They say that "music moves the soul". 

This is true, and when it comes to music, and specifically orchestral type performances, the goal is for every part of the group to contribute its unique sound in harmony.  To trained ears, it’s evident when there is a gap or a lack at any one position. In extreme cases it’s evident to untrained ears. If you’ve never had a child take up an instrument you’ll become acutely aware of this when they do as you sit through their first concert.  With that said, in a similar way every component matters when you are assessing what the key components are of a robust invoice management system. Now, we know that’s a bit of a leap going from music to invoice automation, but it is nonetheless true.

In this article we want to unpack the seven integral components of a powerful invoice management system.  With that said, it presumes the notion that any business, especially those that are growing, are going to have to contend with this at some point as accounts payable is a bit of a sore spot for most companies who haven’t diligently embraced invoice automation.  We know that this is an issue regardless of company size, whether revenue or employee headcount, because the fundamentals of how b2b invoicing occurs hasn’t shifted in the USA in many years, unlike regional mandates around the world that have forced change upon businesses to things like EFT and e-invoicing.

So, what are the seven integral components of a robust invoice management system?

Let’s take a look together!

1.  The Onramp - No, this is not a technical term.  What it essentially represents is the outset of the invoice management system as characterized by a means to pull all accounts payable invoices into the processing flow.  Now, we understand that invoices present themselves in multiple ways to each business in different ways, but you need a strategy to embrace them all. The prevalent way invoices are distributed between companies today is via email, and typically in PDF format, though sometimes in .xls format.  PDFs can be standalone or have batches of invoices (which are doable, but trickier to process). Other companies receive invoices through vendor portals, or hard copy via mail. Whatever the case, the point is the invoices need to get digitized into an electronic format so the next phase of the process can unfold, which really holds the key to making the rest of the system hum.

2. Capture & Categorization - The ensuing component of a solid invoice management system is the capture and categorization step.  Essentially, any document coming through the process must be interfaced with, and one thing of note is that accounts payable deals with numerous disparate doc types on a day to day basis.  One may think it’s just invoices they are handling, and there is a degree of truth in that. but it is not entirely true. Other docs that AP handles on a routine basis are credit memos, statements, check request forms, tax documents, and other types of vouchers.  

To make matters more complex, not all invoices are processed in an equal fashion.  They might be in theory, but in practice there are nuances to how invoices need to be classified and have their data parsed.  For instance, invoices have three general categories, Non-PO, PO with an invoice match (2 way), and PO with an invoice and receiver match (3 way).  Each of these subsets has a slight nuance of additional data sets that have to be captured. Universal field data for all invoice types would include Vendor Name, Invoice Date, Due Date, Invoice Number Total, Tax, & Freight.  For PO type invoices, the PO number is a requisite and then the line level detail including quantity, unit of measure, price, description, not to mention other data fields. All of this must be digitized so that the data can be surfaced, validated, and ultimately, harnessed to advance the process.  The optimal way to facilitate capture is through a blend of advanced optical character recognition with machine learning built in (non-template (aka zonal) based OCR) that is overlaid with human quality control. This approach offers the leverage of machine intelligence for raw processing power and the acuity and clarity of human intelligence to assess any data outliers the machine is unaware of.  With clean data, you have the raw material that is able to be used for advanced processing, which comes a little later.

This is provided for when you utilize an electronic document management system and will typically involve all of these components plus varying degrees of on screen controls.  The point is you need a way to interface and retrieve the documents in a systematic fashion. For businesses that rely solely on hard copy archival, whether onsite or via an off-site archival service, you understand the pain that entails when it comes time to produce copies for audit or review.  Therefore, getting this into an electronic format that is compliant with your retention period is key. All of this is indispensable for someone trying to assemble a meaningful invoice management system.

