See how forward-thinking finance teams are future-proofing their organizations through AP automation.
Your accounts payable software is vital for seamlessly paying your vendors and suppliers. With debts and invoices paid on time, your company can focus on strategic initiatives and maximize the value of relationships with various business partners.
The market is flooded with accounts payable systems, including supplier and vendor payment software. Which accounts payable solution should you choose? How do different tools compare?
To help you answer this question and narrow down your options, we’ve generated a list of the six best accounts payable software products. As your CFO and finance/accounting team know, selecting the right tool for your needs is critical for scaling your business, taking on your competitors, and improving cash flow.
Top 6 Accounts Payable Platforms
What is Accounts Payable Software?
Accounts payable (AP) software is designed to automate business payment processes from start to finish by leveraging sets of instructions that are customized to each business process. The software filters, categorizes, matches, and validates critical accounting information that is then pushed through the accounting system to be recorded.
AP is also an umbrella term for niche software that serves specific functions under the AP category. For example, both enterprise resource management (ERP) systems with an accounting solution that includes accounts payable, like NetSuite, and AP automation solutions like Tipalti are AP software solutions. AP teams implement accounts payable solutions to process, record, and pay discounted vendor invoices.
Accounts payable software may require manual tasks like data entry and matching paper invoices with purchase orders and receivers. However, the best cloud-based accounts payable automation solutions are designed to reduce these manual tasks by up to 80% by using electronic document data instead.
Additional AP software functions include:
- Processing and recording vendor invoices for purchases and services with trade credit terms
- Account coding of the short-term liability and the asset or expense for bookkeeping and spend management
- Two-way or three-way matching of documents and invoices
- Approvals
- Early payment discounts
- Pay bills
- Accounts payable aging and cash disbursement reports
- General ledger posting
AP automation software creates the ultimate automated accounts payable system by reducing accounts payable workload and human error.
What is an Accounts Payable System?
An accounts payable system is an organized (and often automated) system responsible for paying vendors and suppliers for goods and services purchased by a company. The ultimate goal is to ensure that a business pays its debts on time to the correct vendors for the correct amounts.
The right AP automation software setup can guarantee that the AP system runs as securely and efficiently as possible.
The best accounts payable software is AP automation from Tipalti.
Reduce invoice payment errors and fraud risks and achieve efficiency with AP automation software.
Top Features of Accounts Payable Automation Software
An AP automation solution eliminates manual processes by automating the accounts payable payment process to speed up day-to-day AP processes. Accounts payable automation software includes OCR invoice scanning for invoice capture as data, accounts payable invoice processing software, automated approvals, global cross-border payments, and accounts payable document management software.
Strong accounts payable automation software is a management solution that adds self-service supplier onboarding, tax compliance, fraud prevention, payment discounts optimization, electronic document matching, online multi-currency global mass payments, secure payment methods, automatic payments reconciliation, and spend and cash management.
AP automation software streamlines AP workflow for payable processes, reducing manual data entry and paper check payments.
Breaking Down the 6 Best Accounts Payable Software Platforms
Finding the right AP automation software setup ensures that your AP system runs securely and efficiently. Here’s a breakdown of the six best accounts payable software platforms on the market and the specific functions and types of companies they serve:
1. Tipalti
Tipalti is a cloud-based integration with your ERP system, which is a SaaS add-on software solution that automates accounts payable processes. Tipalti has an intuitive user interface and offers top accounts payable automation software features. Tipalti AP automation features include self-service supplier onboarding, OCR invoice data capture and invoice automation, two or three-way matching, and automated invoice approval workflows with approval process routing.
The Tipalti AP software solution also offers bill pay, tax compliance, and fraud reduction to help you maintain compliant accounting practices. The finance automation software gives your business a solid audit trail. Tipalti software uses artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning and robotic process automation (RPA) technologies.
In addition to its AP automation software, Tipalti has mass payments software for payouts and an Expenses product for employee expense management and reimbursement.
Tipalti offers a unified platform that supports users across a number of scenarios, including:
- Supplier management
- Tax compliance
- Procurement
- Invoice management
- Global payments
- AP reporting and real-time payment reconciliation
- ERP integration
Tipalti’s wide range of accounting software and ERP integrations helps clients reduce their AP workload by up to 80% and see a 25% increase in financial close speed and controls. Tipalti also offers purchase order management software (Tipalti Procurement).
Best for: High-growth potential small businesses, midmarket companies, and large enterprise companies that want to ease their AP workload with a scalable, fully-featured AP automation system
Price Range: CAD $$
2. Plooto
Plooto offers accounts payable and accounts receivable software as a combined product. For accounts payable payment automation, Plooto enables global payments using a choice of payment methods and automatically performs account reconciliation.
