5 Reasons Why Accounts Payable Automation is a No-brainer for Automotive Manufacturers

COVID-induced supply change disruptions, a massive shift in consumer behaviour & expectations, and the big Electronic Vehicles (EV) boom – the UK automotive manufacturing industry has witnessed extreme highs & lows in the past few years. To ensure business continuity and safeguard themselves for the future, auto manufacturers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), dealers, and repairing businesses are all looking at optimal accounts payable automation solutions more than ever before.

Read on to find out why automating accounts payable has become a no-brainer for automotive manufacturers in the current landscape.

Accounts Payable Automation for Automotive Manufacturers: Why Is It Necessary?

1. PAPERLESS APPROACH ADOPTION: Due to the complex nature of automotive manufacturing, businesses often rely heavily on third-party suppliers for parts & services. Working with multiple suppliers can be complicated for accounting teams, especially with paper-based processes.

Implementing accounts payable automation solutions for your automotive manufacturing business can help digitize the entire process and eliminate manual processing errors completely. In addition to data extraction, these automation solutions can help automatically convert PO receipts to supplier invoices or turn physical invoices into electronic ones to optimize processes further.

2. OPTIMIZED APPROVALS FOR STRONGER SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS: Managing suppliers & their payments is an essential part of the procurement process. The dependence on multiple suppliers and shorter invoice-to-pay cycles only adds to the complexities of supplier management in the automotive manufacturing industry.

In such a scenario, manual data entry & approvals can slow down the payables cycle, hampering vendor relationships significantly. Automating accounts payable allows you to fast-track approvals and ensure that your suppliers are paid on time, every time. Not only does this keep suppliers happy, but it also helps your business make the most of early payment discounts.

3. IMPROVED PAYABLES ACCURACY: Onshore finance teams tend to waste precious manhours in manually tallying invoices with purchase orders. These mundane tasks not only drain team members but also take the focus away from higher-end activities, plus opens the door to errors.

On the other hand, accounts payable automation solutions ensure that there are no duplicates or overpayments. These tools can perform two-way and three-way matches without any human intervention. In addition, most accounts payable software also offer the functionality to exempt minor error margins. This contributes to building healthier supplier relationships by overlooking minor invoicing errors and flagging only major ones.

4. FASTER, AUTOMATED PAYMENTS: We know by now that disbursing timely payments is the key to building healthier supplier relationships. However, manually issuing checks to suppliers is a long & tedious process that is prone to costly errors.

Automating supplier payments can instantly lower the time spent on the invoice-to-payment process. Once the check issuing process is automated, the onshore staff is freed of mundane tasks like printing & mailing checks. As a result, businesses end up saving 60-70% of time spent processing payments manually.

5. IMPROVED VISIBILITY THROUGH REAL-TIME DATA: Many times, rapidly expanding automotive manufacturing businesses focus too hard on business growth and ignore the potential of financial data. One of the most significant advantages of working with accounts payable automation tools is getting access to invoice status and metrics. Additionally, advanced search, reports, and management dashboards can play a crucial role in keeping your business agile & organized and shape up organizational growth.

QX Global Group: Your Reliable Accounts Payable Automation Partner

While accounts payable automation can transform your finance function, onshore teams might often not have the expertise & experience with the implementation bit, leading to the failure of such projects on a larger scale. QX Global Group is a global Business Process Management (BPM) company with rich experience in enabling digital transformation for leading manufacturers. Our team of payables experts is adept at working with all industry-standard tools and can even incorporate any additional tools that might suit your organizational needs better. Get in touch to kickstart your accounts payable automation journey today!

Originally published Jun 16, 2022 04:06:58, updated Jul 24 2024

Topics: Accounts Payable Automation, Accounts Payable Optimisation, Accounts Payable Process