5 Ways that BPA Software Makes Invoice Approvals Better

• Standard
• accounts Payable Automation, Accounts Payable Workflow Automation, BPA Software, Invoice Automation

In the accounts payable department, the ideal invoice approval workflow should be seamless, efficient, and cost-effective. Invoices arrive in the department, they’re verified through document matching (with exceptions flagged for review), the approvers are notified that invoices are ready for review, approvals come through, payments are made, and the bookkeeping entry is finalized.

Unfortunately, things aren’t always this streamlined in real life. Manual data entry can slow down invoice intake. Verification is challenging if there isn’t an easy way to match invoices with POs. Things can get bogged down even more during the approvals process, delaying payments. If delays get out of hand, your company might end up struggling to meet payment deadlines or finish the month-end close.

Automation helps with all these issues. It streamlines invoice intake and handles document matching automatically. Plus, business process automation (BPA) makes approvals much easier. Implementing BPA software lets your AP department improve the invoice approvals process in five key ways.

1) Streamline Matching and Error Checking

Making invoice approvals better starts with quickly getting the invoices to an approver. Automation software streamlines document matching and error checking to ensure that invoices are legitimate before moving them on to the next step. The software also handles double-checking invoices for errors and cross-referencing to avoid duplicate payments.

BPA software automates the process of matching invoices with purchase orders (2-way matching) or with POs and goods received (3-way matching). The process is especially efficient if you also automate purchasing with a compatible software module. When you automate both accounts payable and purchasing with NextProcess, for example, the software communicates seamlessly. The software can automatically match POs and invoices. For invoices requiring manual review, it’s easy to click between the two software modules.

2) Automatically Approve Certain Payments

With quality BPA software like NextProcess, you have a great deal of flexibility to customize the software to your company’s exact needs. This includes the option to set up automatic invoice approvals. This way, some invoices won’t even need to go to someone else for approval. The software can handle the whole process on its own.

You can set the software to automatically approve invoices that meet customized criteria. This is an optional feature, but depending on your company’s policies and needs it can be a great way to streamline approvals. For example, you might automatically approve invoices with dollar amounts under a certain threshold after they’re verified through automated document matching.

3) Email Approvers Automatically

For invoices that do require manual approval, automation software streamlines the process of notifying the designated approvers. Your company should have a policy in place for who can approve which categories of invoices. If you don’t already have an established policy, you can implement one at the same time as you implement the new software.

Customization features let you program the software to automatically route invoices to the right person for approval. If there is more than one approver, the software can notify them all. It updates in real-time, so if one person approves an invoice it’ll immediately show up as approved to other software users as well. The software also automatically sends approval reminder emails if there’s a delay in approvals.

4) Enable Approvals from Anywhere

The cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model for BPA software adds another feature that helps make invoice approvals better. With SaaS software, authorized employees can log in to the software system from any device. They just need internet access. The software also updates in real time. Everyone sees the most up-to-date information on a specific invoice, even when working in different locations.

This feature makes it very easy for approvers to submit invoice approvals even if they’re traveling or working from home. With all the changes in the workplace landscape following the COVID-19 pandemic, this sort of flexibility is helpful to keep businesses running smoothly.

5) Easier, Flexible Payments

After approvals, the last workflow task that could slow down processing is payments. Automation software helps your company quickly move approved invoices through the payment system. The software supports multiple types of payment to accommodate different vendors, including paper checks, company credit cards, and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). This also gives your company more flexibility with managing cash flow and possibly taking advantages of perks like cash-back on credit cards.

In general, experts recommend segregating the invoice approval and payment approval channels to help maintain security. One way you can do this is by using Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions to automate and outsource payments. Essentially, this type of software outsources the process of making payments while your company maintains control over payment information.

Give NextProcess a Try

Here at NextProcess, we offer easy-to-use software modules to automate accounts payable, purchasing, payments, and more. You can choose to automate only the AP department if you want, or you can use our software modules to create a seamless end-to-end solution for capital project management, procurement & purchase orders, accounts payable, travel & expense, and payment disbursements. Our robust software solution also integrates seamlessly with existing ERPs

NextProcess provides unprecedented flexibility for you to create a full procure-to-pay solution. And it works just as well for improving individual processes, such as invoice approvals within the AP department. Our customer service team will help you customize the software to your company’s needs. We also handle software updates to provide the best possible functionality and security with no additional cost to you or burden on your IT department. Contact us to learn more or to schedule a free software demo. With the demo, you can see the software in action and learn first-hand how it can help your company. We’ll also answer any questions you have about how the software works and what it can do for your AP department.