As finance leaders navigate remote work environments, they must maintain their competitive edge in fast-changing industries. For finance functions, this means developing strong controllership and accounting practices.
Leading in remote environments has finance leaders wondering how to satisfy the desire for remote work while simultaneously building a competitive advantage. The answer is to design a work environment that supports rapid growth. Ambitious leaders know that the future of work is digital and by leveraging the latest technologies their teams can function better than ever before.
Finance leaders and teams can capture immediate wins in their accounts payable (AP) processes by scaling their output to streamline auditing and approval.
Leverage AP Automation for More Productive Remote Work
Through its advanced and intuitive nature, automation serves as a means for teams to get more work done faster, while prioritizing quality.
For example, the latest AP automation technology audits invoices without manual entry, sharing of spreadsheets, or the reconciliation of paper documents. By leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, teams can have high volumes of invoices audited in minutes and discrepancies identified before remitting payment. For AP professionals, this is significant as it eliminates the need for time-intensive disputes. Vendors can be notified of invoicing issues within the same day to expedite resolution while eliminating the possibility of wasted spending.
When approving invoices, every accounting team has structured rules that are based on specifics like departments, vendors, and threshold amounts. Teams with legacy processes often find themselves waiting on colleagues for intervention and approval. Finance leaders can help their teams unlock efficiency by bypassing long waiting periods. AP teams can create custom rules to automate invoice approvals according to their unique business logic.
With the right system, invoices can flow seamlessly through the audit and approval process. The technology also syncs with internal business intelligence software to improve financial visibility and recordkeeping. With these insights, the finance team can produce more accurate financial forecasts and reporting that enables more agile decision-making.
Creating a Scalable Work Environment for AP Teams
Real-time AP automation removes the need for intensive human labor and saves resources. From improving accuracy, accelerating invoice turnaround, reducing costs, and generating actionable insights, there are countless benefits to the finance function. According to the Institute of Finance Management , AP automation has reduced processing costs per invoice from $6.30 to $1.45, and estimates that AP teams can process twice the number of invoices in the same amount of time.
Due to its digital nature, AP automation provides remote teams with a single record of truth. With a comprehensive and holistic view of company spending, all team members have access to financial information in real-time. Enhanced visibility creates better collaboration when sharing records, tracking progress, and resolving discrepancies. This means although the team is dispersed physically, they are all operating with the same business knowledge to maintain continuity and mitigate the risks of human error.
User-friendly software allows productivity to be steady and reliable. The AP team is less likely to experience burnout with more flexibility to collaborate cross-functionally and contribute to higher-value work. With automation, your AP employees will no longer feel overextended or swamped with high-volume, repetitive tasks.
The benefits of integrating automation into the AP function are far-reaching and help each organization meet its specific needs. With powerful capabilities at play, finance leaders should consider AP automation as their go-to tool for scaling operations and creating sustainable remote work environments. Winning organizations will ensure their remote teams operate cohesively by providing the necessary tools and information to grow the business. By breaking down information silos and encouraging better communication, finance teams can capitalize on their free time while feeling confident in back-office operations like invoice processing.
Learn how real-time AP automation software can accelerate your remote team’s processes by scheduling a demo with an OpenEnvoy expert today, visit https://openenvoy.com/contact-us/.
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