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What is AP automation?
Accounts payable (AP) automation is the use of technology to automate the AP process. This includes tasks such as invoice receipt and data entry, invoice matching and approval, and payment processing. AP automation can help businesses to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and mitigate risk.
Why is AP automation important?
In today’s fast-paced business environment, AP automation is more important than ever. Businesses need to be able to process invoices quickly and accurately in order to maintain good relationships with suppliers and avoid late payment fees.
They also need to be able to track spending and identify opportunities to save money. AP automation can help businesses to achieve both of these goals.
Benefits of AP automation.
There are many benefits to AP automation. The first of these is to improve the efficiency of the AP process by eliminating manual tasks and automating repetitive processes. This can free up AP staff to focus on more strategic tasks, such as managing supplier relationships and identifying opportunities to save money.
AP automation can help businesses reduce costs by reducing the need for manual labor and eliminating the risk of errors. It can also help businesses to improve their cash flow by automating payment processing and taking advantage of discounts.
AP automation can help businesses mitigate risk by providing real-time visibility into the AP process. This can help businesses to identify and address potential problems early on.
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How AP automation works.
AP automation software typically works by automating the following steps in the AP process:
AP Process Step |
Automation |
| Invoice receipt and data entry: | Receive invoices from suppliers via email, fax, or EDI. Using OCR technology, extract the data from the invoices and enter it into the AP system. |
| Invoice matching and approval: | Match invoices to purchase orders and other supporting documentation. It can then route the invoices for approval to the appropriate approvers. |
| Payment processing: | Process payments to suppliers via wire transfer, ACH, or check. |
Benefits of AP automation for businesses.
AP automation can benefit businesses of all sizes. For small businesses, AP automation can help improve efficiency and reduce costs. For large businesses, AP automation can help manage complex AP processes and mitigate risk.
Company Size |
Benefit |
| Small business: | Save time and money by automating manual tasks and eliminating the risk of errors. AP automation can also help small businesses to improve their cash flow by automating payment processing. |
| Mid-market business: | Manage growing AP volumes, improve visibility into the AP process, and identify opportunities to save money. |
| Large enterprise: | Manage complex AP processes, mitigate risk, and improve compliance with regulatory requirements. |
How Airbase helps with AP automation.
Airbase is a full procure-to-pay software platform and one of its four modules is AP automation.
Airbase uses OCR technology to scan invoices and uses ML technology to auto-populate fields like the category for the purchase. Airbase makes invoice processing easy and can make payments in multiple foreign currencies to handle global payment needs.
Airbase offers advanced AP features and is designed for the complex needs of mid-market and early-enterprise companies. These complexities arise from POs, non-standard amortizations, and multi-subsidiaries, all of which Airbase can handle.
Airbase’s AP Automation module is even more powerful when combined with Airbase’s Guided Procurement. This intake module guides every employee on the details and documentation that must be submitted for compliance. It routes all of the requirements to the various stakeholders for their approval.
Airbase syncs all transaction data from the full AP process, including approvals, to the general ledger. It generates a full audit trail for compliance and ease of record management.
