Over the last decade, many organizations have embraced Accounts Payable automation as an effective measure for streamlining their back-office processes - lowering operational costs and driving their competitive edge. Trends have demonstrated a 50% increase in companies that have automated their AP processes over the past 2 years alone!
Investing in AP automation reduces paper invoice volume, accelerates invoice approvals, lowers overall AP processing costs, and greatly increases employee productivity.
Today, those organizations still lacking AP automation are losing out on major advantages and price discounts, and are at risk of being surpassed by their competition.
3 shifts you need to ‘pay’ attention to
Let’s have a look at 3 notable market shifts driving the rapid adoption of AP automation in North America based on Level Research findings, and what they mean for you.
1. Expanding software options are widening the financial process automation market.
One of the main reasons for the rapid growth of AP automation is the easy accessibility of software solutions in the market today. In the past, software suppliers designed their solutions mainly for large enterprises with the means to support the investment.
But no longer! Providers are expanding their businesses to include SMBs and mid-market companies by offering versatile and tailored cloud-based solutions.
What’s the impact to your organization?
A widening automation market means your company has to compete with not just large businesses, but also SMBs and mid-market companies.
In the digital age, choosing the right software solution could potentially make or break the growth of your organization.
More varied options mean it’s worth investigating solutions that provide the best fit for your organization, no matter its size.
Companies are increasingly favoring cloud-based software solutions that are compatible with a variety of ERP systems, as well as provide functions that prioritize full integration with a single ERP. Experts see these solutions as more innovative compared to homegrown or ERP-based solutions.
2. Back office automation is embracing the strategic philosophies of digital transformation.
As Digital Transformation becomes an increasingly important strategic initiative in the business world, organizations of all sizes are acknowledging the significance of applying technology to their business processes. Not only does adopting automation make a visible addition in improving business agility and in reducing operational costs, but it also generates opportunities to generate more revenue by enhancing efficiency.
Where does that leave you?
Labor-intensive data entry, manual routing and lost or missing invoices are among the most impactful AP pain points reported.
In fact, 57% of companies are still burdened by manual data entry procedures, according to Research reports.
If you are in that percentage, it’s time to question where your organization stands on the digital automation scale. After all, embracing at least some automation technologies such as intelligent data capture and extraction, software robots, or document management systems helps resolve many of the major pain points that you're undoubtedly familiar with in AP.
Your organization can and should strive to capture 100% of invoices in an electronic format, invoke a data capture tool to automate invoice entry, and partake in an invoice workflow tool for automated invoice approval - which efficiently creates a “touchless” invoice environment for you and your team.
3. Organizations tend to enable AP Automation for expansion and advancement.
Another major reason for the rapid implementation of AP automation is the recognition that technology can influence scalable growth in businesses. Smaller organizations are adopting automation early on to create a long-term viable advantage against bigger companies in hopes of becoming market leaders.
Automated departments create more efficiencies between other back-office departments and teams - it's that simple.
How does that affect you?
One-half of automated companies report facing fewer issues, stress about unknowns, and are satisfied with the freedom guaranteed by automated processes.
Less than 10% of organizations still manually processing invoices reported being pleased with their Accounts Payable processes.
To adopt – or not to adopt – AP automation
In today’s marketplace, the automation of business processes is a critical and time sensitive initiative. The earlier you adopt and power technology and automation in AP, the faster you can create your presence in the market and gain traction in the minds of your customers.
Even fractional adoption of AP automation is seen as a gradual step in the direction of digital transformation, in addition to the advantages and enhancements automation brings to the table. These are the driving forces behind many organizations adopting AP automation.
Simply put, embracing AP automation can considerably impact your operational costs and profits, and give you a competitive lead. In the meantime, continuing with manual processing will limit your organization's chances of progress in the future.
So, are you ready to automate your AP department? We invite you to view a replay of our recent Accounts Payable webinar, Automate Your AP Processes & Skyrocket Staff Productivity, to learn more and see just how easy your invoice processing can be.
At Shamrock, we're AP experts, and we're here to help you gain your competitive edge.
Talk to us today!