What is AP automation?

Accounts payable automation (AP automation) involves using software to automate common vendor invoice tasks. It facilitates manual tasks for the payable department and allows for paperless document management, invoice processing, PO matching, and payment reconciliation. Traditional accounts payable teams are burdened by overhead, manual data entry, and inefficiencies. An AP system allows teams to scale without adding more staff, gain better visibility into financial data, and achieve financial close-up to 25% faster. Accounts payable software is a more affordable, flexible, and easier solution than accounts payable outsourcing.

How does AP software work?

AP software optimizes the accounts payable process in key areas where manual labor is causing inefficiencies, such as invoice processing, mass payments, data entry, price matching, and more. The first step in invoice automation is data capture. An AP automation solution extracts all invoice data and automatically compares the line items with the purchase order information that is synced in your system, which is called PO matching. This can also be done with other documents like inspection reports and shipping receipts. It then routes the invoice to the correct approvers. Once approved, the software sends invoice data to an integrated ERP system while archiving data from digital documents, paper invoices, and audit trails. AP automation has many benefits. When automation software is used, accounts payable teams can reduce costs, eliminate routine tasks, and provide better visibility and control over financial data. It also facilitates cash flow and leads to early payment discounts.

How does automation software help AP teams scale?

If you seek to scale your AP team, automation is the next step. It’s an efficient tool for any modern CFO. AP software helps teams grow through automated invoice processing, cost savings, streamlined approval routing, stronger vendor relationships, reduced risk, and complete integration. Automation means you always pay on time, at the right time, every time. It solidifies supplier relationships, streamlines transactions, and keeps partnerships intact. This type of system will also help avoid late payment fees.

How much does AP software typically cost?

The cost of AP automation software depends on the tasks your business needs to perform and how you plan to automate accounts. The best AP automation software offers the following modules: Scan and Archive: A document management system with invoice capture. Archival and Auto-Matching: This includes internal controls for AP, such as front-end processing and approval workflows. For this type of system, associated spend will include the annual licence fee and related support costs, which include: Bi-directional integration Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Business intelligence Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Cloud-based Automation: In cloud-based AP automation, all infrastructure investments are made in the cloud, and the cost is shared. Usually, providers of this approach charge on a transactional basis instead of the licence model.

Do vendors interact with AP Automation software?

Yes, vendors do interact with Accounts Payable (AP) automation software. However, the nature and extent of their interaction varies based on the specific software and the business needs. Here are several ways vendors might interact with AP automation systems: Invoice Submission: Supplier invoices can be submitted electronically, creating a touchless process that reduces manual data entry. Vendor Portals: Vendors can upload their invoices, manage account details, and check invoice payments in a self-service vendor portal. Communication and Dispute Resolution: Through AP software, vendors can communicate directly with finance teams, which helps to resolve discrepancies or human errors quickly. Payment Processing: One of the benefits of AP automation is fast payment processing. Vendors can check on payment status and sometimes offer early payment discounts based on electronic invoicing terms. Registration and Profile Management: Vendors can register and manage profiles within an AP automation system. This includes tasks like updating contact data, payment preferences, and other relevant details. Compliance and Documentation: Vendors may need to submit compliance documents (e.g., tax forms and certifications) through the software. Accounts payable automation software will also maintain a detailed audit trail, which vendors can access to review historical transactions and communications.

How much can a business save with Accounts Payable automation?

According to Tipalti’s Invoice Processing & Payment Cost Calculator, automated processing can save a business an average of $14.93 per invoice compared to companies that manually process their invoices. Additionally, you can try Tipalti’s Payment Error Cost Calculator to help calculate costs due to errors.

How does AP automation help the approval process?

Automation helps to reduce the AP portion of procure-to-pay cycle time. It’s a best practice for improving the AP workflow. It skips the endless approver follow-up that happens with manual invoice processing and eases the labor workload. The system automatically verifies vendors and validates invoices. It then forwards the approval request to the right person in the organization, completely automating the AP invoice approval process. The invoice is automatically matched to the electronic purchase order in a two-way approval. Three-way approval requires those documents, plus a receiving report as the third item.

Does AP Automation replace my ERP system?

AP (Accounts Payable) automation will not replace your ERP system. Instead, it complements and integrates with your existing ERP to enhance its capabilities.

How does AP software handle tax compliance?

Accounts Payable (AP) software helps companies manage their bills and payments efficiently, especially when it comes to tax compliance. AP software includes features and functionalities that address tax-related requirements accurately and timely. Tipalti’s tax solution helps your company comply with all tax provisions and simplifies the AP process. Our guided tax form wizard assists suppliers in choosing the correct form based on the country and business structure.

