[Webinar] Stop Thinking About It and Automate Your AP Processes
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The document discusses the importance and benefits of automating accounts payable (AP) processes, highlighting insights from industry experts and case studies. It emphasizes the need for financial organizations to adopt automation solutions to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance visibility in their operations. Key topics include overcoming barriers to automation, building a strong business case, and best practices for implementing AP technology.
[Webinar] Stop Thinking About It and Automate Your AP Processes
- 1. 1 Stop Thinking About it and Automate! Henry Ijams – PayStream Advisors Peter Bepler – Anybill Evelyn Benne; – Lincoln Trust 1
- 2. 2 Henry Ijams Henry Ijams Managing Director PayStream Advisors, Inc. Mr. Ijams' 28 years of experience focuses on trends and technologies in financial operaOons automaOon including strategies regarding the automaOon and benchmarking of Purchasing, Order to Cash, and Payables processes. Through PayStream Advisors, Mr. Ijams consults with domesOc and internaOonal organizaOons that want to take advantage of leading pracOces and automaOon soluOons. When he’s not running to catch an airplane, Henry can be found racing, biking or swimming on the roads and lakes of North Carolina, his adopted home. Thankfully his kids are used to the excessive energy that Henry and his wife display for outdoor exploits. Henry has an MBA from the University of North Carolina. His wife is not impressed. Today’s Presenter
- 3. 3 Today’s Guest Faculty Peter Bepler Peter Bepler President and Co-‐Founder Anybill Peter directs Anybill’s business strategy, focusing on the company’s markeOng, sales, channel partners and communicaOons. As a co-‐founder, he plays a key role in developing the Anybill soluOon and championing accounts payable automaOon for the SMB market. Before co-‐founding Anybill, Peter was Director of Business Development for UniverseONE, Inc., a pioneer of online markeOng. There he developed and implemented web markeOng strategies for clients and spearheaded the development of online markeOng best pracOces. Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Kenyon College. In his free Ome he enjoys jumping out of helicopters.
- 4. 4 PayStream Advisors Research and Advisory Services for Financial OperaAons: -‐ E-‐Invoicing -‐ AP AutomaOon -‐ P2P Peer Benchmarking -‐ Electronic Payments -‐ T&E Expense Management -‐ Receivables Document Management -‐ eBilling -‐ PayStream P2P Summit www.paystreamadvisors.com
- 5. 5 Agenda • Current landscape of AP departments • Benefits of automaOon • How to create an effecOve business plan • How to get buy-‐in • What the innovators are doing
- 6. 6 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% AP AutomaAon AdopAon Rate by Industry 6 * AutomaOon adopOon rates by company size have been esOmated based on PayStream’s surveys on Imaging automaOon, eInvoicing and ePayments with total number of response of more than 1,000. Market adopOon rate: 46% Below average adopOon
- 7. 7 Pain Points with Invoices Source: Invoice AutomaOon Benchmarking 2012 Q: What are the biggest challenges your organizaOon faces in the invoice management process?
- 8. 8 InvesAgate the Benefits Build the Business Case Overcome the Barriers/ resources Becoming Empowered: Before you can begin your project, you need to speak the language of your Controller/CFO. Build the business case for your project.
- 9. 9 • Are you buried? • Do you see a way out? A LiNle Overwhelmed?
- 10. 10 Overcoming Stuck • Share the Benefits • Develop a Business Plan • Overcome the barriers
- 11. 11 Best PracAces in Transforming AP • Centralize receipt / payments þ • Scan/Automated entry– ✓ or ý • Approval Workflow – ✓ or ý • Automated Payments ý
- 12. 12 InvesAgate the Benefits Build the Business Case Overcome the Barriers/ resources StarAng Your Project: • Step 1: Measure your opportuniAes. • How many invoices does your organizaOon process? • How many payments? • What does it cost you to process an invoice and payment? • Take advantage of resources like PayStream’s free research reports and Cost Per Invoice Calculator • Next, compare your costs with automaAon costs. • What your cost per invoice opportunity? • Simple Savings Opportunity Method: • Average Cost for AP to Process an automated invoice: < $3.50 (vs. Avg Paper Cost $6.83) • Average Cost for AP to Process an automated payment: < $2.00 (vs. Avg. Check Cost $5.50)
- 13. 13 InvesOgate the Benefits Build the Business Case Overcome the Barriers/ resources Following Through With Your Project: Now that you have an idea of how much you could be saving your organizaOon…. • Step 2: Research the SoluAons Market • Which sooware is right for your organizaOon? • What makes one soluOon different from another? • Does it make sense to manage invoice scanning at your company? • Bonus offer: Use PayStream’s business case builder
- 14. 14 InvesOgate the Benefits Build the Business Case Overcome the Barriers How do you build a Bullet Proof business case? • Step 3: Gain ExecuAve Buy-‐In. • Share the results of your baseline business case and research with your internal leaders, and volunteer to become the project lead during implementaOon.
