Accounts Payable Automation with Approveit

Accounts Payable Automation with Approveit

Accounts Payable Automation with Approveit

Apr 17, 2025

Accounts Payable Automation with Approveit

Introduction to Accounts Payable Automation

In today’s fast-paced business environment, the efficiency of financial operations is paramount. Manual accounts payable (AP) processes, characterized by paper invoices, manual data entry, and prolonged approval cycles, are increasingly becoming obsolete. These traditional methods not only consume valuable time but also expose organizations to errors, fraud, and compliance risks.

Enter accounts payable automation—a transformative approach that leverages technology to streamline the AP process from invoice receipt to payment. By automating routine tasks, organizations can achieve faster processing times, improved accuracy, and enhanced visibility into their financial workflows. This AP automation guide aims to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive understanding of how to automate the accounts payable process, thereby unlocking efficiencies and driving strategic value.

Throughout this guide, we will explore the benefits of digital accounts payable management, delve into the key features of effective AP automation systems, and provide a step-by-step implementation roadmap. Additionally, we’ll share real-world case studies that highlight the tangible impacts of automation on financial operations. With solutions like Approveit, organizations can seamlessly integrate financial workflow automation into their existing systems, ensuring a smooth transition towards a more efficient and transparent AP process.

Key Features of an Effective AP Automation System

An efficient AP automation system should encompass the following features to optimize the accounts payable process:

  • Invoice Capture and Data Extraction: Utilizing technologies like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to digitize and extract data from invoices.

  • Automated Workflow Management: Customizable workflows that route invoices through appropriate approval hierarchies based on predefined rules.

  • Integration Capabilities: Seamless integration with existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and accounting software to ensure data consistency.

  • Real-Time Reporting and Analytics: Dashboards and reporting tools that provide insights into payment statuses, processing times, and cash flow.

  • Security and Compliance Features: Robust security measures to protect sensitive financial data and ensure compliance with relevant regulations.

Accounts Payable Automation with Approveit

Approveit offers a comprehensive solution for automating your accounts payable (AP) management, ensuring efficiency and compliance. The platform provides a secure and unalterable audit trail, facilitating end-of-year reviews and compliance audits.

The Accounts Payable module within Approveit encompasses:

  • Vendor Approval and Management: Streamline the onboarding and oversight of vendors, ensuring that all supplier information is accurate and up-to-date.

  • Bill Management: Automate the processing of incoming bills, from receipt to payment, reducing manual entry and minimizing errors.

  • Purchase Order Management: Manage purchase orders efficiently, ensuring that all procurement activities are tracked and authorized appropriately.

  • Budgeting (Expense Control): Monitor and control expenses by setting budgets and tracking expenditures against them, promoting fiscal responsibility.

By leveraging Approveit’s capabilities, organizations can enhance their AP processes, leading to improved operational efficiency and financial oversight.

Let’s look into the way it works.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide

Adding Vendors

First thing you want to do is make sure your vendors are all safely imported into Approveit.

There are several ways to add vendors: manually one by one, import from a third-party system you already use, or import in bulk using a CSV file.

To add your vendors manually, go to the Vendors tab and hit "New Vendor" or a "+" icon

Approveit-dashboard-showing-list-of-vendors-and-option-to-add-new-vendor

You'll get the window where you'd need to fill in all the vendor details you consider necessary for collaboration. The only field Approveit marks as required by default is Vendor name. Once you've filled in all the vendor details, hit Save.

Approveit-new-vendor-form-with-contact-details-fields

Another way you can add vendors to Approveit is bulk import. On your Vendors page, click "Import"

If you have set an integration with the accounting system, Approveit will offer you to import your vendors from there or use the CSV import option. The template of the CSV Approveit accepts can be downloaded from here as well.

Approveit-import-popup-with-option-to-upload-vendor-CSV-template

Accounting settings

The next thing you'd need to set up before proceeding to PO and bill automation is Categories and Tax rates. Those accounting settings can be found in your organization's menu on the top left

Approveit-organization-settings-menu-open-with-categories-and-taxes-options-highlighted

Approveit has default tax rates and categories set up already, but you can customize those lists to match your current accounting practice. If you have set up the integration with your accounting system, accounts and tax rates can be imported from there. Alternatively, you can add new accounts, categories, and tax rates manually.

Approveit-accounts-settings-tab-showing-import-and-new-account-buttons

Setting up Purchase Order Management

Once we've completed all the prep work, we can start automating PO approval workflows.

To do so, hit "New workflow" from your Dashboard, "+" icon in the header or Workflows tab and select Purchase order approval template on the Templates screen.

Approveit-workflow-templates-showing-purchase-order-approval-highlighted-among-other-options

That action will take you to the workflow builder.

On the intake form for your PO you'll see a toggle "Vendor preapproval process enabled". If you activate that toggle, a new workflow stage will appear. That means that when your teammates submit a PO for approval, they can add a new vendor that doesn't yet exist in the system. That vendor has to go through an approval flow before the PO can be raised.

If you keep this toggle inactive, your teammates will be able to request POs only with vendors that already exist in Approveit.

Approveit-workflow-builder-with-vendor-preapproval-enabled

Automatic PO number generation setting is useful to set up so that your team doesn't have to manually assign PO numbers to every PO they raise.

You can find this setting by clicking “Settings”“Number generation” and there are several options for PO number generation. You can make it an Approveit-generated number, enter your own key, or select a manual input option.

