Accounts
Payable (AP)
Automation
SoftwareTradeshift is the fastest growing networked accounts
payable automation platform in the world. Buyers
at businesses like DHL, Air France-KLM, andVolvo use our AP automation solution tosettle thousands of invoices every day.

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What isAP (AccountsPayable)
Automation
Software?
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Tradeshift is the fastest growing
networked accounts payable
automation platform in the world.
Buyers at businesses like DHL, Air
France-KLM, and Volvo use ourAP automation solution to settle
thousands of invoices every day.
AP automation or accounts payable automationis one result of digital transformation and it’smade possible by cloud-based software solutions
that digitalize the accounts payable process. The
starting point is typically moving from a manual
invoice handling process where all tasks aremanual, to an electronic process where data entry
is reduced and finally, to an automated process,where tasks are eliminated. With increasinglevels of automation, accounts payable teams
can focus on more strategic imperatives.
Essentially, AP automation significantly reduces
the time and labor involved in paper-based manualaccounts payable invoicing, as well as reducing
the risk of costly human errors. Better control,increased visibility and higher efficiency are
the goals of accounts payable automation.
Accounts payable is one of the most essentialfunctions in any organization and as such, the teamresources should not be wasted on low value tasks.
Your skills and financial knowledge go way beyond
filling in spreadsheets and checking whether
invoices have been paid. Too many businesses
waste time hunting down invoices and using skilled
accounting staff on data entry. AP automation puts
an end to all of the monotonous “busy work” andfrees up financial talent for more strategic work.

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How accounts
payableautomation
helps yourcompany
to succeed
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With AP Automation, you
can modernize your accounts
payable process with improved
control, better visibility andincreased efficiency. All ofthese lead to lower transaction
costs and cost savings.
AP automation software solutions give youa single environment where you can see every
invoice and every payment at any time. Thismeans you can keep better, more accuratetabs on your invoice approval process and any
potential bottlenecks to on-time payment.
Visibility into payments and payment automation
similarly provide many benefits. Without
doubt, digital payments offer lower costs overpayment by check. Digital payments may evenbecome a revenue source if/when payment ismade by vCard. Most importantly for your AP
team, payment visibility can be given to yoursuppliers thereby eliminating the likelihood of
having to spend time handling supplier inquiries(as much as 25% of an AP manager’s time
can be spent taking calls from suppliers).

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What are the main benefitsof AP invoice automation?

1

Lost invoices — Invoices with thewrong PO number, sent to the wrong

3

Manual, tedious, and redundant
work — Paper-based processes

address or inbox, with the wrong suppliermean that time is wasted on tasks

information creates hours of lost time.

like data entry instead of using thattime to be strategic and proactive.

2So. Much. Paper. — Most companies still
have to process archaic paper invoices.

4

Confusion about payments —Approximately 25% of an AP Manager’sThis leads to bottlenecks, missing invoices,time is spent handling supplier inquiries

manual data entry, and aabout payments. This can be eliminatedtime-consuming (and expensive) audit

when suppliers have self-service accessprocess when paper invoices are archived.

to their invoice process status.

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Is the statusquo of accounts
payable reallythat bad?

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The way we look at theaccounts payable function
in a business has changed.
Cutting edge technology likeartificial intelligence (AI), process
automation, and analytics areempowering forward-thinking
enterprises to transform theiraccounts payable department
into strategic partners andeven revenue centers.
Best-in-class accounts payable organizations
are already using automation to their advantage
and are planning for new ways to automate
manual or repetitive processes to generate
additional efficiencies. But of course, manyaccounts payable departments today struggle

The majority of AP professionals express a desire
to transform their accounts payable processby moving towards digital transformation, but
it doesn’t appear to be happening as fast as
they’d like. What gives? Most companies viewAP as extremely valuable to their business, but
AP professionals are having difficulty getting
executive buy-in. Though the business case for
automation of the accounts payable process on
paper is quite straight-forward, in the real-world,
it’s more complicated. Building the businesscase is a unique effort for each company but
thankfully, there are more than enough examples
of companies of all sizes in all industries who havemade the leap and are reaping the rewards..