The answer lies in the integration of the data between systems, which, from our perspective must be bi-directional.  Certain data elements must be obtainable and usable from whatever accounting system or ERP is being connected to.  As an example, the vendor master file, chart of accounts, general ledger tables, and purchase order table data is all in play depending on what you are trying to automate. With access to this data, you can combine the captured data off the invoices to attempt numerous matches and validation steps to ensure the following and more: that a vendor is official (or needs to be registered within the chart of accounts), that an invoice is not a duplicate, that line item, quantity, and price information nets out to purchase order data and falls within defined parameters for acceptable costing variances.  

Additionally, the other component of integration presumes that the accounting system is capable of ingesting structured data to mitigate the need to enter data manually.  In other words by a structured data release and ingestion into the accounting system you can stop entering invoices and instead push invoices into the system through a more advanced approach.  Furthermore, you can use PO data from invoices to close out PO’s in the system as the data gets reconciled from invoices in the process. The key here is that the integration must be capable of both sending and receiving data.

5.  Workflow and Business Rules - One of the items we looked at above presumes the utilization of sophisticated business rules in matching to acceptable pricing variances.  This is an example of how business intelligence can be used to enhance your process and why it’s a core tenet of a next level invoice management system. Business rules can also be used from a timing (AP aging in days), approval threshold (dollar value based controls), and routing perspective.  

Much of this can be harmonized through an electronic approval workflow and also provide the conduit by which approvers can provide digital sign off.  This should be standard in a web-based system but is increasingly valuable in a system that synthesizes both web apps and integrated mobile apps seamlessly.  If you don’t have electronic workflow functioning, you’ll have limited ability to meaningfully impact manual processes, limited audit trails, and a lack of visibility to actually manage the process actionably, which leads to our next point.

From a reporting standpoint, visibility is essential as the easier data is to access on the back end of the process, the better from a search and audit perspective.  A prime example of this that occurs each month for many businesses is the accrual function. Typically finance leadership is responsible for presenting a report on pending spend by department for the ensuing month.  This helps provide executive clarity to the ebbs and flows from a cash management standpoint. It also is something that can be easily facilitated by a standardized report that is accessing invoices in the approval process but that are unpaid.  This can be very difficult to impossible as a manual exercise outside of an invoice management system, but is a task that can be conquered in minutes with the digital elements we’ve put forth so far.

This may not seem possible, but most people in the personal finance space understand it well enough through myriad mileage, points, and rewards systems that are offered by credit card companies.  Similarly this approach is increasingly embraced by businesses and can actually transform accounts payable from a cost center into a profit center. Further, this function can actually flow dynamically and automatically as an integrated function of the approval or matching process that occurs with the full set of financial controls governing it, making it a seamless and powerful extension and culmination of the process.

In summary, there are several key components to establishing an invoice management system that is bar none.  One key perspective is that Rome wasn’t built in a day. In other words, it’s important to maintain a perspective on process transformation that allows for evolution over time.  Granted some of these items do need to shift simultaneously but other can be folded in over time so as to not create so much transformation that it is counter productive to forming a healthy business culture or process.If you want to learn more about how to do this, we welcome you to check out this ebook and if you want to see what’s possible from a system that is high functioning in a quick overview, we invite you to connect here!

Businesses look for value where they can find it and rightly so.

This drives internal improvements and causes organizations to reinvent and stay healthy.  Those who don’t innovate, change, and adapt, ultimately die. Today, we want to unpack an area of high value that many companies have yet to fully exploit in their financial back office.  The concept is integrated payables and is a relatively new one that exists in the back end of the accounts payable process, specifically payments. It’s also an area that hasn’t seen disruption for many years.  In the US, payments have plodded along, still dominated by antiquated approaches like physical check. Some estimate as late as 2016 still ascribe nearly 51% of commercial payments to checks.  

This is improved from years past where checks and wire were really the only ways to pay, but with the advent of ACH and credit card based payments, checks have been on a steady decline, yet they still exist and with substantial usage.

Why?

Because in short, it’s easy to continue to use something that still, despite its flaws, works.

