Improve Interdepartmental Relations with APIA
We often talk about how accounts payable invoice automation (APIA) can improve relations between your company and its suppliers. What we don’t often describe are the ways in which automation can improve interdepartmental relations. And it does, in significant ways that alone make looking into an automated solution well worth it.
Your accounts payable department is in the unenviable position of being one of your company’s cost centers. It’s the office where money that comes in goes right back out again. AP is often seen as an energy drain on other departments without giving anything back. It’s all just perceptions, of course, and very unfair. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
How would you like your AP office to be seen as a company hero? Better yet, a profit center?
Enterprise-level automation can help you do just that. When you think about it, your function is simply to react to what others in the company have done. You didn’t incur those bills, you just pay them. But what if you paid less than the charges that the other departments ran up, and their suppliers are fine with it? We’re talking dynamic discounting, and with the help of features like a supplier portal, you begin turning your AP department into a moneymaker.
Not only that, enterprise-level automation saves other departments the headache of keeping track of and matching purchase orders and paper invoices. Every department with permissions can see and access account information in real time, using their own computer terminals. And when audit time rolls around or a financial report is needed, it’s all there in one central location, accessible to authorized personnel from anywhere.
As you can see, e-invoicing solution makes everyone’s life easier and makes the company more profitable. So, if you’ve been thinking that changing over to an automated solution might be the right choice for you, know that yours wouldn’t be the only department that benefits. As you improve interdepartmental relations, the process will be easier, and everyone will thank you.