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July 4, 2022
Accounts payable is one of the most document-heavy and resource-consuming processes. Learn how an automation tool like IDP can help.
The growth of technology and the rise of automation has been tremendous across various business spheres. According to a study, 67% of businesses employ automation across systems to get improved process visibility.
The healthcare industry and accounts payable function are no different. As one of the most document-heavy realms, there is a dire need for automation. Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) is one of the best options to simplify document automation.
This article looks at how your healthcare business can benefit from AP automation by leveraging IDP.
Here are some common challenges that arise due to a lack of AP automation.
The accounts department is responsible for maintaining records of all financial transactions, paying bills, and taxes. It also handles payroll and handles other functions related to finance. To do this effectively, the accounts department has to deal with a lot of paperwork daily.
This can be time-consuming and labor-intensive if there is no automation involved. For example, it may take several hours for an accountant to manually input data into Excel spreadsheets or databases from printed statements from vendors.
Automation is the key to streamlining processes within an organization's accounting department. AP automation systems can simplify tasks such as data entry by making them faster and easier for employees.
The accounts department is responsible for matching payments with invoices and ensuring everything gets accounted for. If you don't have automation in place, your staff will be spending a lot of time doing them manually. It can lead to errors, which means more time spent correcting them and less time on other things.
AP automation will save you time and money by reducing the amount of manual work. It also helps you avoid errors caused by human error or fatigue, which can lead to missed payments or incorrect payment of invoices.
If your accounts payable process is fraught with delays, there are good chances your internal teams do not follow the appropriate buying procedures. Your teams may want to evade the complications related to accounts payable.
In some cases, like urgent events, they may deal with suppliers who do not have the necessary authorization. Processing such invoices will take a lot more time for your accounts payable teams. It might also lead to a delay in other related work.
You may think that your accounts department has the tools needed to keep track of everything—and maybe they do. But with manual processes, you will lose some records if not handled well.
The problem with missing invoices is they can lead to gaps in your business's financial records. It will cause problems down the road during the tax season or other situations where you need accurate information about your company's finances.
If your accounts payable team has too much work, it will often want to finish as much work as early as possible. At times, they may end up paying for the invoice even before receiving the goods or services.
It happens especially when there are siloed processes and a lack of communication. It can be troublesome in cases where the goods and services were not up to the mark. Getting back the refund may become big trouble.
When it comes to double payments, there are two main culprits: lack of automation and manual data entry. Your accounts team can find it difficult to keep track of payments. Also, when they are busy with several other tasks, it's easy to miss a payment—or even pay twice.
That's why it's critical to have an AP automation system that ensures all payments get processed correctly. It ensures that no one makes a mistake and pays a bill twice.
Here’s how your IDP is beneficial for AP automation.
IDP improves the productivity of your accounts payable team by quickly identifying the information they need. The IDP software analyzes documents and automatically extracts the relevant data. You don't have to spend time sorting or manually extracting information from invoices and related documents.
AP automation saves you time and money as it reduces the manual work required by your accounts payable team. It also means they can focus on other priorities without worrying about getting caught up in busy work.
Invoice processing is a vital part of any business. Organizations spend anywhere between $3.62 and $15.97 to process an invoice manually. IDP is a way to reduce invoice processing costs. It allows for faster and easier ways to manage your invoices.
IDP uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to automate the most time-consuming aspects of document processing, such as scanning documents and managing metadata. Your accounts payable team will spend less time doing repetitive tasks and more time doing work that helps your business grow.
IDP allows you to improve your document processing accuracy and decrease costs. You can automatically detect vital information in documents and extract it for use. There will be no need to manually enter data into systems, which can be time-consuming and remain prone to errors.
You can also automatically identify document errors and changes that you need to do based on the previous information. AP automation saves time and reduces human error during the review process.
According to a report, businesses lose around £92.7 million each year due to invoice fraud. Besides vendors, invoice fraud can also happen from employees with unlawful intentions. It is common for vendors to overcharge by altering line items. Manual processes make it difficult to find the discrepancies.
Your accounts payable team will also lose a lot of time finding errors and getting them corrected. Automated processes eliminate such risks by ensuring no one gets to game the system.
If you are looking to simplify the life of your accounts payable team, look no further than VisionERA. It is an AI-powered automation platform that processes documents 20x faster and helps your teams experience 3x productivity. The advanced insights are ideal for proactive decision-making that leads to an improved ROI for your business.
VisionERA comes with a proprietary AI technology platform without any external dependencies. You can also integrate the platform with your favorite third-party software for unlimited possibilities. The continuous learning mechanism of VisionERA ensures it adapts to your changing business trends and ensures uninterrupted performance.
VisionERA was trained on real-world documents that ensure the platform offers excellent speed and accuracy. Your accounts payable team will ultimately be able to achieve better results and contribute to growing your revenue.
Eager to know more details about the platform? Book a demo with us today by clicking the CTA below to see VisionERA in action.