We all want smooth financial processes (unless you’re someone who thrives on chaos), but when you’re struggling it can be hard to see the best path to take to streamline your accounts payable system. One thing you can do which is fairly simple but has a big impact is to get your approval workflows in check. Whether you’re using Xero or Sage, working for an SME or a mega corp, there are steps everyone can take to streamline AP workflows.
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Automate!
We sound like a broken record at this point, but automating is the single most effective thing you can do to speed up and consolidate your process! You can tackle the problem at the source by raising purchase orders in app, and eliminating manual data entry. This means you’re starting your workflow off on the right track by optimising those crucial first steps.
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Electronic Approvals
It’s time to make the most out of your software’s functionality. Worthwhile AP software will allow you to have complex but effective approval workflows in app. Instead of emailing POs and invoices to higher-ups and having to wait for them to approve them, with software they will be sent for approval automatically to the right people. There’s no lengthy sign-off process, they’ll be able to ‘approve’ or ‘reject’ with the press of a button. Some software will even reward users for having super-fast approval times, utilising our competitive nature speed the whole process up.
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Bring in Budgets
Do you really need to get approval to buy a pint of milk for the office fridge? By customising your workflows, you can set specific budgets for certain departments and expenses. Purchases under an amount of your choosing can skip certain approvers in your regular workflow, meaning that small (yet important) purchases get approved that much quicker. Luckily, when you do this in-app you’ll get a full audit trail so even though you don’t need approval for these purchases, you can still monitor your spend.
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Turn Notifications On
All of this advice is meaningless unless all approvers have notifications on so there’s no excuse for super late approvals! This is especially useful for those of us who work away from the office or onsite, as we can approve from the comfort of a mobile app, no longer having to wait until we’re back in the office.
With new technology, there’s an abundance of ways to make your accounts payable workflows as efficient as possible. Just remember to automate and keep those notifications on and you can’t go far wrong. If you need more advice, our friendly team are always on hand for a call to talk you through it!
