Decentralized accounts payable processing is convenient, but….
There’s nothing exciting about accounts payable (AP) invoices. That may be why managing them is often overlooked as businesses plan for growth.
This is particularly true for businesses with numerous branches, locations, departments, or business units, which are often left to manage their own invoices. While this decentralized AP process is convenient, it has several inherent drawbacks.
What are the challenges of decentralized AP processing?
A decentralized AP process can create significant hurdles for organizations, impacting efficiency, compliance, security, and supplier relationships.
Increased fraud risk When more people are involved in a process, there are more potential points of failure and more opportunities for fraud
Lack of scalability Because this process relies heavily on people, scaling with growth is difficult–and expensive.
De-prioritization When invoices are no one’s top priority, they become a non-critical task that needs to be done on top of other responsibilities, leading to delays and late payments.
Inefficiency Invoice entry tasks become complex and confusing as the number of departments increases. Does each department code its costs the same way? What happens if/when they don’t? Who is responsible for cleaning up any mistakes?
Lack of visibility It’s difficult to manage cash flow when invoices sit in multiple people’s inboxes at any given time.
Why doesn’t everyone centralize AP processing?
The most efficient companies in the world have a centralized AP function. Managing all invoices from one place with a single team eliminates many of the risks, inefficiencies, and inconsistencies of decentralization. So, why doesn’t everyone do it this way?
Sometimes, employees simply aren’t aware of the risks and inefficiencies. Sometimes, the perceived difficulties of shifting to a centralized system hold them back. Change is hard, especially for departments accustomed to managing their own AP processes.
How AI simplifies centralized AP operations
A toolkit specifically designed to support you can help eliminate those objections. Today’s AI tools for finance operations are rapidly improving workplace experiences. Here’s how both enterprise and growing companies use AI to centralize their AP functions.
Capture emailed invoices AI is helping teams automatically identify emails with invoice attachments from within their existing AP email inbox(es). This makes it easy to capture invoice data from one place, with no change management for your suppliers.
Eliminate templates AI and computer vision read forms like an expert team member. These systems recognize patterns and can identify important invoice details without templates.
Automate complex tasks AI automates GL coding, PO matching, and other complex tasks. People only need to get involved when critical decisions need to be made.
Find more duplicates AI isn’t reliant on matching invoice numbers–it evaluates every data point on every invoice. It flags duplicates if two invoices are too similar to each other.
Speed up approvals Automated workflows make it simple for AI solutions to identify who needs to approve an invoice and route it to them.
Gain real-time visibility AI gives you a clear picture of every invoice as soon as it’s received, taking the guesswork out of cash flow management.
If you’re looking for more guidance to help you find the right kind of AI for your finance team, check out this white paper.
Centralizing your AP process doesn’t need to be complicated. Advanced AI like AppZen’s Autonomous AP solution can set your finance team up for success by removing complexity without losing visibility and control. With the right tools in place, AI puts a more efficient, secure, and scalable future for your growing business within easy reach.