To build a compelling argument
for automation with leadership,
AP automation solutions need toprove that they can provide:with outdated modes of doing business.
• Cost savings - either through lower transactional

The top AP challenges businesses facewith their AP processes include:• High percentage of exceptions• Invoice/payment approvals take too long
• Too much paper!

costs or reduced FTEs
• Improved Controls and Compliance - serious stuff
when you think about the liability of the CFO in afinancial audit• Lower invoice cycle times opening the door forearly payment discounts• High invoice processing costs• Better data leading to informed decision making• Lack of visibility into invoice and payment data• Less time spent (by senior management)
approving invoicesp.9Automation
takes yourAccounts
Payable fromreactive toproactive
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AP departments are often siloed,buried under paper, slow, anddisconnected. Often, Accounts
Payable waits for handoffs
from other stakeholders before
processing reams of paper
invoices from different business
units, the result is a predictably
slow invoice approval processwith poor on-time payment rates.
With modern AP automation solutions, eachstakeholder has a corresponding level of accessand control to their invoices within the process.
By giving Suppliers, AP Managers, Cost Center
Owners, Purchasers and Senior Leadershipdifferent views into the same process, the AP
Team becomes much more efficient. Ultimately,accounts payable automation allows for greater
efficiency and control. This translates into more
early payments, better collaboration with suppliers
and procurement, and one centralized hub for aclear view of financial information and analytics.

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How does AP
automation fix
invoice-related
communication
problems?
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What does it take to create theefficient, productive, and strategic
AP department you want?
Best-in-class Accounts Payabledepartments have digitization andautomation champions who are:Committed to accounts payable standardization— Best-in-class teams are 52% more likely
to standardize accounts payable processes
across the company. It sounds basic, but a ton of
departments still struggle to manage a standard
process for invoice approvals. Whether that’s
because the process is paper-based, decentralized,
or just old, the outcomes are still the same: little
effective control, lost efficiency and process

Changemakers dedicated to AP change

bottlenecks. Because these issues result in highmanagement — Best-in-class accounts payable

costs and increased risk, organizations all over theteams look at change holistically and strategicallyworld are transitioning to e-invoicing and investing

to build a roadmap for digital transformation.

in systems for accounts payable automation.

The first thing they do is recognize a need formodernization. Then they do the research witha goal of building a business case for changeand investment. Along the way, they evaluate
different technologies and solution providers,
identifying what would be most beneficial, both
strategically and financially, for the long-term
success of the accounts payable department
structure and the company as a whole.

Customer-centric — Best-in-class accounts
payable teams realize the importance of apositive departmental image. They’ve adopted
a mentality of collaborating and working
positively with both suppliers and internal
stakeholders (we see you Procurement). Whilethat may not sound like traditional accounts
payable job descriptions, it sets up the team’s
groundwork to be a strategic partner to multiple

Innovators embrace change — Transforming andstakeholders across the organization. That plays

automating your accounts payable department

out in the stats: best-in-class teams are moremeans taking a hard look at the way it functions.

than twice as likely to use their digital insights

Best-in-class departments are willing to maketo partner with procurement and treasury.

widespread changes to significantly increase
the performance of their teams. As a result,the best AP departments have adopted newprocesses, supported by new technology. It’sno surprise that best-in-class AP teams are
48% more likely to make electronic payments
and 56% more likely to receive e-invoices.

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Accounts
payableautomation is
the future ofbusinessp.14

AP automation aims to eliminate paper fromyour process. When this is done, many manualor repetitive tasks can be reduced or eliminatedentirely. With the goal of AP Automation being
to bring as much automation as possible to theprocess, different stakeholders will find theirtasks reduced or eliminated. Straight throughprocessing means no review or approval. No
invoice coding, no manual workflows andno chasing individuals for approvals. Theautomation also reduces errors while raising
the amount of quality data in the system. The
knock on effect is improved reporting and evenpredictive analytics. On top of that, as buyersupplier relationships are digitized, whole supply
chains become more collaborative and agile.

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AP automation: your strategic sidekick
Automation is like a great sidekick, doing all the work on the back end to make youa much more strategic partner to the CFO. With a modern AP automation system,
reporting and analytics can take data from invoices, purchase orders, corporate
spending, supplier information, and almost any electronic data source, and gives
you instant access to the information you need to make strategic decisions—
resulting in an immediate impact on your ability to forecast, budget, and plan.
The end-to-end digital process helps you connect with key stakeholders along thewhole procure-to-pay spectrum. You’ll be able to support your peers in procurement
by including suppliers to the process (as they should be). And when digitally connected,
you have real-time collaborative opportunities with supplier so that you can build
stronger relationships not only with your suppliers but with your procurement function.
This information allows your AP department to be a key player in thegreater organization strategy. By automating menial tasks and gaining
intelligent insight into spend data, AP can find a seat at the strategy table.

