The thing about revolutions is that they take time to catch on. As the Beatles would say, “You say you want a revolution well, you know, we all want to change the world”. Going digital is on everyone’s mind and they all want to get there, it just takes some time to make the leap.
If you’re still lagging behind a bit on automating your AP processes, it’s OK. It’s not too late to make the switch and start moving away from paper forms, paper invoices, manually entering data piece by piece, and all of the labor-intensive processes you have come to know all too well.
To put it all into perspective, take a look at four possibilities that could be your reality after implementing ECM.
1. Start hearing words like “fast” and “effortless” when people talk about your department
Implementing ECM will transform your accounts payable processes by scanning and capturing invoices, forms, receipts and more electronically and making them available on your systems immediately. Drop your files into a scanner, or send them off for outsourcing and let the programs do the rest. ECM is an end-to-end solution that completely changes the current time consuming processes into effortless and quick routines.
2. Mistakes will become a thing of the past
By allowing a computer to read your files and look for key information to organize them properly, you can eliminate the risk of human error. Workflow can be used to automatically route documents and information to the appropriate business units, perform two or three-way matching and post to your accounting applications in seconds. Adding these workflows will make you forget the phrase “re-key” entirely and increase efficiency across your department.
3. You will be able to access everything from any location, in real-time
Location, employee permission changes, and random check-in’s from auditors are no longer an issue. On vacation but need to approve a revision? Log in on your mobile device, check it off and get back to the beach. You can also grant temporary access to auditors instead of pulling information manually as they need it and even make revisions and changes to your records in a secure system. When everything is stored in one, secure system, accessing your files is a breeze.
4. Watch the money savings flourish
Filing cabinets hold approximately 10,000 pages of paper and inefficient document management processes account for 21% of productivity loss in businesses. What does all of this mean? You’re losing money. Stop buying reams and reams of expensive paper and go digital. You will notice a complete difference in cost right away and your business will become increasingly more efficient. Doesn’t that sound nice?
