In the world of business, it’s not unusual for accounts payable to be a lesser priority over accounts receivable, especially in small businesses. It’s only natural because accounts receivable equals money into the business and that’s a priority.
Nobody likes to talk about money, but money is the source that keeps a business running.
Let’s not be mistaken though, there are several critical reasons why you should give your accounts payable process the attention it deserves, which involves much more than just keeping the lights on.
There are many ways to go about setting up the best accounts payable systems for your company, let’s review those ways now.
Move Toward a Paperless Environment
Paperless technology makes it easy for businesses to connect with their vendors and share information securely.
But the perks of going paperless don’t stop there! Here are just a few more reasons why paperless is important:
Improves workflow – all your information is right at your fingertips no matter where you are.
Going digital is safe and secure and makes managing your finances much easier. Communicating with vendors digitally creates a digital “paper trail” that’s far more reliable than a physical one.
Digital invoicing – paper invoices take up unnecessary filing space, and they’re much easier to misplace, leading to more guesswork, wasted time, and even late payments down the line.
Automate Your Workflow
Streamlining consolidates steps and centralizes information to reduce redundancies and errors.
For instance, entering invoice information manually not only increases the chances of creating errors in the data but also takes a fair amount of a team member’s time. People can only type so quickly.
Finding the right accounting automation tool allows you to:
reduce manual data entry,
mitigate errors, and
spend less time processing each AP document
Benefits of Cloud Accounting
Using an online accounting software platform will help you better manage your accounts payable activities. With an automated AP system, you’re not wasting time on excessive data entry, and you stand to reduce the costs associated with bookkeeping errors and document storage. A great software solution makes all the difference!
You’ll also see that a digital process is easier to review and control than most manual processes. And that means better business decisions and less risk of fraud.
Accounts payable automation software uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify unusual patterns that can indicate fraud attempts. Patterns such as ACH fraud, asset misappropriation, or even duplicate invoices.
How RAI Can Help
It can be challenging for busy business owners to set up an automated AP process and manage it in-house.
That’s where Redmond Accounting can help you! If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the need to assess and improve your accounts payable process, we have the technology and the expertise to fill any gap in your accounting functions.
To learn more about what we do, we encourage you to browse our services and continue reading our articles for helpful insight and tips!
Do You Need to Outsource Your Accounts Payable? Managing your supplier and vendor relationships takes time and can be challenging; and the more vendors you have increases your risk of costly errors in your accounts payable process. If you're struggling to manage a complicated, manual accounts payable process outsourcing may be a tempting option for your business. Before you can…
How To Add Notes In Accounts Payable In Bill.com As a small business owner, it’s likely you don’t have a suite filled with financial professionals working on your business around the clock. Likely, that job falls onto your shoulders, which can take up a lot of time. Even with a background in accounting and finance, working on accounts payable and…
We're honored to be one of 40 best and brightest minds in accounting invited to Intuit's Accounting Professionals VIP Summit. "The #IntuitSummit 2013 celebrated the best and brightest minds in the accounting industry by showcasing the new QuickBooks 2014, sharing Intuit's vision for the future, and listening to the voice of our customers. Check out the new QuickBooks Accountant edition…
How Outsourced Accounting Can Benefit Your Business Would you benefit if every task of your business could be streamlined, allowing you to spend more time focusing on building and growing your business? Of course, you would. So many of your everyday tasks evolve around things that maintain your business and not GROW your business. If you’re spending hours a week…
How Accounting Technology Can Benefit Your Business Innovation and invention are born out of need. The need to help, the need to change the world, and the need to fix problems. In the 1880s, William Seward Burroughs invented the first adding machine because he didn’t want to continue to count numbers at his bank job tirelessly. The product took the…
Is Accounting Automation Worth It As a business owner, you have a lot to do. You’re always keeping an eye out for ways you can save some time and money. But be honest with yourself and admit that there might be a better way to automate and grow your business. Using automated accounting systems may allow you to focus more…
Cloud Accounting VS Traditional Accounting -Which is Better? In Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, he discusses how the world, even though it is vast and spread throughout the globe, is becoming more connected every day with the use of technology. Technology is one of the major causes of “flattening” the world. As a result, the normal way of…
Should A Small Business Use Cash Or Accrual Accounting? Running a business means you have your hands in many pots stirring away to keep the business going. If you run a small business, chances are you are doing 90% of the daily tasks yourself. One of those tasks is handling your small business accounting. Keeping your finances in check ensures…
3 Small Business Accounting Tips You Should Know Do you own a small business? If so, you know that there is always something more you can do to improve how you run your business. You might update a product or service; maybe you found a better way to be more productive; it can even be as simple as finding the…