We took a deeper look at our Accounts Payable process and realized that it was costing us more time and money than we thought. This is what we did.
The Problem
Installing a print assessment showed us our Accounts Payable Administrator was our heaviest printer. We also realized that every invoice was handled five or six times. Once invoices had been paid, we were then paying to store seven years of invoices.
The Solution
We implemented a digital workflow for AP processing. A central email box was created and all vendors were asked to send their invoices electronically to the central email address. When invoices are received they are automatically routed and indexed in our document management solution (DMS). Invoices that are received by mail are scanned into the central email box by the receptionist who then disposes of the physical document. The person responsible for approving the invoice receives an automatic email linking them to the invoice where they can approve and code the invoice electronically. Once approved, the invoice is routed back to the AP Administrator for posting in the accounting system.
The Results
Our AP Administrator is now able to move invoices through the entire workflow digitally which has significantly decreased the time it takes to get an expense approved for payment, eliminated lost invoices and removed the need to print or copy invoices. Since physical documents are no longer required for processing there is no longer a need to store thousands of paper invoices. Overall we have found significant productivity gains and thousands of dollars in annual financial savings by moving to a digital workflow.
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Want to learn more about how we improved productivity and reduced costs by streamlining and automating our Accounts Payable process?
Cory Porteous
Marketing Manager
Office Interiors