It’s happening more frequently than you’d like to admit: Your highest-performing accounts payable employees are voluntarily resigning, citing burnout.
Think, for a moment, about the sheer volume of invoices these employees handle. Throw in the fact that they also have to ensure timely payments, all while operating manually and never missing a deadline. Crazy, right?
In such a high-stress environment, where workloads are always piling up, burnout eventually becomes the order of the day. The constant pressure to meet deadlines and handle repetitive yet complex tasks leaves little room for error. Over time, this stress takes a toll on employees’ morale, paving the way for dissatisfaction and, ultimately, departure.
Lucky for you, reducing AP employee turnover is an achievable goal.
The Role of Automation in Easing Workloads
You’re probably already familiar with automation in finance, but what if we were to tell you that there are solutions for a stress-free AP process?
These automated tools can greatly reduce your turnover rate. How so? Because they effectively tackle the three most nagging problems for the highly burdened AP employee:
- Manual data entry: Keying mountains of data into the accounting system and other electronic documents for hours on end is downright boring and monotonous. It’s especially disheartening when you consider that every single invoice has subsets of important data within it. Automation alleviates this burden by automatically pulling the relevant data from invoices. Then, it verifies all the important details before automatically populating the necessary fields in the AP software.
- Invoice processing times: The typical manual AP workflow has a lot of steps involved. Approval, verification, and coding are the more popular ones. In between, there are likely to be delays and long waits, both of which are direct contributors to burnout. AP software speeds up this process, digitizing and streamlining the entire invoice processing lifecycle.
- Payment scheduling: Tracking a payment’s due date, aligning the payment with cash availability, properly allocating funds — all of that may sound easy at first glance, except it’s not. We’re talking about hundreds upon hundreds of invoices. Automation simplifies payment scheduling by automatically tracking payment due dates. Better yet, it aligns payments with the company's cash flow, all at the simple click of a button.
Better Accuracy, Less Stress
When constantly stretched thin, even the most hardworking employee eventually succumbs to burnout. At that point, it becomes a real struggle to maintain their focus. In no time, errors start to seep in.
In demanding environments, even the smallest mistakes — think inaccurate data entry or missed invoices — can have huge repercussions. Costly delays, financial penalties, and strained supplier relationships are just a few. These errors often require time-consuming manual corrections, yet another thing that adds to the stress of your AP team.
That’s where automation proves to be a game-changer. Unlike humans, automated systems never get tired, so they never cease to be accurate. At the very least, they can automatically match invoices to purchase orders on the fly. They can also flag discrepancies and process payments on schedule. With fewer errors to contend with, your AP team can breathe easier, knowing that its work is as precise as it can get. Your workflows will benefit as a result, and you’ll enjoy far higher employee satisfaction levels.
Empower Teams to Focus on Valuable Work
AP stress reduction isn’t the only value gain with automation. It also empowers employees to shift their focus to higher-value tasks.
When AP team members are no longer tied to repetitive, morale-sapping tasks, they can effectively redirect their attention to activities that are valuable to both them and the company.
Think: supplier negotiations, discount utilization, and cash flow management. All these activities are more mentally stimulating than standard, repetitive data entry. They indulge employees' cognitive skills, sparking creativity and retaining their attention throughout. This, in turn, leads to a greater sense of accomplishment and pride, making it less likely that your employees will walk out the door.
Real-World Benefits of Automation for Retention
Property Management Giant Sees Positive Employee Retention Post-Automation
Ascend Properties, one of the U.K.’s largest managers of single-family homes, was consistently struggling to retain its best AP employees. Every employee handled seas of invoices on a daily basis. A bulk of them had to be manually matched to purchase orders and contracts. Errors were quite common. Worse still, the AP team was always under pressure to get payments across the finish line on time.
Noticing the dire need for change, the manufacturing giant implemented AP invoice automation, which seamlessly integrated with its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. As a result, the company was able to completely automate its data entry, remedy its invoice approval workflows, and cut down the complexity of payment scheduling.
With automation firmly in the picture, the behemoth noticed an upsurge in employee engagement. A substantial reduction in AP employee turnover soon followed. Employees also reported feeling more fulfilled, less stressed, and better supported — all key metrics for job satisfaction. Beyond that, Ascend Properties was able to cut its invoice processing costs by a whopping 80%.
Energy Transportation Company Reduces AP Team Turnover by a Significant Margin
Handling thousands of invoices each month, TransMontaigne, a leading energy transportation company in the U.S., found itself at a crossroads. Some of its best employees started quitting, at a pace never seen before. Those leaving cited three reasons: The intense pressure of manual invoice processing occupied the top spot. Frequent belated payments and an unbelievably high volume of work were the other two.
After adopting an automated AP solution, the company instantly saw drastic improvements in its invoice approval payment speed, and accuracy. Cumulatively, these changes helped lift the burden off the AP team's shoulders. As such, employees were able to fully focus on more strategic (and stimulating) aspects of their roles. On the whole, the company saw duplicate payments drop by 90% and cuts its error rate by 43%.
The WorldView Promise — Greater Efficiency, Zero Turnover
At WorldView, we can’t wait to make your AP turnover issues our business. We live and breathe enterprise solutions. Contact us to find out how we can help reduce your turnover and improve your AP’s team day-to-day experience.