Checks get the job done for many businesses, though they do present some downsides.

The primary reason to segue away from check usage in the b2b payments landscape is because they cost a fair amount to produce (per The Accounts Payable Network, $5.14 / check on average) to process, cut, and mail.  That adds up, especially if you’re cranking out a high volume of them.

The second reason checks are a nightmare is because of the time it takes to mail and then cash them.  If you were to boil it down it all comes back to a lack of efficiency

Now, because of the inefficiencies of the check and the advent of alternative types of payment you have many companies across the world that are paying with multiple payment methodologies, which means one word...complexity.

This is essentially where integrated payables comes into play.

The concept is simple. Take a single payment output file and have it seamlessly execute the various, disparate payment methodologies in one fell stroke.  At a high level the advantages are obvious...not having to manage multiple different payment files or runs and the time associated with preparing and executing those payments.  From that point you have the cost considerations that arise from inefficient payments. Wires and checks are the leading culprits here, and if you can convert that spend into more favorable methods like ACH or even virtual credit card, then you have a recipe for significant enhancement of controls, payment speed, and corporate profitability, which are all great things.

So, if you’re still unsure of the claims of integrated payables, let’s take a quick dive into the five primary ways they will maximize the value of your Accounts Payable process!

In short order they are:

Payment Options - As stated above integrated payables means one singular payment file can incorporate any of the following payment types - check, wire, ACH (EFT), and virtual credit cards.  (If you’re not sure about what virtual cards and the hype on them, check this out).  The takeaway  is that you can manage a host of options with simplicity and ease.  That’s always a good thing.

It’s Bank Agnostic - In other words, you can execute an integrated payables approach regardless of whom you’re banking with today.  We understand that banking needs change from business to business based on a variety of fluctuating criteria. As such, because of the agile approach solid integrated payables partners take, the bank you use is a moot point as the payment network and platform exists above the banking layer, meaning you can plug and play any bank into the solution.  This is great so that you can make the changes you need as your business grows and never skip a beat.

Easy Integration - One of the ways integrated payables is made super simple is through a straightforward file based integration methodology.  Rather than relying upon old school approaches and legacy tech, you can have confidence that this approach is repeatable, scalable, and dependable.  It’s the primary reason you can bank agnostically too, because accurately communicating the payment requests and disbursements is facilitated through standardized file connectivity.

Time & Cost Savings - Making payments strategically (with an eye towards electronic means) means that you waste far less time executing check runs, printing, posting, and mailing.  Getting better insight and visibility into payments also cuts down time wasted in administering the process and keeps you focused on the task at hand, not keeping plates spinning.  All of this translates to cost savings as you ditch expensive methods for affordable and more efficient payment types.

Monetization – Perhaps one of the most appealing features of an integrated payables approach is the notion that your money (corporate payables) can actually be leveraged to make you money (earned rebates).  This concept is widely understood at a personal finance level and has growing adoption in the B2B arena. The takeaway here is that a growing cadre of businesses accept virtual credit cards as a legitimate form of payments for commercial transactions.  Although this type of spend assumes the accepting merchant incurs a transaction fee, the reason they do this is to ameliorate their supplier base by providing multiple, flexible options for payment. Also, many businesses leverage corporate credit cards in their travel and expense, P-card requisitioning, and other areas and find themselves in a bit of a moral conundrum when they are willing to leverage the purchase flexibility of card without necessarily being willing to accept cards for payment.  This trend is changing however, with more businesses being willing to both pay and receive payment via card.

One final point on the power and scope of card payments is that they can truly be a source of transformation for AP as a whole and can actually have the net effect of converting AP from a cost center to a profit center, which even a couple years back was a non-reality.

