Optimize your creditor workflow – how to do it

Financial accounting has long been digitized too. Are you looking to optimize processes in your company, specifically to accelerate your workflow for dealing with accounts payable invoices? This is perfectly feasible digitally, and the good thing is: everything is done automatically. This saves a lot of time and money.

This is what a creditor workflow is

If a company purchases services or products from a supplier and is issued an invoice, the supplier becomes the creditor. The journey of a supplier invoice, from when it’s received to when it’s entered and paid, is known as the accounts payable process. If this process is digitized and automated, it is referred to as an accounts payable workflow.

Improve your processes

A paper-based invoice has to be processed manually. Once it has been recorded, it has to be forwarded to whoever is responsible in-house, who then checks, accounts for, enters and approves the amount shown. Even if these invoices are usually already digitized or scanned upon receipt, this process is lengthier and less secure when it comes to confidential data. Moreover, if the processing time is longer, there is a risk that invoices will be processed later, which can lead to reminders.

The solution for optimizing these processes and making them more efficient is digital process automation. This will reduce admin costs by about 60 percent, and will give you more time to focus on other tasks.

More benefits of a digital accounts payable workflow:

• Full automation of order-related invoices: the ERP system compares the invoice received automatically with the order and the delivery confirmation in the ERP system. This is also known as “blind booking”. If everything is fine, the invoice is automatically approved, entered and paid without a single manual step in the process.
• A lower rate of error: Errors that would otherwise crop up frequently with manual processing are kept to a minimum
• Data security: Your accounts payable data will always be up to date, increasing data security because only authorized individuals can view the document
• Process transparency: Seeing as all processes are displayed digitally, this allows you check where something has gone wrong if a process has not yet been approved
• Independence: You can approve invoices on your tablet or laptop any time, any place

How to automate accounts payable accounting

Only receive invoices from preferred suppliers electronically. Doing so will lay the foundations for automated accounts payable accounting. This involves three steps:

1. Set up B2B e-invoicing
2. Check which suppliers also use B2B e-invoicing
3. Connect to your suppliers

Want to persuade additional suppliers to send you invoices as B2B e-invoices?

• Im Verzeichnis eDirectory.ch finden Sie eine umfassende Sammlung in der Schweiz domizilierter Geschäftspartner, die E-Rechnungen versenden und empfangen.
• Find other tips on how you can connect suppliers to B2B e-invoicing in our checklist “Using electronic accounts payable invoices”.

Here are the options available to you for connecting to the PostFinance system

• Integrated e-solution: you can integrate B2B e-invoicing into your accounting software and import the data into your system via an interface.
• eInvoicing portal: Here you can send, receive and manage your invoices electronically and independently
• eBill: If you do not use any software and only receive a few invoices electronically, you can use eBill and approve receivables in e-banking itself

How important is the account payable workflow?

Optimized, digitized workflows allow greater volumes of invoices to be processed in accounting programmes in a less resource-intensive way. Your company can save on costs thanks to more efficient processes. Additionally, turnaround times are reduced and the money reaches your business partners quicker, which fosters a good relationship. Because processes are displayed so transparently, they can be checked anywhere with ease. This all just goes to show that it is well worth digitizing your processes.