How does AP automation software integrate with ERP systems?

ERP system integrations are largely built around identifying back-end processes that can be streamlined with AP automation. Tipalti has pre-built integrations to connect to popular systems like Sage Intacct, NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Xero, and Acumatica. The Tipalti platform syncs bill and payment data in real-time, accelerating the reconciliation process. The level of integration depends on your needs and workflow.

Does AP automation software improve supplier relationships?

AP automation improves global supplier management in a variety of ways. It immediately alerts merchants when invoices have been paid. Real-time status updates can be sent via email when something is not paid. An automated AP accounting system can also be used for vendor management and compliance, as well as collecting tax data for VAT. AP automation software forges stronger supplier relationships, and when a situation demands increased support or supply, vendors will be willing to go above and beyond to meet your needs.

How can automation improve the structure of an AP department?

Accounts payable automation software improves the structure of an AP department by separating duties both inside and outside of the team. Proper segregation of AP duties is a requirement for solid internal controls. Other objectives include preventing fraud, matching responsibilities, and redefining roles to accommodate automation.

How does automated payment reconciliation work?

Automatic payment reconciliation enables a business to upload an electronic version of a bank statement and automatically reconcile it. The bank provides the e-version using “matching rules” that are designated in the system. A business can speed up financial close with features like drill-down filters, transaction level details, ERP synchronization, and real-time integrated reports. Remittance results across all payment methods, entities, and geographies are instantly normalized and built into deep reporting. This leads to faster and more accurate reconciliation and general ledger reporting.

How does B2B payment processing work with AP automation software?

AP software improves oversight with a full view of B2B payment cycles and the analysis of accounts payable metrics. This is what makes AP software especially critical for operations for a small business. When it comes to B2B payments, ACH transfers are the leading form of payment. Every year, check remittances steadily decrease while wire transfers are on the rise.

Can AP automation software find duplicate payments?

When selecting the best accounts payable software, look for a system that finds duplicate payments. Tipalti has built-in financial controls and artificial intelligence to identify duplicate invoices in your accounts payable workflow. Our system checks from when the invoice is uploaded to when it’s approved, even communicating with integrated systems. When a potential duplicate is found, the system will notify the user with an urgent notification.

AP Automation to Reclaim Time, Unleash Impact

If never-ending manual work is draining the life out of your team, let Tipalti automate your AP workflows from start to finish.

AP Automation Features

From Manual to Modern

With our end-to-end automation capabilities, AP automation processes aren’t just manageable; they’re seamless—from self-service supplier onboarding and automated invoice management to fast global payments.

End-to-end AP automation—all managed from one place

Full spend visibility at the sub-ledger and entity level

Built-in financial and regulatory controls

Global supplier and invoice management

Manage multiple entities

Extend to Expense and Procurement Management

Automated Invoice Management

Manual processes and data entry are time-consuming and prone to errors. Our automated invoice processing uses AI to capture accurate invoice details, match them to POs, route for approval, and avoid duplicate bills.

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Self-Service Supplier Management

Our multi-language, self-service supplier onboarding means you’ll capture accurate supplier details, reduce status inquiries, and gain complete visibility.

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Built-In Tax Compliance

Securely collect and validate supplier business and social insurance numbers, and easily capture and code tax details like GST/ HST/ PST on submitted invoices.

Explore Tax Compliance

Two and Three-Way PO Matching

Say farewell to overpayments. Two and three-way PO matching slashes waste, eliminates fraud, saves time, reduces bottlenecks, and ensures you’re audit-ready.

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Lightning-Fast Payments

Quick and easy payments across 200 countries in 120 currencies and 50+ different payment methods. Proactively eliminate payment errors with 26,000+ built-in rules.

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More Features

Payment Reconciliation

Close your books 25% faster by integrating real-time, accurate spend data integrated with your ERP.

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Procurement

Complete control and visibility over corporate spend, with simple intake, custom approvals, streamlined supplier management, and in-depth reporting.

Explore Procurement

Platform Features

Work smarter, not harder

With AI and machine learning capabilities, an intuitive UX, and quick and easy global payments, you can drive unprecedented efficiency.

AI

Smarter processes. Instant insights. More productivity. Less manual work. Tipalti AI actually gets things done.

Global

Manage all entities’ payables operations from a single system. Enable each entity to operate with its own unique workflows and branding.