- 15. 15 AP AutomaAon Savings CalculaAng how much AP costs you today Acme Catalog employee labor costs are allocated in the table below. Fully loaded employee costs assume 28% average overhead for fringe benefits. Sample Company Business Case Acme Catalog Sales of “Hazardous Goods” MS Dynamics • 4,000 invoices/Month • 6 Staff in AP • 1 Supervisor • 1 Manager • 3,200 Checks/month
- 16. 16 AP AutomaAon Staff Savings 16 CalculaAng how much AP costs you today Acme Catalog employee labor costs are allocated in the table below. Fully loaded employee costs assume 28% average overhead for fringe benefits. The Cost of Acme Catalog’s Current Accounts Payable Process Processing Mail Entering Data Managing Exceptions and Providing Customer Service Vendor Master Management Payment Processing AP Staff Oversight Total Full Time Equivalents 0.75 1.8 1.9 0.25 0.45 0.15 5.3 Names Danny & Mary Danny, Annie, Anna, Mary & Rob Annie, Anna, Mary, Oscar, Rob Annie, Anna, Mary, Oscar, Rob Annie & Oscar John Annual Cost of Labor $34,300 $108,735 $117,585 $15,728 $28,620 $20,625 $325,593 Acme Catalog’s best automaAon opportuniAes
- 17. 17 InvesOgate the Benefits Build the Business Case Overcome the Barriers/ resources Overcoming Obstacles to Lead: • Many AP technologies cost tens of thousands of dollars and IT resources to implement. • But not all… • InnovaAve providers offer simple, low cost technology that requires minimal resources. • Lack of Ame, budget, and/or resources is no longer a valid excuse • What’s holding you back?
- 18. 18 Find OperaAonal and Strategic Value Strategic benefits Operational benefits 90-95% reduction in paperwork and manual processing Improved transparency and spend visibility 25-35% improvement in labor productivity Eliminates lost invoices, late payments ~2% of revenue in bottom line savings from indirect spend control $100’s+ of early payment discount opportunity
- 19. 19 Reducing Your Risk – Finding the Right SoluAon
- 20. 20 Guest Faculty Evelyn Benne; Lincoln Trust Evelyn has over twenty years of experience in general ledger accounOng, financial reporOng, budgeOng and forecasOng as a Senior Accountant and Financial Analyst. At Lincoln Trust Company, Evelyn provides a full range of accounOng support. Lincoln Trust is a leading naOonal provider of trust and custodial services. When she is not working, Evelyn and her husband enjoy traveling in their RV. Evelyn is a CerOfied Public Accountant. Evelyn Benne3
- 21. 21 Case Study: Lincoln Trust Metrics • AccounOng System: Microsoo Dynamics SL • Average number of Invoices per month: 130 • Average number of vendors paid per month: 95 Challenges • Previously relied on paper invoices and manual processing for invoice management • AccounOng staff spent 45 hours per week processing 50-‐60 invoices SoluAon • Automated their AP with Anybill which increased efficiency and visibility in their AP process Results • Frees their staff from mundane tasks • Provides clear and complete visibility throughout their AP process • 24/7 access to real-‐Ome, acOonable data anyOme, anywhere • Slashes processing Ome and errors
- 22. 22 Anybill Overview Company • Based in Washington, DC • Founded in 2001 • 1,500+ Clients • SAS 70 Type II | SSAE 16 (SOC) CerOfied • Local Service Bureau & Customer Service Team • Provides end-‐to-‐end AP AutomaOon and Tax Payment SoluOons Service • Streamlines and automates the AP process to maximize cash management and increase financial controls. • Takes everything from the receipt and capture of an invoice on the front end to the approval and payment on the backend. • Combines sooware and outsourcing to reduce the cost of invoice receipt, processing and payment.
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- 24. 24 24 Ques%ons? Henry Ijams Henry.ijams@paystreamadvisors.com www.paystreamadvisors.com (704) 523-‐7357