The benefits of adopting AP Best Practices such as document imaging, workflow automation, and electronic payments are well known amongst finance and accounting professionals: Lower transaction costs, shorter processing cycle times, greater financial visibility, improved controls, better cash management, healthier vendor relations, faster and easier audits… The list goes on. The promise behind AP Best Practices is that it offers a path to Best-in-Class results. Organizations seeking Best-in-Class performance must take Best Practices into consideration, it not adopt them outright.
Anybill's software and services give small and mid-sized companies the ability to implement AP Best Practices, such as:
- Document imaging
- Workflow automation
- Electronic payments
Best-in-Class Performance for Accounts Payable
What is Best-in-Class performance and what does it mean for accounts payable?
According to the AberdeenGroup, the Best-in-Class represents the top 20% of aggregate performers in any given category with Industry Average representing the middle 50% and Industry Laggards representing the bottom 30%.
Characteristics of Accounts Payable Best-in-Class Performers*
- $2.18 average cost to process an invoice
- Industry Average: $9.38
- Laggards: $34.11
- 2.8 days average cycle time to process an invoice
- Industry Average: 15.8 days
- Laggards: 35.1 days
- 70% have enterprise-level visibility into AP processes
- Industry Average: 53%
- Laggards: 42%
- 80% segment their vendor base for electronic and manual payments
- Industry Average: 47%
- Laggards: 35%
- 55% use automated imaging and workflow solutions
- Industry Average: 49%
- Laggards: 26%
- 44% have the ability to measure process cycle times
- Industry Average: 39%
- Laggards: 32%
- 50% use online/web-based reporting
- Industry Average: 14%
- Laggards: 5%
- 44% have comprehensive AP automation (single solution)
- Industry Average: 34%
- Laggards: 26%
*AberdeenGroup: The E-Payables Benchmark Series: AP Strategies for Success (September 2008)
The results speak for themselves. Organizations that implement AP Best Practices in a quest for Best-in-Class results outpace the competition by a healthy margin. Yet for many organizations, navigating the AP Best Practices pathway to Best-in-Class results can prove challenging without a Best-of-Breed solution.