Additional thoughts when it comes to integrated payables:

•     For starters, if this an approach you’re interested in pursuing, it’s going to necessitate the selection of a vendor partner that can actually deliver on the promise of simplifying your payment stream across multiple payment modalities.  For example, if you are presently running 10% of your payments as check spend (regardless of the quantity, though certainly a compounding issue as the transactional counts rise) and this is not a metric you can shift into any other dynamic, automated, electronic category, then they’re going to need to have the wherewithal to handle cutting checks and the postage in an outsourced fashion as a means to fulfilling the overarching goal of responsibly addressing the disparate payment needs and methods contained within the integrated payment file you’re processing. In short, if they can’t execute all the payment types required by your unique vendor preferences then you’re not really talking about integrated payables.

•     Another consideration on the integrated payables front is whether the process can be integrated into your front end invoice processing.  For companies that have not pursued a broader based accounts payable automation initiative (see more on that here), you will basically invoke the launch the payment file when you batch your invoices that have been posted to your accounting system.  Then when the posted transactions get batched you create the standardized output file that invokes the integrated payables execution.  

However, an alternative that may represent a higher degree of value, sophistication, and automation would be to  connect the up front components of invoice processing to incorporate the launch of payments via integrated payables.  In other words, if you’re leveraging things like automated electronic workflow, with a set of business rules governing invoice escalation through your business’ approval matrix, then upon having the invoice formally approved by the final process stakeholder, you can automatically set the system to invoke the integrated payables trigger without having to wait for it to generate as a result of the accounting system batching process.  In other words, the two, inter-related functions of approving the invoice and actually triggering the payment can be dynamically linked between two disparate systems, which is cool. It speeds up the process and begins to leverage efficiencies through the seamless connection of data across platforms. These things actually matter of course in environments that are burdened or where you have a high transactional volume of invoices that you’re dealing with.

•     Understand that when you pursue an integrated payables approach there are numerous upsides.  Certainly the cost factors, processing times, visibility, enhancement of controls, and monetization are key.  With that said, even if you had every possible advantage in the world to the latest and greatest of payment options, you may still have intransigent vendors that will not accommodate your latest new whirligig.  In other words, some people / companies won’t change and couldn’t care less about your strategy. Therefore, it’s important to maintain some common sense when you launch out with this initiative. From our perspective you want to keep one eye on the strategic goal…make as many payments as possible streamlined, electronic, and efficient.  Convert the vendors that you can to these means and default the hold outs to whatever negotiated payment terms you have in place. Some things won’t change, and that’s ok. Simply focus on the ones that will where you can generate real value for your loyalty and business and shift and monetize those opportunities. Don’t get bogged down on the ones that got away…instead take the wins where you can and move on!

•     This may be a bit of a particular, but from our perspective it is something we do hear repeatedly when discussing changing how payments are done.  One advantage of checks, though whether it’s a significant advantage is a prescient question. Some finance leaders like the additional time period afforded to them by the delay it normally takes to process check payments.  We think this is more of an inbuilt comfort level of knowing that the corporate coffers have a bit of a buffer before funds necessary to underwrite checks clear, but to each his own. The bottom line is that pay early or pay late, either way you’re going to pay.  Unless you’ve got some kind of structured money market instrument with your banking or credit institutions chances are the returns you’re going to be getting on your check float are at best going to be nominal. Granted, cash rebates earned on relevant virtual credit card spend aren’t going to be something you get rich on, but the point is they will be newfound monies you didn’t have access to before, and that is always a win for the books.

In closing this out, we know this was a bit more of a walk through of the value points of integrated payables, but if it’s an idea you’re hearing more about of late, that’s because it’s gaining in popularity.  The question is if you’re pursuing it how can you align your corporate payables to most benefit from the approach, because there is typically something for everyone in terms of the gains afforded by it.

Let’s face it...some things you have to go through that are just...the worst.

It’s part of life.  Anyone who has ever taken a kid with a sore throat to the doctor’s office for a throat culture knows the pain that awaits all in the room.  Similarly, accounts payable audits can cause the most resolute of people to experience panic attacks. Now obviously we jest, but accounts payable audits are no joke.  So it’s our goal today to explore the most common types of AP audits, some common challenges that most accounts payable organizations face when preparing for and undergoing them, and ways you can improve your readiness for them as you build the strength of your AP department.  Let’s dive in.

