Benefits of Paperless Accounts Payable

Even though using paper to keep track of accounts payable is still exceedingly common, paperless accounts payable has become increasingly popular over the past decade. As your company grows, there’s a good chance that invoices will also increase, which means that processing paper invoices will be even more costly and time-consuming. It’s possible to avoid this issue altogether by going paperless, which should result in you significantly reducing or altogether eliminating paper invoices. The following offers a closer look at some of the main benefits that come with paperless accounts payable.

Going paperless should significantly reduce the processing costs that your business spends for each invoice. Processing a paper invoice can cost anywhere from $15-$40 depending on how long the process takes.

While it’s possible to reduce these costs with more efficient processes, the simplest way to cut costs is to go paperless, which allows you to eliminate the manual work that’s required when processing paper invoices. Once you digitize invoices and start using an automated accounts payable process that’s 100% paperless, you should save a considerable amount of money.

Having to store records in an on-site location can be costly compared to the storage requirements for paperless invoices. If you need to store these documents on-site, you’ll lose valuable space that could otherwise be used for something meaningful. While you do have the option to use off-site storage, these storage solutions tend to be costly.

Along with the monthly storage fees, you may be tasked with paying transportation costs. When opting to use digital document storage, most providers will charge a relatively reasonable monthly fee that’s much more affordable when compared to physical storage. There also aren’t any hidden fees for accessibility or transportation to pay.

When you use a paper accounting system, the steps that occur with invoice processing must be done manually, which can lead to missed deadlines for payments as well as delays for accounts payable teams that are having difficulties with managing incoming invoices. If ever a member of the team isn’t at the office, the whole process can become considerably slower for hours on end.

This issue is particularly noticeable when the employee who isn’t there is directly responsible for approving payments or beginning the processing of paper invoices. If you use automated accounting software, each member of the AP team should be able to start invoice processing. It’s also possible for managers to begin this process remotely.

Another tangible benefit of going paperless if that doing so is considered to be environmentally friendly. The process of making paper involves cutting down trees, which results in carbon dioxide being sent into the atmosphere. A large amount of paper will also end up being placed in the trash, which leads to further waste. In comparison, paperless accounts payable is 100% “green”.

Accounts payable teams and departments are tasked with handling a sizable sum of paper when processing paper invoices, which makes it easy to lose important documents. Lost invoices typically result in orders being late or unpaid, which could lead to additional fees and the potential for audits. Paper invoices have also been the target of fraud in the past, which isn’t an issue when using a digital system that’s fully automated.

If you want to run a modern business, it’s highly recommended that you make the shift over to paperless accounts payable. Once this move is made, your processing costs should drop considerably, storage costs should be practically eliminated, and lost files shouldn’t be a problem.