Accounting and accounts payable teams have traditionally worked in-house, sharing paper files across a combination of systems. However, much of this work can be done remotely as we saw at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employees suddenly had no choice but to work from home, and some companies and organizations were better equipped to handle this change than others. Those that were not prepared struggled to complete invoice approvals and process payments from disparate locations.
Many organizations invested in technologies that improved collaboration and communication. But following the first few months, they realized something interesting — it would be more efficient for all internal parties if this information was managed in the cloud. However, to do so effectively requires the highest levels of security, staff training, and an ability to quickly manage any issues with remote accounts payable processing. Some employers were forced to send employees to physical offices to complete approvals or produce checks before a workable solution could be found.
The good news is that long-term AP automation technologies enable efficient office-based or remote work. Whether the pandemic continues or is winding down, moving AP to the cloud will deliver significant increases in accounting department efficiency and save money.
Below are some tools and tips to enable your team to efficiently add value to your business.
AP is no longer a manual job
Unfortunately, accounts payable has been historically slow to convert to digital records, but ongoing remote and hybrid work will require teams to give up their attachment to physical invoices and make the switch. The good news is that digital records are easier to work with, more secure, and enable the conversion to automated AP processing as well.
Organize your remote work strategy around the cloud
The cloud should be the foundation of your digital strategy because cloud-based information management services are designed to enable collaboration and secure access from any location.
Be on the lookout for collaboration tools or file-sharing applications that don’t place a priority on information security because financial records pose a significant risk to your organization if accidentally disclosed.
Take these steps to find the best cloud service for you
As you vet potential information management cloud services, consider the following:
- Choose longevity: Do not accept new (younger than three years) cloud services, as they have not yet proven their ability to consistently provide availability or to solve your problems. In addition, you don’t want to get caught by a technology startup with plans for a quick build-and-sell rather than longer-term business goals.
- Uptime quality and service both matter: Most cloud services offer 99.9% uptime, but the very best ones deliver at least 99.999% availability. Take a look at the End User License Agreement (EULA) and the service history of any company you’re considering to ensure you are only speaking with those that you can count on to always be available to your employees.
- Security should be a major concern: In today’s era of increasing cyberattacks, which has been exacerbated by the shift to work from anywhere, you simply cannot leave your provider’s security policies unknown. Look for context-sensitive protections, complex password requirements, encryption, and an array of other application, transmission, data, physical and system protections.
A few additional capabilities can significantly improve the return on investment you get from your move to the cloud. As you digitize physical records, look for a technology partner who can automatically “scrape” the data from invoices as they are being scanned to eliminate manual data entry for your team. Finally, choose only a cloud provider with embedded process automation tools, so you can automatically route invoices through approval processes regardless of where employees are located.
The industry as a whole is moving to the cloud, and the economy is better off
Cooperative Educational Services (CES) is a procurement agency that provides shared purchasing services to 211 public education institutions and 250 public entities in New Mexico. They process more than 60,000 invoices every year. CES converted to digital records and developed an eProcurement process to control the flow of information throughout purchasing and to enable secure invoice review and approval from any location.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CES team made a seamless switch to work-at-home because of its cloud-based information management and AP system. Deputy executive director Robin Strauser explained that organizations still needed to procure and pay, so it was important that CES keep its members supplied with essential products and continued paying vendor businesses without interruption.
From CES and our own experiences adapting to work from home during the pandemic, we’ve learned there are advantages to choosing cloud-based services to support your AP team’s remote efforts. Cloud AP services enable secure access, collaboration and even automated workflow to streamline your efforts. The goal is simple: become more efficient, and save money without sacrificing security and workflow.