Approveit-purchase-order-approval-workflow-settings-panel-openApproveit-purchase-order-approval-workflow-settings-panel-openApproveit-number-generation-popup-with-options-for-automatic-or-manual-purchase-order-coding

Setting Purchase Order Intake Form

The PO intake form can be reasonably customized. Keep in mind that some fields are required by default since no PO can exist without them filled out. Approveit allows you to add new fields to your PO form and mark some existing ones as required or optional. The field types you can add here are all in the right-side menu. Once you've completed customizing your intake form, hit "Done".

Approveit-intake-form-builder-for-purchase-order-approval-with-field-options

Setting up approvers works exactly the same way as it does for any other workflow. For more detailed information on how to set up approvers, visit "How to create a workflow" guide".

Once your PO approval workflow is set up, it will look like this:

Approveit-purchase-order-approval-workflow-with-automated-action-configured

Automated action stage is optional. It allows you to automatically send a PO in PDF to the vendor upon approval.

All the POs created using your purchase order approval workflow will appear in the Purchase Orders tab on the Accounts Payable section of the left-side menu.

POs can appear in the following statuses:

  • Approved (when the PO was fully approved)

  • Draft (when the PO was just created)

  • Canceled (if canceled by requestor or rejected by approver)

Status "Billed" will appear when you link bills to this PO. We'll get back to that later.

By pressing the arrow icon on the right, you can download approved or billed POs in PD.

Approveit-purchase-orders-table-with-statuses-and-download-options-visible

Setting up Bill Management

When we're done with POs, we can move on to a bill approval workflow.

Creating a bill approval workflow is similar to PO approval workflow. You select an appropriate template from the templates library and set up the intake form and approvers in the same way.

Some differences do exist though. With bill approval workflow, the automated action you'd be offered to add is "Mark as paid". That's useful especially when you add a task to pay the bill as the previous stage.

The workflow on the screenshot below works like this: Fill in the bill intake form → preapproved the vendor if it's new → approve the bill → assign a task to the accounting to pay the bill → automatically mark the bill as paid once the task is transferred to the status "done".

Approveit-bill-approval-workflow-with-label-and-signature-settings-expanded

Bills created with your bill approval workflows will appear in the Bills tab in the Accounts Payable section in the left-side menu.

Bills can appear in the following statuses:

  • Pending (when the bill was just created)

  • Approved (when the bill was approved)

  • Rejected (when the bill was rejected by approver)

  • Canceled (when the bill was canceled by requestor)

Status "Paid" appears when an approved bill is manually or automatically marked as paid.

Approveit-bills-table-with-approval-and-payment-status-options-highlighted

When creating a bill approval request, you will see the form in the screenshot below. Bills can be submitted very easily. If you drag & drop a PDF with the bill you've received from your vendor here, data on it will be automatically captured to your form thanks to Approveit's OCR. All you'll need to do is select a vendor and a cost center (if applicable).

Approveit-new-approval-request-form-with-invoice-upload-placeholder-visible

A parsed bill looks like this:

Approveit-new-approval-request-with-invoice-preview-and-auto-filled-fields

Bills look like this in the system:

Approveit-bill-details-view-showing-vendor-data-status-and-attachment

To get that view, simply click on any bill in the Bills tab. You can always review attachments, mark them as paid, and see approval details from here.

Bill-to-PO link

Now, let's get back to our POs for a minute.

From the POs tab, you can access every PO that has ever been created. Click on one to get the detailed view. Approved POs can de downloaded in PDF and copied to bills. If you hit "copy to bill", data from this PO will be copied automatically to a bill and sent for approval. That action created a link between POs and bills.

Approveit-purchase-order-details-page-with-pdf-download-and-copy-to-bill-option

Once the linked bill is requested, PO's status automatically changes to Billed. All linked bills can be viewed in the detailed view of billed POs.

Approveit-purchase-order-details-view-with-linked-paid-bill-and-status-closed

Expense control

You can control the spending your team requests automatically using Cost Centers feature. To learn more about setting up Cost Centers and Budgets, visit this guide.

Conclusion and Next Steps

Embracing accounts payable automation is no longer a luxury but a necessity for organizations aiming to stay competitive and agile. By transitioning from manual processes to automated workflows, businesses can achieve significant time and cost savings, reduce errors, and enhance compliance. Moreover, automation fosters better supplier relationships through timely payments and improved communication.

As we’ve explored in this AP automation guide, tools like Approveit offer robust features that cater to the unique needs of modern organizations. From customizable approval workflows to real-time tracking and analytics, Approveit empowers businesses to streamline their AP processes effectively.

To embark on your automation journey, consider the following steps:

  • Assess Your Current AP Process: Identify pain points, bottlenecks, and areas prone to errors.

  • Define Clear Objectives: Establish what you aim to achieve with automation — be it cost reduction, faster processing times, or improved compliance.

  • Engage Stakeholders: Involve finance teams, IT, and other relevant departments to ensure a smooth implementation.

  • Choose the Right Solution: Select an AP automation tool, like Approveit, that aligns with your organizational needs and integrates seamlessly with existing systems.

  • Monitor and Optimize: Continuously track performance metrics and seek feedback to refine and enhance the automated processes.

By taking these proactive steps, your organization can harness the full potential of Approveit’s accounts payable solution, paving the way for a more efficient, accurate, and strategic financial operation.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team.