a best practice for businesses looking to optimize spending while driving profitability. This task quickly becomes complicated without proper accounts payable (AP) workflows in place. Invoices begin to pile up, and the slow process of manually inputting invoice data into back-office or accounting systems leads to delays and inaccuracies in realizing inventory purchases and expenses.
Fintech’s PaymentSource® provides an AP automation solution that simplifies invoice management, allowing businesses to realize inventory and expenses at a consistently faster rate than those without some form of AP automation implementation. Let’s examine how.
Pitfalls of Manual AP Processes
First, it’s worth exploring how manual AP processes can reduce operational efficiency. Manual invoice processing is fraught with challenges. Manually keying in line-item invoice data causes delays. The lapse in time between receiving inventory and inputting invoice data leads to the delayed realization of actual inventory purchases and expenses. Errors are common as well – whether it is a misplaced decimal or accidental incorrect value entry.
Manual invoice processing can also be costly. Slow processing times mean more labor, not to mention the added forensic accounting labor if there is an error or discrepancy. The delays, errors, and costs accrued ultimately hinder overall efficiency and prevent complete inventory realization.
Using Data Standardization to Improve Accuracy
With all the different invoices coming into a business, it can be easy to get lost in a sea of misaligned data. Data standardization converts line-item invoice data into a consistent format, making it easier to organize and analyze. This accelerates the reconciliation process and provides visibility into inventory and expense management.
Fintech provides data standardization services through electronic data interchange (EDI), an integration that delivers clean line-item invoice data into a back-office or accounting system. This integration not only leads to data standardization for better organization but also standardizes the data ingestion process itself. This leaves one less thing to worry about with managing AP workflows.
How Faster Realization of Inventory Purchases and Expenses Helps Businesses
The accelerated realization of inventory purchases and expenses through AP automation has multiple benefits. For starters, it improves cash flow management. Automated invoice processing leads to quicker payments, providing more transparency into available capital. This supports better financial planning with future purchases and quicker decision-making. Another benefit includes minimized human error, thus creating more accurate financial records. Lastly, automation workflows that power faster realization help people focus on other strategic tasks and reduce costs associated with manual processing.
Optimization with PaymentSource’s AP Automation
Fintech’s invoice processing capabilities extend to all invoiced goods and services – not just alcohol. Avoid falling behind on data entry and improve your business check-ins relating to inventory purchases and expense management with solutions provided by AP automation. Contact us to learn more about PaymentSource Premium and how it can transform your business.
