5 Benefits of Payment Automation for AP Teams
Published on:1 November 2024
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As an Accounts Payable (AP) manager, you’re familiar with the daily challenges of processing invoices, meeting payment deadlines, and managing multiple vendor relationships.
These manual processes not only take up valuable time but also increase the risk of costly mistakes, missed payments, and compliance issues.
This is where payment automation comes in.
By using technology to handle repetitive tasks and payment exceptions like invoice capture, payment approvals, and reconciliation, you can improve your AP department into a streamlined operation that supports growth, accuracy, and efficiency.
In this article, we share 5 benefits of payment automation, with a focus on time savings, cost-efficiency and security, with examples from different industries.
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1. Time Savings: Speed Up Your Entire Process
Manual AP processes are slow and inefficient.
From entering invoice data to chasing approvals and issuing payments, every step takes time and attention. Payment automation simplifies each of these tasks, dramatically reducing the time spent on low-value activities.
For example, 63% of companies still use checks for at least 25% of payments, leading to higher costs and slower processing times. By eliminating paper checks and transitioning to automated payment methods, you can reduce these delays significantly.
With automation, invoices are captured electronically, approvals are routed automatically to the right people, and all payments, regardless of type (i.e. ACH, virtual cards, etc.) are executed with minimal manual intervention.
And if you’re managing multiple locations or dealing with high volumes of invoices (i.e. 20,000 or more per year), automation can significantly cut down processing time, allowing your team to focus on more strategic work.
Imagine being able to reduce your invoice processing time from weeks to just a few days?
This frees up your AP team to focus on projects like optimizing cash flow or improving supplier relationships.
2. Improved Security and Compliance
In industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and hospitality, you’re not just managing payments—you’re handling sensitive financial and personal data.
Manual processes expose your business to a higher risk of fraud, data breaches, and regulatory non-compliance.
Payment automation helps mitigate these risks by integrating advanced security features such as encryption, multi-factor authentication, and role-based access controls.
These measures protect your financial data from unauthorized access, ensuring that only the right people can view or approve payments.
For example, in highly regulated industries like healthcare, where compliance with standards like HIPAA is crucial, automation also provides a clear audit trail for every transaction—making it easier to demonstrate compliance during audits.
The ability to generate real-time reports and maintain detailed records of every step in the payment process helps you stay on top of regulatory requirements and avoid costly penalties.
3. Cost-Efficiency: Reduce Operational Costs
One of the most significant benefits of payment automation is the potential for cost savings.
According to industry research, businesses can reduce operational costs by 20% through payment process automation. This is because automation eliminates much of the manual labor involved in AP processes, reduces errors, and speeds up approvals.
By eliminating the need for manual data entry, reducing invoice errors, and ensuring payments are made on time, you can cut down on unnecessary expenses like late fees or duplicate payments.
Another payment automation benefit:
Automation opens the door to capturing more early payment discounts, directly improving your bottom line. With automated systems in place, you can prioritize payments based on due dates, ensuring you always take advantage of available discounts.
4. Increased Visibility and Control
Manual payment processes make it difficult to gain real-time insights into your cash flow and payment status.
Without clear visibility, you might struggle to make informed financial decisions, leaving your business vulnerable to cash flow issues or payment delays.
With payment automation, you get real-time tracking and reporting, offering complete transparency into your payment workflows. You can monitor invoice statuses, payment schedules, and even identify areas where delays might be occurring—all in real time.
This increased visibility is especially important for companies in the manufacturing and hospitality sectors, where multiple vendor relationships and high transaction volumes make managing payments more complex.
By having better control over your cash flow, you can optimize payment schedules and make more informed financial decisions.
5. Scalability for Growing Businesses
As your company grows – whether that’s expanding into new regions or increasing the number of vendors—manual payment processes quickly become cumbersome.
Scaling up requires a system that can handle higher volumes of invoices and more complex workflows without adding to your team’s workload.
Payment automation offers the flexibility and scalability you need.
For healthcare networks or manufacturers, automation ensures that as your business scales, your AP processes can scale right alongside it, without the need for additional staff or resources.
Introducing Rillion’s Payment Automation Solution
Rillion’s AP Automation platform is designed specifically for mid-market companies like yours that handle high invoice volumes and require scalable, efficient AP solutions.
Here’s what makes Rillion stand out:
- Seamless ERP Integration: Rillion integrates with your existing ERP systems, such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, and Sage (Intacct, X3). This ensures that your payment processes are aligned with your financial systems, reducing the need for duplicate data entry and manual oversight.
- Customizable Approval Workflows: Rillion allows you to create custom approval workflows tailored to your business needs. Whether you need multi-step approvals for high-value invoices or specific workflows for different departments, Rillion ensures that every invoice is processed quickly and accurately.
- Real-Time Reporting and Analytics: Stay in control of your cash flow with Rillion’s real-time reporting tools. You can monitor payment statuses, track approval progress, and gain insights into your AP processes, helping you make better financial decisions.
If you’re looking to integrate payment automation with your AP processes, try Rillion. You’ll gain more control, increase efficiency, and ensure that your payment processes are built to scale as your business grows.
Conclusion
Payment automation helps you improve efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen relationships with vendors. Whether you’re in healthcare, manufacturing, or hospitality, automation gives you the control and scalability needed to manage high volumes of payments securely and accurately.
By automating your payment processes, you free up valuable time for your AP team to focus on higher-value tasks, from optimizing cash flow to negotiating better terms with suppliers.
As your business grows, payment automation will provide the scalability and flexibility you need to keep your operations running smoothly and efficiently.
Ready to Automate your Payment Processes with Rillion?
Book a personalized demo today. One of our dedicated payment automation experts will guide you through the platform and discuss solutions tailored to your needs.
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