The most common types of Accounts Payable audits:

When it comes to audits there are quite a few different types of audits that can be invoked in most business though their scope, with respect to accounts payable, generally narrows in focus to a few types.  If you want a more exhaustive list of the full gamut of audits, check this article out.

Internally, companies can and should choose to run periodic audits to review departmental performance, controls, and accuracy in journaling expenses and getting vendors paid.  These can range from fairly informal exercises to more rigorous audit practices depending on the size and complexity of the company undertaking it. Generally speaking, the more robust the company (from a revenue perspective) the higher the likelihood there will be a more substantial audit process that unfolds.

Externally, there are several types of audits that can occur that we typically see.  

Financial Audits

Often businesses will contract their external accounting firms to run financial audits which essentially are health-checks on the performance of the business in the light of looking at the books.  These can be somewhat comprehensive and cover all areas of the business including accounts payable, accounts receivable and the balance sheet as a whole. Often, the way this manifests for the accounts payable department is that external auditors will work directly with departmental leadership to analyze specific or randomly chosen accounts for review.  In the case of accounts payable it’s common to see auditors home in on a specific vendor account and then select the invoices in question for a period of time to see how certain diagnostics are functioning, namely, how and why was an invoice approved (or not) and paid (or short paid or not paid). Deeper questions can move into the requisitioning process behind said invoice or a look into supporting documentation around the decision to approve (or reject) the payable.  This can easily get into tangential areas like the purchase order, the receiver document that supports the invoice, and the general ledger coding effort and / or the departmental approver(s) that are involved in approving the invoice decision from an authority standpoint.

Many different things can be audited by looking at the document trail, but in essence an auditor is looking to establish and verify the logic of why a decision was rendered and were sound financial controls in place when the invoice was approved and can the decision be backed up with documentation so that it wasn’t solely a subjective approval exercise...fun stuff!

Tax Audits

For starters, many businesses undergo a sales (or sales and use) tax audit periodically.  This is essentially an audit to ensure that the correct amount of sales tax funds are being assessed to the company’s client base though this is more generally centered on the accounts receivable side of the business than accounts payable.  Nonetheless, tax audits are essentially an accounting and reconciliation of the tax collection responsibilities of the business. In other words, Caesar wants to make sure he’s getting his slice of the pie and that tax is being collected and rendered to Caesar in accordance with the tax withholdings of the state in which the business being audited is operating in.  Obviously another component of tax audits is that the business can be assessed for it’s total tax obligation in the light of expenses vs. revenues. AP invoices therefore can directly be associated with the expense obligations of a business and thus relate back to the overall compliance with tax guidelines.

In either of these scenarios, whether a Financial or a Tax Audit, the accounts payable organization is on the hook for being able to produce troves of documentation around the payables themselves and the decision tree in how a payable was addressed, and equally importantly why.

Common Challenges Businesses Face During Accounts Payable Audits

The sticky part about AP audits is that they involve time and effort.  The other thing that is worth noting is that audits often tie up key personnel resources from focusing on their primary responsibilities as it relates to AP.  Where most AP managers and employees are content to work on processing invoices, whether through an automated system or manually, having to be pulled off focus into supporting the auditors.  This generally involves pulling paid invoices and any supporting documentation that was involved in the procurement, matching, or approval processes. We spoke to this a little earlier in the brief, but ultimately an auditor needs to assess the document chain for authenticity, accuracy, and adherence to controls.  This isn’t too difficult if you’ve been wise enough to pursue accounts payable automation and you have a shiny new electronic document management system as a core piece of infrastructure within your process. However, woe be unto you if you’re processing invoices manually! This means finding archived files and making copies and providing those to the auditors...essentially functioning as their shadow and getting them everything they need, which definitely gets in the way of doing your 9-5.

