The manufacturing sector embraced automation long before everyone else. By using technology to take care of repetitive tasks, the industry discovered early on that employers could save time and money.
But not all employers have been quick to embrace accounts payable automation in the same way. Your assembly line and shipping processes may be automated, but what about your back office? Paying bills and invoicing takes time and people power, which comes off your business’s bottom line.
You may realize automation saves money, but your leadership team is likely calling the shots. The good news is, there are things you can do to make a strong case for automating your manufacturing business’s AP processes. Here are some tips to help.
Find Allies
Chances are, you aren’t the only one who has noticed the need for automation. If there are others on your own team, approach your business leaders together. Ideally, at least one person on the leadership team will agree with you. If that’s the case, work with that person to present your case and ask that it be taken to the rest of the team.
Gather Data
If you want to make the case to business leaders on any topic, the best thing you can do is equip yourself with data. Document how much time accounts payable takes, as well as the number of employees, and chart out the numbers. If possible, show in dollar amounts the money it currently takes to complete each of these tasks. Draw up a comparison to the cost of AP automation software to show how much money you’ll save over time.
Make a Case
Once you’ve determined how much current processes are costing in dollars and cents, come up with a presentation that demonstrates all the ways automation will benefit your workplace. Below are some of the benefits, to help get you started.
- Increase employee morale. When your accounts payable team can focus on higher-level tasks, they’ll be happier. Higher morale has been linked to an increase in productivity, which benefits everyone.
- Get paid faster. How quickly are you turning around your accounting tasks? If your invoices are slow to go out, you won’t be paid by your own customers as quickly. Technology can ensure invoices are turned around at a rapid pace, eliminating the risk of costly errors and ensuring you’re paid faster.
- Pay bills faster. When your vendors and suppliers are paid on time, you won’t have to worry about service interruptions.
- Gain better insight. AP software typically provides reports that can show you exactly how processes are being managed. Instead of having to manually track the progress of a payment, you can do a quick search and prevent things from falling through the cracks.
Monitor Results
Once you’ve convinced your leadership team to make the switch, it’s important to track results. You may find, over time, that you need to revisit how automation has paid off for your business. In doing so, you could also come up with better ways you can use AP automation to improve operations.
Centreviews specializes in automating AP processes for a wide range of industries. Having served multiple manufacturers, we can provide case studies that show the bottom-line impact of making the switch. Contact us today to schedule a free AP automation demo.