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Not all AP automation solutions
or tools are created equal.
When it comes to AP automation, “electronic” isnot the same as a digital, as in a cloud-based
software solution that is everywhere, all the time.
An AP automation solution like Tradeshift Pay, isdesigned with a native digital experience in mind.
The goals of improved control, increased visibility
and lower costs are all central to the core purposeof our platform and the commerce network itserves. Tradeshift takes a holistic approach todigitization of B2B commerce - our vision is literally
to connect every company in the world and while
we may have a long way to go, we are the fastest
growing B2B commerce network in the world withcompanies in over 160 countries all connected
and transacting - these are modern companies,participating in a modern world.
Tradeshift is the world’s largest cloud-based
accounts payable platform. Buyers at businesses
like DHL, Air France-KLM, and Volvo use ourAP automation solution to settle thousands ofinvoices every day. Tradeshift provides a cuttingedge AP automation solution.

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At Tradeshift,
we realize thatshift happens.
With turbulent markets and quickly changing industries, organizations
need the reliability of a strong, secure platform that can adapt alongside
their needs. As software built for adaptability, Tradeshift is the reliable
partner that you can count on throughout periods of disruption.

To learn more about Accounts
Payable (AP) Automation & how
it can streamline your businessreach out to our team of experts.

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Accounts
payableautomation FAQ

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What is AP automation?
Accounts payable automation is a cloud-based
software solution that reduces the amount ofmanual tasks involved in processing invoices giving
accounts payable teams more time to spend on
higher value tasks.

What are the benefits for
AP automation?
Accounts payable automation provides more
control over the invoice handling process. Visibilityand efficiency are also improved, typically yielding
cost savings.

Why choose AP automation?
Choosing accounts payable automation empowers
your organization to improve productivity,
save valuable time and money, and increase
collaboration due to improved access and visibility
for a broader stakeholder group.

How does AP automation
fix invoice related
communication problems?
AP automation helps solve invoice and payments
related communication issues by providing a
singular platform that allows controlled access bydifferent stakeholders. This access offers visibility
to the process, invoice status and invoice history.
In general, this access is empowering and reduces
the need to ask questions when the information ismore freely available.

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What is AP
automation software?

How to implement
AP automation?

AP automation software is cloud-based

To implement AP automation, your organization

technology that automates the functions of yourshould get clear on your goals, bandwidth, andaccounts payable team to digitize that process.

budget. Once a plan has been established andAlmost always, the AP solutions are paired withapproved, choose an AP automation provider

efforts to transition away from paper-basedthrough careful research, or just call us and startinvoices to e-invoicing.

a conversation.

How many businesses have
AP automation?

Who does APautomation benefit?

As of 2022, only about 9% of accounts payable

AP automation benefits not only the accounts

departments are fully automated, but thesepayable department by automating some ofnumbers are expected to skyrocket over the next

their more mundane tasks, but also improving

few years.

relationships between procurement and suppliers
due to the increased collaboration and supplier

How can AP automationsave money?
AP automation reduces your invoice processing
costs in three ways. By centralizing andself-service options.

How to select an APautomation vendor?

standardizing the invoice handling process,First, your accounts payable department should

overhead is typically reduced. By reducing or

analyze their goals and budget before beginningeliminating paper invoices from your process,the search for an AP automation vendor. Whentransactional cost savings can be achieved.

modernizing any process, it pays to keep an open
mind to change. Making a manual process digitalLastly, payment digitization lowers costs related
to check issuing and can even yield rebates

does not always make sense. What if you could
avoid that process entirely?

depending on payment method.

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About Tradeshift
Tradeshift is a market leader in e-invoicing and accounts payable automation
and an innovator in B2B marketplaces and providing access to supplierfinancing. Its cloud-based platform helps buyers and suppliers digitize
invoice processing, automate accounts payable workflows and scale quickly.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Tradeshift’s vision is to connect every
company in the world, creating economic opportunity for all. Today, theTradeshift Network is home to a rapidly growing community of buyers andsellers operating in more than 190 countries. Find out more at: Tradeshift.com© 2023 Tradeshift Holdings Inc. or a Tradeshift affiliate company. All rights reserved.

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