The ROI of AP Automation
To get your company on board with an AP automation project, you need to show a clear ROI. Thankfully, it’s an easy case to build. Cost savings typically average 80 percent – and most companies achieve a full return on their investment within a single year.
The Financial ROI of Invoice Automation
Invoice processing is the most common process that AP departments automate. And the justification is there: the costs are reduced from $14-$17 per invoice (when done manually) to $3 (when automated.) The time investment is lower as well: the typical cycle is cut from 14 days to 3 days with automation.
Lower costs, fewer late fees, and more early payment discounts are the norm – not the exception. That’s the AP automation ROI realized.
The Non-Financial ROI of AP Automation
Realistically, the dollar savings are most important. But there are other, “softer” savings that you’ll also achieve. Consider:
The ROI of Control: Automating your AP workflows provides additional control for everyone involved. Standardizes processes leave less room for confusion or mistakes. And contrary to popular belief, automation doesn’t remove Accounts Payable employees from the process. It’s simply a way to eliminate steps that consume unnecessarily large amounts of time. With AP automation, you are still in control of coding and approving invoices, and adding them to the general ledger. You and your team will just have greater visibility and insight into the process.
The ROI of Time: AP automation buys you time. You’re able to transform your AP department from an expense to a profit center by pursuing higher-level tasks. Consider what you could achieve if your expert employees were focused on finding and negotiating potential discounts, optimizing your payment schedule, analyzing opportunities, and proactively working with vendors for better results. All of a sudden, your AP department can start generating revenue for your company.
The ROI of a More Capable, Productive Staff: As your company grows and invoice volumes increase, you will be able to keep up without hiring additional employees. Contractors and outsourcing are eliminated from the conversation as well. The team you have now will become more productive – and can help you keep up with long-term growth.
We get it: automating isn’t an instant decision. You need to evaluate (and oftentimes, maintain) your long-standing processes. You can do exactly that with a mappable AP automation program. IntelliChief’s solutions let you keep your current ways of processing, but automate them for increased efficiency.
The toughest part is the initial decision. It’s hard. You have to make yourself do it, but thankfully implementation isn’t difficult. And once your initial ROI projection is achieved, you’re likely to see more anticipation throughout the rest of your company. Soon, they’ll be following your lead and asking what else they can automate.
