August 03, 2021
Level-Up AP in Toledo Into an Automated Payment Processing Machine With Microsoft Power Automate
If your company is adopting digital conversion and searching for every opportunity to enhance proficiency and long-term agility, then we're confident that you’ve thought of automating your accounts payable processes.
Accounts payable (AP) automation is typically among the very first facets of the business to acquire a digital transformation innovation.
By doing this, you may computerize your print-based processes and expedite invoice acknowledgments, settlement management, and invoice or purchase request data input processes.
Apart from making these business workflows more capable, swift, and reliable, your organization will also experience extended cost savings and reformed utilization of your personnel.
So, how can you get started eradicating these time-consuming, repetitive AP processes? We're delighted you asked.
Now, we’ll discuss Microsoft Power Automate and how it's aiding businesses like yours to promptly and easily integrate mechanization for the various standards-based workflows affiliated with your AP division.
What is Microsoft Power Automate?
Microsoft Power Automate, previously Microsoft Flow, is a solution that allows organizations to develop electronic workflows between their company tools and operations to transmit, save, or collect data, organize records, get alert reports - basically anything with a regulated processes.
Power Automate allows clients to use features of Microsoft's Power Platform and Office 365 to establish low-code/no-code tools that supersede physical payment facilitating with digitized systems.
Conventional AP vs. Automated Operations
In a traditional Accounts Payable company model, payment orders generally come in diverse forms: non-electronic requests, emails, and even through customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. The operation resembles this:
Payment processing requisitions come in via one of the aforementioned trails.
A supervisor will recognize the request and assess whether or not to approve it.
If the requisition is approved, it's forwarded to AP for management. If not, it's delivered back to its source for correction.
During this process, typically numerous messages will transpire here and there between personnel involved in the process. Filed operations and control conditions, assist in guaranteeing quick response, verification, and reexamination.
It goes without saying, these diverse points of contact and steps highlight some extents for advancement and streamlining via automation. Let's examine those right now.
How Power Automate Advances Hand-Operated AP Processes
Microsoft Power Automate utilizes innovations like machine learning, digital process automation (DPA), and robotic process automation (RPA) to enable businesses to establish secure, compliant task automation to expedite processes.
Moreover, as a member of the Microsoft company, Power Automate works seamlessly with Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and other tools subject to the Microsoft Power Platform.
These beneficial tools can be integrated to produce added efficiency for your automation. Examples are:
Microsoft PowerApps can allow your company to build an uncomplicated UX/UI for the workflow, accessible by managers, stakeholders, and users.
Microsoft SharePoint Online provides a secure, correspondent source to cache your AP process information. Power Automate could be mechanized to deliver the details captured from payment processing orders and forward it to SharePoint records.
Microsoft Power BI advances data acquisition and reporting qualities that could help your staff to understand costs better and further investigate data to advance payment handling and authorization.
Without requiring any development experience, and after studying a few short sessions, personnel can leverage native formats in Power Automate to set up creating automation systems, while maintaining the capacity to personalize aspects to meet business demands.
A low or no-code solution could be designed and executed in as little as a month - providing the bedrock for your AP payment administration that works seamlessly with all your other Office 365 applications, like Excel.
The Benefits of Microsoft Power Automate
Your AP and Finance Operations teams may experience numerous perks from utilizing Power Automate, comprising:
Creating thorough process productivity by lowering the time it needs to handle payments, configuring prompts, and lowering the waiting period between confirmations.
Decrease person-hours spent on repetitive AP processes by eliminating hand-operated tasks.
Enhanced actual-time tracking of the payment operation, with complete, comprehensive perceptibility into AP qualities. This enables precise supervision of payment condition and provides partners essential insight into the condition of their AP company team.
By means of PowerBI coverage, AP staff can construct reports that provide practical insight to better propel efficiency, accountability, and transparency for the overall company.
Increased staff use is created by eliminating repetitive physical processes that don't work toward calculated development goals. Through digitized payment handling, employees are capable to focus their attention on revenue-generating activities.
Lessening manual data entry as a result of API amalgamation with digital sources and SharePoint as a primary repository for information.
Improved security, seclusion, and management. With regulated, mechanized processes, the hazard of non-adherence and a staff-created protection exposure is utterly removed.
Advanced resource monitoring via increased visibility into resource flow.
Further agility is fulfilled via the cloud-hosted tool, making it an expandable, long-term system for your organization. Moreover, Microsoft uses cutting-edge automation for greater dependability and adjustability.