Other challenges that stem from accounts payable audits is the grim reality of what the audit uncovers.

In most cases there is typically an adhered to set of controls or procedures that have been followed to come to a decision on approving and coding an invoice or expense item.  However, if you happen to be undergoing an audit and come up short with respect to the thought process or the controls that the audit trail reveals you could be in for some sobering if not painful conversations about how that happened.  Then again, that’s essentially the function of the auditor, to uncover in a somewhat macabre fashion an autopsy of the transaction. So, one must ask rather than find out the hard way about what’s wrong with a certain transaction, what one can do to avoid the instance of confusion or lack of controls?

We would suggest that the best way to gain mastery over the process so as to avoid issues within the accounts payable audit cycle would be the following:

-implement an accounts payable automation system

-digitize invoices and related accounts payable documents (credit memos / statements / vouchers / check requests / expenses / etc.) at the process outset

-immediately timestamp the digitization of the record within a digital audit trail

-create workflows and validation processes that enforce organizational controls (matching / variance thresholds / exception routing / invoice escalation / etc)

-provide a catch all approver to review / adjudicate the process as necessary

-integrate your payment methodologies as a component of the invoice processing flow

While this is an easy list to draft in a blog format, the reality of bringing this vision to bear is obviously going to be a broader labor of love...nonetheless it’s something that will provide immediate and ongoing practical and strategic benefits to your business.

One of the other key terms you’re likely to hear when any discourse about an accounts payable audit comes to the fore is the definition of standard operating procedures.  Obviously, absents SOPs you’ll have processes that can derail or flex at the whim of an individual actor’s discretion, which is nonideal. So, with that said if you haven’t taken the time to establish your SOPs for your business, it would be a good idea to draft the rules and processes that you want to govern the process.  In many cases the logical way to do this is by creating an org chart with leadership roles / functions and roll-ups. Further, establishing clear process flows and the juncture points where there may need to be triage for invoices and expenses that are less clear would be key.  

This kind of foresight paves the way for a smoother and more efficient process and one that will invariably have less issues and significant events when it comes time for your AP audit.

One of the positive aspects of accounts payable audits is that they can be used to examine scenarios where the potential for fraud exists.  Unfortunately it’s been proven time and again that where there are gaps and lack of controls over financial processes that inevitably some maleficent stakeholder in a process will find a means by which they can exploit AP’s ability to process payments to skim for themselves off the top.  One need not search too far to find many scenarios of improper financial dealings and embezzlement and it’s a bit of a shame that it still occurs, but it’s really just reflective of the fallen state of the human heart and a process that doesn’t have tight controls enacted.

AP audits can be used to isolate sketchy payment approval scenarios or recurring patterns of approval or even payments within a tight threshold of an approvers maximum amount.  Often times would be ne’er do wells would grow in their hubris to be able to exploit their schemes with impunity due to lack of visibility into a process or their perceived ability to skirt controls.  In some cases they will pass invoices through just under the maximum capacity that an approver can affirm and in so doing stay under the radar of secondary or tertiary approvers and in so doing not create any suspicion about their actions.  Typically this kind of scheme involves the complicity of an external 3rd party such as one who could receive and cash said checks. Audits can be used to identify recurring type approvals like this and equally importantly be used as a measure to make sure there is a firm grip on approved vendors for most businesses.  Also, having secondary levels of control and oversight to all things financial is a key deterrent to such power-vacuums and creates transparency which typically leads upward.

Conclusion

So, with that said, accounts payable audits are not necessarily the most fun or earth-shattering activity under the sun.  However, much like an annual physical they are things that are proactive and typically helpful to the long term health of the patient or in this case business.  If you’re actively looking for ways to improve how audits go in your business reference the points above or check out our other posts on accounts payable automation with respect to visibility to get deeper insight into how much of a difference an electronic and optimized process can make for you.