At the centre of every cash flow problem encountered by a growing small and medium business lie inefficient accounts payable process that is characterized by slow invoice processing, errant or late payments, additional interest or fines and even strained vendor relationships- all these after loads of time spent by AP resources.
And yet all these problems are only warning signs of much larger complications – the cash flow problems, which account for the failure of more than 82% of small businesses worldwide.
Need for End-to-End Accounts Payable for Small & Medium Business:
Every start-up and small business work with a nominal AP process that gets the job done for them. But over time as the business grows, having an unstructured AP where multitasking is paramount, doesn’t exactly cater to ever-growing invoice processing volumes and soon the problems begin to surface.
Not having structured accounts payable process results in wasted time spent in collecting and organizing invoices, getting stuck with misplaced or lost invoices and ending up paying interest for late payments. Unstructured and inefficient accounts payable inevitably come to hurt the cash flow of the business wasting precious time which could have been spent optimizing and growing the business. So it is indispensable for any small and medium business to lay a strong AP foundation with a streamlined end-to-end accounts payable process.
Outsourced Bookkeeping – Best Remote Accounting Firm for Accounts Payable Services:
However not every business is equipped with the right resources to build a robust AP Process. If you are a business with limited resources, you can seek our help of our accounts payable experts at Outsourced Bookkeeping.
As a leading remote accounting firm specializing in providing Outsourced Accounts Payable Services, we can help you build a robust and streamlined end-to-end accounts payable process for you. But first, let us help you understand the basics of the end-to-end accounts payable process and then we will help you understand why Outsourced Bookkeeping is the best remote accounting firm in the market to help you build one. Read on:
What is End-to-End Accounts Payable Process?
A solid end-to-end accounts payable process is a streamlined process with strong workflows that seamlessly help enter, process, approve, pay and reconcile all the payments in time while maximizing cash flow and maintaining amicable vendor relationships.
Though end-to-end accounts payable from purchase to pay have many moving parts involving multiple front line and management-level resources, they can be simply divided into four steps:
The capture of invoice: Invoices that arrive in versatile formats like e-mail, fax, and paper via traditional mail, must be captured and the information is coded into the system. Manual resources here increase the risk of errors and consume more time than needed. So most businesses leverage OCR/automation tools for data entry.
Approval of invoice: Invoices thus captured are routed to the units in the businesses which utilized the specific services from vendors. The business unit verifies the quality, delivery and other quantities aspects in the invoices and hence it may have to travel to the desks of multiple people which often delays the invoice processing.
Authorization of payment: After verification’s are done, the invoice is approved and routed to the finance department where the CFO or controller authorized the check with the issue date. Deepening on their availability, this process may also be delayed in manual AP.
Execution of payment: The payments may be executed via traditional checks or an online payment portal. It is important to monitor the due dates and discount opportunities they present to maximize the cash flow and capture early discount opportunities.
End-to-end Accounts Payable Process – A Foundation for AP Best Practices:
While the above is only the bare bones version of an efficient AP, where it succeeds is in providing a stable groundwork for adopting AP best practices and strategies that optimize AP in line with cash flow goals.
Centralizing AP process and reporting, setting up supplier portals, creating seamless management workflows, strengthening approval process, vendor selection, setting up a master database, contractual reviews, strengthening procurement and invoices and even AP automation – everything starts with a standard end-to-end accounts payable process.
However, each business needs its own customized AP process with its own set of practices that help them reach their AP goals and this is where Outsourced Bookkeeping can help.
How Outsourced Bookkeeping Can Help?
Having worked with businesses of all sizes across different niches in the last two decades, Outsourced Bookkeeping has perfected the art of building a customized end-to-end accounts payable process that saves time and maximizes cash flow in line with the goals of the business.
Led by industry veteran CPA’s m our team of expert accounts payable specialists leverage our advanced technology task to deliver high-ROI Accounts Payable Services for all types of businesses in the US. For more information on the scope, and process behind our Outsourced Accounts Payable Services, come this way: https://outsourcedbookeeping.com/
