To say that the COVID-19 pandemic had a drastic impact on supply chains around the world would be an understatement. During the fourth quarter of 2021, 61% of small businesses indicated that they faced supply chain disruptions, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. To keep operations humming along, 63% of organizations had to change their supply chains in some way.
In addition to building more resiliency into their supply chains and diversifying sources with new partners, many businesses have used the pandemic as an opportunity to improve their accounts payable (AP) departments by investing in AP automation solutions.
If there’s one thing managers learned during the pandemic, it’s that the need for automation in AP is more important than ever. After all, we’ve all witnessed huge AP slowdowns with offices being shut down, chasing paper invoices, finding people to approve a payment, and seeing increased invoice fraud.
Unfortunately, you can’t just decide to automate AP and think everything will work out swimmingly. As you begin evaluating your options for AP automation, it’s important to provide a good experience to your suppliers. The better experience you’re able to deliver, the more likely they will embrace the new electronic invoicing process.
With that in mind, let’s examine a few things to consider as you begin thinking about bringing more efficiency to your invoicing process.