The Emerging Invoice Management Revolution |
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Doing more with less has become the mantra of the day. In the current recessionary economic environment, organizations are constantly being challenged to get more done with fewer resources. Accounts payable (AP) is no exception. AP departments now have to process more invoices and pay them faster, all with a smaller staff. The biggest stumbling block to accomplishing this has been our continued reliance on paper-based invoices and people-based processes. PayStream Advisors conducted its "Imaging & Workflow Automation (IWA) Adoption Survey" in the last two quarters of 2008 to highlight trends that are shaping the rapidly evolving AP automation space. The survey revealed that manual data entry, matching errors and exceptions and routing invoices for approval emerged as the biggest challenges faced in day-to-day AP operations. In addition, implementing or increasing electronic invoicing emerged as a priority for 48% of companies surveyed. Furthermore, invoice imaging and automated workflow came next with 34% and 36% of companies, respectively, choosing to implement them within the next one year. PayStream's research reveals that a significant shift is beginning to shake traditional AP operations, starting with the search for automation options that help them address the hassles inherent to people and paper-based activities. PayStream believes that IWA solutions that streamline the invoice receipt-to-pay cycle have matured and become mainstream technology. While the adoption of IWA solutions has mainly been limited to Fortune 1000 companies, this trend is seen to trickle down to small and medium-sized businesses. PayStream analysts believe that the following factors will shape the evolution of the IWA:
SUSHMITHA KOKA [sush@paystreamadvisors.com] is the research director of PayStream Advisors, Inc., a financial automation research and consulting firm. For the full report, please go online to www.paystreamadvisors.com. |