How to improve B2B payment efficiency with AP Autonomy

In the realm of B2B payments, efficiency, and accuracy are paramount. As businesses strive to streamline their financial operations, accounts payable (AP) automation emerges as a powerful solution. 

According to a recent PYMTS survey, approximately 90% of companies expressed that implementing automation for their AP systems could enhance payment visibility and transparency, leading to a reduction in errors. Moreover, an overwhelming 98% of respondents believed that AP automation had the potential to accelerate the overall speed of their payments.

And while automation is a good start, traditional automation tooling such as optical character recognition (OCR) and robotic process automation (RPA) have their limitations. Rather, moving to an autonomous solution, powered by AI, can lead to even more time and cost savings. Learn more about the benefits of integrating your payments with an autonomous AP solution to realize enhanced efficiency, cost savings, and improved financial control.

1. Streamlined Invoice Processing: Autonomous AP simplifies and accelerates the entire invoice processing workflow. By leveraging technologies like computer vision and AI, to not only extract the text but to understand all of the contents of it as well, invoices get automatically ingested, classified, and sent to approvers without requiring any data entry or classification review before.
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2. Faster Approval Workflows: AP departments can establish streamlined approval workflows for invoices. The system routes invoices to the appropriate stakeholders, ensuring prompt invoice review and approval, expediting the payment process, and minimizing delays. At once the AI reaches a high enough confidence level, approval flows can be automatically triggered, going straight to payment. And if there are mobile and desktop applications, teams can manage approvals anywhere, anytime.
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3. Efficient Payment Scheduling and Execution: Integration with payment systems or payment gateways allows for the secured execution of electronic payments, such as ACH transfers or virtual card payments. These can be paid based on due dates or specific payment terms, enhancing cash flow management and ensuring timely payments to vendors and suppliers.
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4. Improved Financial Control and Reporting: Get real-time visibility into financial data with reports on outstanding invoices, payment status, and cash flow projections. This allows for proactive decision-making and improved forecasting for better financial control.
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5. Cost Savings and Vendor Relationships: Save money on labor costs and avoid late payment penalties by eliminating manual data entry and reducing processing errors. Pinpoint invoice discrepancies quickly, ensuring accurate payments and strengthening vendor relationships. Instead, use the time saved to take advantage of early payment discounts and turn your AP team from a cost to a profit center.
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6. Enhanced Security and Compliance: Protect sensitive information and ensure compliance with data protection regulations. Digitizing and centralizing invoice data allows for better compliance with internal controls and external audits.
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7. Maximize Cash Efficiencies: Manage your Days Payable Outstanding (DPO), and uncover potential early payment discounts.  By speeding up the invoice processing and approval process, AP teams can approve a bill well ahead of the due date. This gives the payor the opportunity to receive discounts on an early payment and in turn, contribute revenue share back to the business.

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Payments and Autonomous AP are better together

Integrating your payment method with autonomous AP enables end-to-end control and efficiency for your AP department.  This enables you to pay bills quickly, save on costs, and improve financial control. It also allows you to improve vendor relationships, security, and compliance.

As organizations embrace digital transformation, implementing an autonomous AP solution is a strategic move towards optimizing B2B payments and gaining a competitive edge in today's fast-paced business landscape.

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