How to choose the best Accounts Payable (AP) Automation solution
Tags: automation, software, it, technology
Published: 2023-01-17 11:02:17

So you’ve decided to invest in an Accounts Payable (AP) Automation solution – great, you’ve completed the first step! Now – which vendor/partner is the best fit for your company? With so many AP Automation options including software products and implementation partners on the market, it is hard to know which to choose and who to trust with the project.

AP Automation allows finance teams to reallocate their time by streamlining their manual paper processes and creating a visible, hands-free invoice tracking system. Conventional paper-based processes and repetitive tasks that require manual data entry keep AP staff from focusing on their primary job functions. Instead of adding headcount and more infrastructure, leading companies are leveraging automation. Lucky for you, technology advances have made AP Automation solutions accessible for companies of all sizes. Cloud-based deployment options offer lower costs by reducing IT infrastructure investments and the time required for in-house resources to manage the application and its performance.


**Step 1: How can AP Automation help your team?**

If you’re here, it’s because you are in the process of picking out who to work with for your new [AP Automation solution](https://ezcloud.co/integrations/). If you haven’t done so already, you should begin to assess your current workflow gaps and see where your Accounts Payable clerks are spending most of their time. Whether it be manually typing and entering invoices into your financial ERP, or matching the purchase order, receipt, and invoice – if your team is spending their time manually completing any part of the AP workflow; automation will digitize all facets of that process. AP Automation solutions help streamline the two and three way match between invoices, purchase orders, and delivery receipts. Two-way match is used to compare the invoice received from vendor with the purchase order (PO) and three-way match is used to match the details of PO, goods receipt, and the invoice received from vendor.

**Step 2: Non-negotiables; what are you not willing to settle on?**

With any investment you make for your business, there are going to be things you just won’t budge on – and that’s okay! With any solution there can be a variety of differences depending on who you buy it from or work with. In our experience, the top three non-negotiable terms for AP Automation are:

In your search ERP’s have AP Automation modules or add-ons that claim to assist with automating the AP process. Do you change ERP’s due to that? Or do you find a solution this is built for the AP automation component that fully integrates with your ERP – and – has AI built into the capture component. ERP’s are known for being an ERP, not being an AI capture tool, to our knowledge today, the market does not have an ERP built-in AI capture, so we recommend you do your research.

**Step 3: Choosing the right partner**

The biggest difference between solution partners and your overall experience can be as simple as working with a value-added, system integrator as opposed to a manufacturer or reseller that you purchase the software from directly.

When you choose to work with a solution integrator, you have the added value of an expert technology partner and a dynamic team of software developers and workflow experts that specialize in supporting you and your team throughout the life of the relationship. A great AP Automation implementation specialist will work with you to customize the solution to best fit your needs via product demonstrations, scoping calls, and review of the scope of work to confirm every step of the way that your needs are being met.

**AP Automation Solution Checklist – a summary of what we’ve discussed**

**Step 1: How can AP Automation help your team?**

Seamlessly bi-directionally integrates with your existing ERP
User-friendly, intuitive, easy to learn, and unlimited training for all of your users
Converts paper to [electronic documents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_document) directly from email, copier, scanner, or fax. Also has drag and drop or direct import functionality.
Solves bottlenecks in your manual processes
Tracks the invoice trail and provides visibility to where invoices are in the workflow or approval process.

**Step 2: Non-negotiables; what are you not willing to settle on?**

Integrates directly with your [ERP/accounting system](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/accounting-software.asp)(s) allowing entry of data
Can be tailored for specific business processes and multi-tenant applications and share services support
Can be quickly implemented to produce rapid return on investment ROI