Tipalti Detect®

Proactively prevent fraud by identifying unusual patterns. Block suspicious payees from receiving payments, prevent them from creating new accounts, and get notified of abnormal activities.

Controls and Compliance

Stay up-to-date and protected automatically, with multi-jurisdictional tax compliance, built-in payment protections, and enterprise-grade controls and security.

Integrations

Pre-Built ERP Connections to Extend Automated Workflows

Easily extend and simplify your workflows with pre-built integrations and powerful APIs for your ERPs, accounting systems, performance marketing platforms, HRIS, SSO, Slack, credit cards, and more.

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Customer Stories

Don’t just take our word for it,

see what our customers are saying

Service Rocket

ServiceRocket cut AP time by 80%, reduced staffing needs, improved global compliance, and integrated YayPay and NetSuite.

Product

AP Automation

Region

United States, Global

Industry

Business services

Size

100 – 1000

JLab

With Tipalti, JLab’s AP team boosted productivity by 68% and managed 35% more invoices without adding headcount.

Product

Region

Industry

Size

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Payments are faster, lost checks are no longer a problem, and vendor relationships have improved across the board.

Product

Region

Industry

Size

Vivino

Vivino implemented Tipalti Accounts Payable to automate invoice management and other accounts payable processes, including vendor onboarding and multi

Product

AP Automation

Region

Europe, Germany, Global

Industry

Marketplaces

Size

100 – 1000

Outset Global

Outset Global automated AP workflows, cut AP close time by 50%, and integrated seamlessly with QuickBooks.

Product

Region

Industry

Size

Elite Staffing

With Tipalti, Elite Staffing transitioned to paperless operations, increased payment visibility, and streamlined processes with reduced error rates.

Product

AP Automation

Region

United States, Global

Industry

Business services

Size

1000+

Sugar CRM

SugarCRM avoided new hires, streamlined vendor management with fast payments, and integrated seamlessly with NetSuite ERP.

Product

AP Automation

Region

United States, Global

Industry

Software and technology

Size

100 – 1000

Centerfield

Centerfield Media cut 20 weeks of AP work yearly and saved 12 days on monthly close using Tipalti Accounts Payable.

Product

Region

Industry

Size

Dragoman

Tipalti transformed Dragoman’s payment operations by automating processes and integrating with the company’s accounting software.

Product

Region

Industry

Size

How It Works

Up and Running in Weeks, Not Months

Collaborative customer support with customised onboarding to get you operational quickly

Step 1

Plan

Kickstart your success with a comprehensive setup call that reviews your manual AP workflow, outlines the onboarding plan, validates technical configurations, and prepares for training.

Step 2

Configure

Tipalti’s implementation experts set up your hosted portal, create sample payment files, configure payment options and email integrations, and establish ERP integrations using our pre-built solutions.

Step 3

Deploy

In-depth training for AP staff on the Tipalti Hub and the end-to-end AP automation functionalities, ensuring thorough knowledge transfer to turbocharge your successful launch.

Step 4

Adopt

Support user adoption and change management during launch while guiding suppliers through onboarding. Once set, you’ll be ready to execute your first payment run and officially launch Tipalti.

Step 5

Optimise

Continued technical support by phone and email. Tipalti customer success team learns your goals and offers solutions to reach them.

Compare

See how we stack up

Features	Quadient	Concur	Plooto
Supplier Management Branded self-service onboarding, payment validations, supplier payment choice and visibility
Invoice Management AI-based OCR, managed services, predictive GL coding and approval routing, advanced PO matching	Limited functionality	Limited functionality	Limited functionality
Tax and Regulatory Compliance Digitally collect and validate tax details, TIN validations, prep reports, automatic withholdings and eFiling
Payments Network Pay to 196 countries in +120 currencies via 12+ methods. Globally licensed, bluechip bank partners, fraud protection		Limited functionality	Limited functionality
FX Solution Seamlessly convert currencies, manage intercompany bank transfers, and hedge FX risks
Global Multi-Entity Manage multiple entities with different payables workflows, consolidated view	Limited functionality	Limited functionality
Reconciliation and Reporting Fully managed in-house API and file-based integrations with leading ERPs, instant payables reconciliation	Limited functionality	Limited functionality	Limited functionality
Procurement Dynamic intake, approval workflow integrations, budget visibility, PO creation, contract management	Limited functionality	Limited functionality
Expense Management Configurable policies, mobile expense submission and approval, global reimbursements, automatic reconciliation	Limited functionality