Navigating tightening regulations and compliance
Finance leaders striving for agility and responsiveness in the ever-changing financial landscape see accounts payable automation as a means to adapt quickly. Regulatory demands and compliance requirements, particularly in the accounts payable function, become increasingly complex each year.
By utilising the advantage automation provides, your finance team will be able to increase accuracy and compliance with clear automatic audit trails, reducing the risk of errors and penalties with minimal human interference. Automation also has the added benefit of significantly reducing audit times thereby minimising disruption.
Unlocking growth by enhancing key data
Finance leaders embracing the transition in 2024 understand that accounts payable automation provides simple solutions to some of their biggest concerns, i.e., security and fraud protection, stronger supplier relationships, and the ability to integrate with their existing systems to optimise their workflows.
By including an accounts payable solution as a key part of your business growth strategy this year, you can grow not only the capabilities of your finance team but also your business as a whole. With the right solution, your team can access live spend data and instant reporting. They will be able to identify emerging trends, prevent maverick spend and take part in more accurate forecasting, enabling your business to react quickly to environmental changes, better manage budgets and increase your bottom line.
By adding automation in other finance functions, you can enable key tasks, such as expense management, month-end close, reconciliations and tax compliance, to be automated with minimal human intervention. In essence, you are able to create a mini ERP system tailored to your business.
Complimenting human capabilities and increasing skills
While most finance leaders are open to the benefits that an automated accounts payable solution can bring to the business, they may find some resistance from their teams. There is a lot of fear around automation replacing jobs when, more often than not, the opposite is true: automation is a means to complement human capabilities, not replace them.
Make 2024 the year your finance function becomes an active participant in your business growth strategy. With automation, your finance teams are empowered to shift their focus to more analytical and strategic projects by reducing manual processing and leveraging their expertise for more impactful decision-making via data-driven insights and analytics. By incorporating automation, you will have created a more engaged and skilled finance team.
92% of Senior Executive have ranked finance automation as their highest priority for 2024. What are you waiting for?
Real-world AP automation success stories
Accounts payable automation can fuel success not only in the AP department, but across the business as a whole. This can be seen in the example of Stonehaven Care Group who struggled to manage a paper-heavy invoicing process in the wake of COVID-19. Immediately after implementation, they increased their productivity with six times faster invoice processing and an 83% reduction in manual data entry. This has had an additional impact on their staff as they are much happier with greater job satisfaction.
"What Lightyear does is brilliant. It has completely transformed our invoice processing. We've reduced manual data inputting from 30 hours per week to just 5." - Naomi Cronk, Finance Controller, Stonehaven Care Group.
Another example is Curtin Heritage Living, which utilised accounts payable automation to their advantage by choosing a solution that improved security and fraud protection significantly and reduced audit time by three months.
"Lightyear's ability to integrate seamlessly with our existing software allowed the team to implement quickly and without disruption, which was vital as they couldn't afford to divert staff from day-to-day operations for too long." - David Cox, Managing Director, Curtin Heritage Living.
Embracing "finance automation is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have” - Harvard Business Review. With the benefits of increased accuracy and compliance, reduced risk of errors and penalties, and stronger supplier relationships, it is no wonder that more finance leaders than ever are making automation a key part of their strategic initiatives. By embracing automation and utilising the right solution, businesses can achieve financial success and growth in 2024 and beyond. Remember, automation is not a replacement for human capabilities, but rather a complement that enables teams to focus on more strategic projects and decision-making via data-driven insights and analytics.