With Plooto accounts payable, businesses can import bills from integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, or NetSuite. Or, instead, they can manually enter bills to pay with Plooto. Plooto also makes CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) tax payments easy.
Best for: Small and mid-market companies wanting a simple, combined accounts payable and accounts receivable payment solution
Price Range: CAD $–$$
3. Quadient AP (formerly Beanworks)
Quadient AP is an AP automation system that integrates ERP or accounting software. Quadient AP captures invoice data by heading and line items performs invoice processing, automates routings for the approval process, and lets businesses pay their global invoices. Digitized automation eliminates manual data entry compared to a paper-based system.
Quadient AP provides customized quotes for Invoices and Payments software products needed for accounts payable automation.
Best for: Consideration in a software evaluation comparison by businesses wanting AP automation
Price Range: CAD $$
4. REPAY
REPAY is a real-time electronic payment processing system used to accept customer payments and for making accounts payable payments.
REPAY’s solutions (with accounting software or ERP integration) include vendor payment automation, which starts with assisted vendor onboarding and offers batch payment approvals via email. REPAY vendor payment automation provides a dashboard for monitoring payment status and spending, with search capabilities providing visibility.
Supplier payments in REPAY are via EFTs, including electronic bank account payments, credit cards, or virtual cards. REPAY generates real-time automatic reconciliation to vendor ledgers.
Best for: Companies wanting customer and vendor-related payment solutions
Price Range: CAD $$
5. Telpay
Telpay is an electronic payment system for accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, and tax remittances to the CRA and other government authorities. It originated as a payroll company. Telpay integrates with QuickBooks and other accounting software to sync payments and generate reports.
For accounts payable, the Telpay for Business payment system lets businesses transfer funds into any Canadian bank account as a preauthorized debit (PAD) to pay each payee as soon as the next business day. Recurring bill pay can be scheduled and payment dates can be entered for suppliers and other payees.
Best for: Businesses seeking a combined solution for accounts payable, payroll, taxes, and accounts receivable
Price Range: CAD $
6. RBC PayEdge
RBC PayEdge is accounts payable automation software used by businesses of all sizes. RBC PayEdge payment methods include Canadian bank accounts or Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
Your business can get supplier information from integrated ERP or accounting software or create supplier records and add payment details for a preferred payment method.
The RBC PayEdge system pays global invoices to any supplier in batches, provides detailed remittance information, and automatically reconciles payments.
Best for: Businesses making global payments with multiple payment methods
Price Range: CAD $$
Small Business Accounts Payable Software
Small business accounts payable software includes the software highlighted in our list and integrated accounting software with basic accounts payable functionality, including QuickBooks Online and Xero. You can start using mid-sized company software as a small business. Read our guide to the best accounts payable software for small businesses.
Midsize Business Accounts Payable Software
Accounts payable software for midsize businesses includes Tipalti and integrated ERP systems or accounting software with basic accounts payable from NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Business Central, Acumatica, and Infor Syteline.
For an in-depth breakdown of different midsize accounts payable solutions, read Tipalti’s best accounting software for midsize businesses article.
Accounts Payable Software for Large Business
Large enterprise businesses with big budgets use top-tier ERPs like Oracle EPM Cloud and SAP S4/HANA ERP systems. Midsize accounts payable software products may still be used by larger companies as they grow. Accounts payable software solutions that also work for large companies include Tipalti AP automation and mass payments software.
How to Choose the Best Accounts Payable Automation Software
1. Define Your AP Landscape
Understanding the intricacies involved in invoice processing is imperative. This will help define your AP landscape and determine what features software must have to meet business needs.
Important questions to help define your AP ecosystem include:
- How does your company receive vendor invoices?
- Is vendor invoicing in a paper, XML, or PDF format?
- Do you receive some invoices on paper or in PDF format via email?
An AP automation software worth investing in will allow you to receive supplier invoices in a variety of formats and will support turning them into digital copies through built-in optical character recognition (OCR) scanning.
Defining an AP landscape also consists of outlining your invoice processing workflow. The goal is to speed up processing time by automating manual tasks, particularly the repetitive and tedious ones. Ask any AP department employee, and they will quickly attest to the importance of properly processing invoices.
Expense invoices that aren’t coded and distributed correctly hinder the approval workflow and payment process. Additionally, when purchase order (PO) invoices aren’t matched according to their specific line levels, it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint deviations and mitigate errors. Finally, it makes it difficult to pay vendors and suppliers on time.
