How technology is unlocking payment agility for businesses

Invoicing and payments are the lifeblood of a business. When these two things are working seamlessly, it’s easier to manage cash flow and grow. But when accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) teams are burdened by manual and disjointed systems and processes, challenges arise. From recording the receipt of an invoice or payment to reconciling accounts, legacy systems require human intervention for repetitive, manual tasks. Not only do these tasks cost accounting professionals up to 20 hours per week, but manually completing the steps for processing invoices and payments can lead to slow invoice workflows, a lack of visibility, delayed payments, and data entry errors. Keep reading below to learn how your AP and AR teams can use technology to unlock payment agility.

How automation is transforming accounting

Payment and invoicing automation technologies are designed to address the pain points that finance teams experience. From reducing instances of data entry errors to making payments faster and more efficient, automating invoicing and payments processes delivers a range of benefits across a company, particularly to its accounting professionals. These include:

• eInvoicing: Automating data capture and invoice processing so both supplier and customer have the same single source of truth for invoicing data.
• Cloud-based AP and AR platforms: Streamlining workflows and centralising data to minimise the need for manual data entry and double-handling of invoices and payments.
• Automated payment approvals and workflows: Making payments faster by using pre-determined parameters to specify when stakeholders need to sight and approve a payment.
• In-built fraud detection and payment reconciliation: Using pre-set parameters and approval workflows to minimise instances of fraud and make payment reconciliation faster and more accurate.

How automation is turning accounting from a cost center into a revenue driver

The benefits of automating AP and AR processes go beyond operational efficiencies. Strategically, automation turns accounting into a revenue driver by improving how the business manages its cash flow. With the improved visibility and transparency enabled through automation, working capital is optimised to enable faster payments and collections. And as more data runs through a centralised system, it can be analysed for data-driven insights to understand how the business can improve margins and its pricing strategies.

Other key benefits of automating payments and invoicing include:

• Strategic cost reduction by using invoicing and payment data to identify and eliminate wasteful spending.
• Improved customer experience through faster invoicing and streamlined payments, leading to happier and more loyal customers.
• Data-driven insights to determine how working capital can be used for strategic investments and growth opportunities.

Transform your payments with Spenda

Finance teams are achieving true payment agility in today’s competitive landscape with tech-driven solutions that automate the invoicing and payment processes. By using technology such as Spenda’s accounts payable and accounts receivable solutions, accounting professionals can streamline their workflows, create a better invoicing and payment experience for suppliers and customers, and realise strategic and operational benefits across the organisation.

Spenda’s latest whitepaper: How the right payment solution can transform your supply chain covers everything you need to know when choosing the right payment solution for your business.  

Spenda is an integrated business platform that enables businesses across the supply chain to sell better and get paid faster. We serve as both a software solutions provider and a payment processor and deliver the essential infrastructure to streamline business processes before, during and after the payment event. Our connected platform displaces multiple disparate systems in favour of one collaborative solution that improves transactional efficiency between businesses.

This article is for general information purposes only. Consult a qualified financial advisor regarding any changes to or decisions about your business’s finances.