Thu, Jan 03, 2013 Learn How Big Companies Streamline AP & Expense Reporting

Those big guys have it made. Large companies have the ability to invest in consultants and analysts to streamline their accounts payable (AP) and expense reporting processes so they can process much more volume in a short amount of time. If only there were ways for small and medium-sized businesses to take advantage of the same capabilities. It would level the playing field and more than likely reduce some operating expenses in the process.

Believe it or not, small and medium-sized businesses do have virtually all of the same expense management tools and techniques available to them—and at rates that are within a small or medium-sized company budget. But first, these organizations must get past bottlenecks in their current practices.  

AP and expense reporting processes are often some of the most time-consuming steps in an organization. Sadly, these processes also tend to have the highest error rates and most quality issues. Some of the bottlenecks that are commonly found with AP and expense reporting processes include  

• Multiple vendors with a variety of billing and invoicing techniques without any organized validation or processing systems
• Manual steps to review each invoice or expense report and either approve, reject or question it
• Awkward data entry and payment processing methods that are susceptible to errors and delays

The big-company processes for streamlining AP and expense reporting are now available to small and medium-sized businesses. Your business can

• Enforce compliance so that authorized expenses and invoices are assigned to the right GL codes
• Set business rules that are specific to the type of invoice or expense so that the transactions are routed to the right departments or people for processing
• Manage international taxes and various currencies using compliant financial controls
• Implement reliable workflow processes that make approvals easier with email notifications and links to relevant documents that are scanned and stored digitally
• Integrate into back-office and accounting systems so that the transactions transition smoothly from one area of responsibility to the next
• Provide secured transaction information that is reliable and easily accessible for reference
• Utilize cloud technology so that transactions can be accessed safely and processed regardless of the location of the employee or manager
• Analyze and report on trends to evaluate your business AP and expense spending habits

Small and medium-sized businesses no longer have to rely on antiquated methods for their AP and expense reporting processes. Businesses of all sizes can take full advantage of the same technologies as the large corporations and compete with the big guys to grow their business.