If you're in Accounts Payable, you probably realize that things aren't quite as automated and streamlined as they are in some other departments in your organization.  This is true for even the most progressive companies.  It's for good reason, too.  Controllers want to maintain control of cash going out the door.  Cash is KING in any organization!

Understanding that control is important and allowing Controllers and Accounts Payable professionals to manage their own processes is very important for financial institutions, banks and other partners who provide technology for automating and streamlining payments.  That said, the best solutions don't require that companies outsource everything to them because they understand the need for management oversight, and work with their clients to automate what is comfortable, yet provide visibility and check points for control where automation is not comfortable.  

For instance:  Company A may feel that once they approve invoices for payment in their workflow automation tool, that payments can be issued and no further action is required.  Ideally, a great payment platform will pick up payment details from the invoices and issue the payments via the least costly and most efficient delivery method available.  

Company B on the other hand may feel that they want to review all payments and set-up hierarchical approvals for payments going out over certain dollar amounts or to certain strategic vendors. 

Company C may be different as well.  They may be more manually-based and issue many one-off payments to payees once every year or even less frequently, thereby streamlining the process by NOT maintaining a huge vendor database.  At the same time, they need and want to streamline their processes as well. 

The best Accounts Payable solution will allow for each of these scenarios and hundreds of others we have not listed. 

Read more about how automating accounts payable in the recent CFO Tech Outlook interview of Neal Anderson, President and CEO of OnPay Solution as he explains our solution which was named a Top 10 A/P Solution for 2018.   

More Payment Automation Articles: 

• Implementing Accounts Payable Automation Improves Unique Processes
• Digitize Accounts Payable Payments…Join the Movement!
• 5 Myths Holding Companies Back from A/P Automation
• Top 5 Reasons to Automate
• Best Practices in Accounts Payable = Strong Control Over Payables