Business growth is beautiful to witness, but it’s not always rosy. As a company scales, so does the sheer volume of the invoices it handles. Without automation, the traditional manual AP workflow can quickly be overwhelmed.
In that state, finance teams are constantly immersed in approvals, routing, and data entry for hours on end. The result? Wasted time, wasted effort, and a painfully slow decision-making process.
The ideal antidote for such a situation would be to hire more staff, right? Wrong. In this blog, we’ll explore how AP automation for business growth can help you overcome these challenges — without ever having to bring in more personnel.
The Hidden Cost of AP Bottlenecks
Manual AP processes can be deceptively costly, with hidden implications that extend far beyond wasted time:
- Delayed approvals: The manual approval process is a loop of sorts, one that has invoices stuck in a constant back-and-forth. By the time invoices get the final nod, supplier payments have already gone overdue. As a result, your company misses out on golden opportunities such as early-payment discounts.
- Manual invoice tracking: While manual systems are naturally prone to mistakes, it’s the work that follows that’s truly mind-boggling. Tracking down teeny-tiny errors and lost invoices in a sea of AP paperwork is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack — a total waste of precious hours. Obviously, vendors won’t be happy when their invoices aren't processed on time. You might incur late fees or, worse, lose their trust entirely.
- Lack of visibility: Without invoice processing automation, getting real-time insight into your cash flow is next to impossible. When you lack a predictable grip on your cash flow, it becomes incredibly hard to manage your finances — a real blow to your short- and long-term strategic planning.
Why Hiring More Staff Isn’t the Answer
Hire additional staff. That’s the go-to move for most growing businesses, but does it really fix the underlying issues associated with manual AP workflows?
The short answer is no.
The long answer? Adding more people to handle more invoices doesn’t eliminate inefficiencies — it only pushes up the costs. Hiring costs, salaries, bonuses, and the list goes on.
What companies truly need is a solution that allows them to scale their operations without increasing their headcount. AP automation solves this hiccup by effortlessly handling the skyrocketing volume of invoices. Besides, as the company grows, the automated solution grows with it.
How AP Automation Eliminates Bottlenecks and Supports Growth
Real, impactful AP workflow optimization comes in the shape of automation. With automation in the picture, businesses can finally bid goodbye to their bottlenecks and unlock limitless growth opportunities:
- Automated invoice approvals: Automation brings in a fresh aspect that wasn’t there before — sheer speed. Invoices are instantly routed to the appropriate approvers, consequently cutting down approval time from several days to mere minutes.
- Smart workflow automation: Invoice processing automation completely alleviates the risk of invoices getting lost, delayed, or otherwise stuck in inboxes. That’s how we all envision the ideal AP workflow, right?
- Real-time visibility: The beauty of automated cash flow management in AP isn’t just in the big picture — it’s in the details, too. Giving your finance team instant, unobstructed access to cash flow data is what’s standing between your company and swift, strategic decision-making. AP automation facilitates exactly that.
- Smooth enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration: ERP systems and AP automation are, quite simply, a match made in heaven. When the two integrate, all of your financial data can finally reside in a centralized, accessible, organized location. This eliminates the need for duplicate data entry — a prerequisite for optimal accounts payable efficiency.
The Business Case for AP Automation: ROI and Cost Savings
AP automation's ROI is a much talked-about topic, and for good reason. The financial benefits of vacating your manual AP processes are both undeniable and far-reaching:
- Faster approvals: Automation is as much about saving time as it is about saving money. When approvals quickly get over the line, businesses are able to capitalize on more early-payment discounts.
- No more late fees: Nothing deals a blow to the company's budget quite like constant, totally avoidable late fees. AP workflow optimization ensures such fees are kept to an absolute minimum or, if possible, removed entirely. On top of that, timely payments improve vendor relationships, contributing to a stronger, more reliable supplier chain overall.
- Automated tracking: An underrated, yet highly important, perk of automating invoice approvals is the inherent ability to provide real-time tracking. In the right hands, well-expounded cash flow insights can quickly turn into solid financial decisions.
Final Words
The reality is unequivocally simple: Scaling without automation is fraught with unnecessary costs, delays, and inefficiencies. With automation, however, reducing your AP bottlenecks becomes totally achievable. That means better cash flow management and fewer risks — all without adding to your headcount.
Ready to adopt scalable finance operations? See how WorldView helps businesses scale smarter. Contact us today.
