How Do You Find the “Just Right” AP Automation Solution for You?

Goldilocks thought picking a chair, a bed, and some porridge was difficult. Imagine if she had to pick an accounts payable solution for one of the Bear family members! 

That’s the conundrum facing many finance teams in 2024. Many of these solutions are available, but selecting one that fits your organization’s specific needs and vendor population is trickier than you might think. That is because your business is not a cookie cutter one, but a living, breathing entity, with a unique team, process flow, and payment mix. Many providers offer a one-size-fits-all approach that may not actually fit you. 

How do you find the just-right mix that would have Goldilocks beaming? Here are five criteria to focus on.  

Ideal payment mix 

Never choose a provider based on how you’re paying vendors today, especially if your mix includes a heavy dose of check payments. Instead, look at your ideal mix.  

For example, suppose you would prefer to pay 75% of your supplier population by virtual card because you value the ease of use, rebate potential, and security of that payment type. In that case, you should prioritize providers with a track record of offering card payments that fit those criteria. If you think ACH will be easier to sell to your vendors because they already accept those payments, find a provider that offers more secure payment rails for ACH, especially if they provide a rare opportunity to earn rebates. And so on. 

Identifying the payment type or types that are right for your business and your vendors will help you select a provider who fits your needs, whether those needs center on new revenue opportunities or ease of use.  

Vendor enrollment and management 

One of the biggest hurdles to a successful payables automation program is vendor adoption. You can have your ideal payment mix identified, and your solution paid for and set up, but if vendors refuse to accept those payments and get on board, you’re unfortunately doomed. 

The right provider solves that. Accounts payable teams should not be entirely or even primarily responsible for outreach to vendors concerning payments, as your team has bigger fish to fry and better batter to focus on frying them in. Instead, the solution you choose should have automated enrollment processes, light-touch and benefits-focused outreach to encourage that enrollment, and dedicated teams to explain the advantages of enrollment.  

The benefits of not burning your team out on outreach are evident, as are the benefits of encouraging enrollment instead of threatening vendors until they sign up. Your chosen provider should spell out how outreach will work, what your enrollment targets should be, and the timeline within which you can expect to have most of your vendor population on board within. 

Bonus point if they can guarantee a certain percentage of your suppliers will already be in the business payment network you choose. Bonus bonus points if that percentage is over 50 percent, because the amount of time and work that takes out of the equation is “just right” for any business that has a shortage of the former and an abundance of the latter.  

Network security  

In an age where fraud is a daily threat and bad actors are using modern technology and artificial intelligence to improve their communications and ability to gain access to critical systems, you can’t rely on vigilance alone to save you. No accounts payable team has the time and savvy to identify and stop every incoming threat. 

Instead, you should seek a provider with a closed business payments network, and one that limits or entirely prevents your exposure to fraud. With the Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting an annual, alarming rise in Business Email Compromise and other fraud schemes, that’s a universal business need. 

But what’s “just right” for your competitor may not be ideal for you, so bear that in mind. The more sophisticated the fraud prevention is, the better. Still, you may want to prioritize a provider who automates that work or takes care of it up-front by thoroughly authenticating vendors. Similarly, you may want to prioritize someone willing to share expertise so you can train your staff to be more vigilant.  

Intelligent invoice routing  

Invoice processing can be one of the biggest bottlenecks and pains in the neck for accounts payable teams. Ardent Partners estimates that the average time to process an invoice for organizations without best-in-class technology and processes is over three weeks. When we have access to instantaneous payment methods, the time and frustration for invoices do not seem worth the candle.  

Ideally, automation takes care of that long lag, including the tedious circulation of invoices for approval and the associated reminders to complete approval. A more advanced solution should offer machine learning capabilities, too, so there are fewer exceptions and hiccups even in that automated process.  

You know how knotty your process is, though, so think about how to address these when discussing a more generalized invoice process with providers.  

Support and program growth 

Lastly and perhaps most critically, you want a provider who walks the walk when it comes to caring about customers. Every AP automation provider will tell you they have standout support, but it will only take a couple of conversations with existing customers or a perusal of review pages to tell you if that is true or not.  

Again, you know what you need. If your staff is inexperienced or adjusting to a new process flow, it may be wise to invest in a solution with 24/7 live support. If you have a more seasoned staff, focusing on program growth and software mastery might be the best bet.  

Either way, it is important to look beyond what a provider says they can do and determine what they actually do for you. If you can, have a potential partner walk you through what would happen if you have a problem with the solution, so you can better understand what will happen when (or if) there is an actual fire.  

How you weigh these five factors will vary, and you may have concerns I haven’t raised that do not fit neatly in these categories. That’s okay! You should not try to make your accounts payable automation requirements fit neatly in a little box. 

What I hope you have taken away is the importance of scrutinizing any would-be solution partner not just for their flashy marketing promises, but what they offer in terms of how it fits your needs. Automation is the kind of game-changing investment that can pay major dividends for your business but remember: It’s your business. Invest in a solution that takes that to heart.