Accelerating Business Growth: Scale With Invoice Automation Software

As your company grows, you must define what steps to take to ensure steady progress with the fewest complications possible. Unfortunately, those little complications tend to add up quickly, overwhelming your capacity and threatening your success.

While automating processes for delivery, production, and accounts receivable can be some of the first to get attention, you also need to eliminate inefficiency across your entire organization. In this blog, we'll look at the real-world role of invoice automation software in helping you scale smoothly.

Key Takeaways:

• Manual accounts payable (AP) invoice processes create many pain points and challenges that cost time, money, and resources.
• AP invoice automation provides a solution to these repeated problems by simplifying processes and eliminating the potential for errors and fraud.
• Invoice automation software optimizes efficiency and cash flow, positioning companies for rapid growth at the right time.

Better data accuracy through invoice automation software

Understanding your company’s finances is key to your organization’s growth and scalability. Having accurate knowledge is powerful, but misleading and inconsistent data can be fatal. 

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Automated systems give you the needed KPIs and metrics to make strategic decisions. Additionally, user-friendly platforms facilitate collaboration across different departments. Such tools help you share convincing evidence and make business cases with stakeholders.

Consider these key metrics: average invoice processing time, average number of invoices, and average cost per invoice. Now imagine getting these numbers in real time.

This type of critical data gives your team insight into the true state of cash flow and can help you identify trends or areas of opportunity. At the same time, invoice automation processing helps you make intelligent moves by giving you confidence that your data is accurate and up-to-date.

Vendor relationships

When your organization is ready to expand its footprint in the marketplace, the last thing you need is a lack of cooperation or support from suppliers and vendors. Frustration builds quickly if companies have to wait too long for payment.

When vendors are confident about receiving payments on time, they will be more likely to prioritize working with you and even offer favorable terms and credit when you need more flexibility. You will stand out from the crowd, given that 93% of companies report late payments, as your own accounts receivable team can likely testify.

Cost and time savings

Invoice automation software is a beneficial tool for business growth since it reduces costs and labor. The solution eliminates the need for slow, manual invoice processing. Faster invoice cycle times lead to reduced costs and improved efficiency.

You no longer have to pay your staff for extra hours handling and resolving issues that can naturally arise with manual processing. You'll also experience less staff burnout and retain your best talent so they can focus on the tasks that matter instead of manually inputting numbers into spreadsheets. Additionally, automation provides rapid insights into processing obstacles and helps you uncover the root causes.

Quick invoice processing also allows businesses to take advantage of discounts and payment delays when necessary. Reports show that some firms can pay nearly five times as much for invoices in comparison with others that simplify and streamline invoicing.

In short, invoice automation software simplifies and streamlines financial processes so businesses can focus on what really matters: continuing to grow.

Fewer errors, exceptions, and fraud

With automation, you can accomplish more with less. You will see a swift decrease in:

• Duplicate invoices
• Fraudulent invoices
• Payment errors

Relying on email chains or passing hard copies of documents across many offices to resolve exceptions or request approval leaves more room for mistakes to slip through the cracks. Automation software gets invoices to the right people and only those individuals, which expedites any potential disputes or resolutions.

Workflow controls reduce concerns when software provides only authorized individuals access to sensitive information. You also have an auditable log of who has done what in the system. This data is vital since billing, skimming, and reimbursement fraud can take an average of two years to discover and resolve.

Improved supervision

Once processes are in place, tracking team productivity is easier. Managers can pull relevant data from the invoice automation software and identify areas for improvement.

Executive and supervisory teams don't have to dig through reams of reports to gain an understanding of the health of the department. By monitoring and helping the AP team remain at peak performance, your company will be ready to seize an opportunity for growth.

Increased power of spend

The source of fuel for your business growth is your business spend. Where you invest your capital and resources can be a wise investment with an abundant ROI or a poor decision leading to loss.

The AP team is a safeguard that ensures wise expenditures, but too often, you don't have the budget to balance tactical performance with strategic growth and competitiveness. At other times, decision-makers don't have enough evidence of department value and end up spending in the wrong places.

An organization needs to invest in modern technologies and processes to stay ahead of competitors in the market and keep customers coming back. Spending money in the correct areas can provide better working conditions, boost morale, increase efficiency, and limit downtime — keys to sustainable growth that isn't just a temporary bump for a quarter or two.

With Coupa’s Business Spend Management (BSM) platform, you can boost performance, optimize efficiency, and strengthen cash flow with state-of-the-art technology, such as invoice automation software.

Invoice automation software assistance for companies ready to level up

If your organization is ready to leap to new heights, invoice automation software will help you get there. Discover powerful solutions from Coupa that will help you unleash your power of spend.