Accounts payable automation software worth purchasing will let you capture invoices by OCR, email, or supplier portal upload. It will automate coding and matching. AP automation software integrates with your existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and finance systems to deliver automated invoice processing. To ensure that you choose the right software, consider how it will be configured to support your current workflows first.
2. Map Your AP Invoice Process
Defining the AP landscape involves mapping the accounts payable invoice process. There’s a good chance the AP process consists of two separate workflows: processing supplier expense invoices that aren’t related to purchase orders (POs) and processing ones that are.
You’ll need to identify your pain points in both workflows to ensure you find the most helpful AP automation software. You can deploy software with all the bells and whistles, but if those features don’t address your unique needs, your investment will be ill-spent.
The first step in mapping the AP invoice workflow is identifying how you handle non-PO-related expense invoices and PO-related direct spend invoices. Which steps are repetitive? Which ones are manual? Do you already have some automated steps? Where do bottlenecks occur? What type of invoice archiving are you using?
Some common pain points include:
- Invoices where pertinent line data isn’t synced between systems
- Invoice data deviations
- Lack of a central inbox for sending vendor invoices
- Too many people involved in invoice processing
- Human error due to manual invoice processing
- Invoice processing delays due to clunky AP systems
Identifying your pain points and AP challenges allow you to intelligently move forward in choosing the best accounts payable automation software.
AP automation systems reduce your payables staff time required to answer supplier payment status inquiries by automating invoice receipt and payment status notifications through the portal and emails.
3. Look for Centralized Information Management
It becomes difficult to keep track of all of your invoices when they aren’t managed in a central location. AP automation management software can tackle this problem. It ensures that all invoice elements, including the receiving of invoice receipts, extraction of data, and validation of data, are stored and processed in a location your team can easily access.
Software should make it possible for the entire accounts payable department to collaborate through an online, centralized platform, even if they are working from different offices. This is particularly helpful if you have multiple business locations.
4. Opt for Automated Tax Form Collection
Have you ever spent hours looking for a vendor’s specific tax ID number? Collecting and managing tax information becomes a major headache when AP processes are not automated, especially when working with global suppliers.
Paying close attention to detail helps your finance team remain in compliance with any relevant industry rules or regulations. Tax and regulatory compliance become much simpler when you deploy AP software that features automated tax form collection.
5. Define and Enforce Your Workflow Rules
You achieve the highest level of accounts payable efficiency by using AP software solutions that allow you to not just define workflow rules but enforce them. These rules and enforcement processes lessen the likelihood of employees completing the same task twice, like making a double payment on an invoice.
Defining workflow rules involves setting tolerance ranges, such as those directed toward purchase order matching. These ranges can be customized to align with your company’s precise needs.
For example, if an invoice and PO can’t be matched using OCR scanning according to your set tolerance thresholds, the software can ping the appropriate entity for approval. This leads to a faster procure-to-pay cycle, which is vital to establishing positive long-term supplier relationships.
6. Embrace the Power of the Cloud
Choosing AP automation software that operates via the cloud is a smart business decision that allows you to create a strong internal AP framework.
Cloud AP automation (that can be integrated with cloud, on-premises, or hybrid ERPs) is used instead of installing an on-premises accounts payable automation software solution. For a cloud-based AP automation system, your business doesn’t need to deploy your own servers and perform your own system configurations. Needing to stack these tasks on top of your existing AP landscape would create a time-consuming and costly AP environment.
Cloud accounts payable software can be configured to support your existing AP infrastructure and can scale on an as-needed basis. These software programs typically come with advanced analytics and metrics, easily allowing you to determine which AP business processes are hindering efficiency and which ones are improving it.
Common key performance indicators (KPIs) include:
- Percentage of invoices received versus the number of invoices being processed within a certain period of time, usually bi-weekly or monthly
- Average cost of processing each regular invoice
- Invoice cycle time
- Percentage of incorrect payments versus the percentage of total payments
- Percentage of early payment discounts versus the percentage of offered discounts
Tipalti: Your Ideal AP Software Solution
Each of the market’s top accounts payable software solutions offers specific strengths that can help you increase your productivity and ROI. Some are better at improving your B2B vendor payment efficiency, while others excel at helping companies manage their expenses. AP software also helps reduce fraudulent activities and offers real-time business intelligence.
Tipalti’s cloud-based SaaS solution helps you realize and utilize the full benefits of automated payable solutions by streamlining, simplifying, and scaling your current processes.
Dubbed by Capterra as “The world’s most powerful payables automation solution,” Tipalti’s comprehensive approach to AP management provides end-to-end control and optimizes your payables workflow to equip your business to scale quickly and efficiently. Book a demo.
