Enrollment: Automating enrollment through electronic channels such as an enrollment portal, email or fax allows workflow engines to quickly provide and process onboarding credentials and can assist in supplier verification.

Fraud: Increasingly, Accounts Payable (AP) fraud begins at the point of supplier enrollment. Busy AP departments often do not confirm/verify enrollment credentials or if they do, they use the same channel through which the enrollment request was received (e.g. e-mail) or do not perform an alternate channel telephone verification.

Automating invoice receipt and processing can greatly improve productivity of the AP department. In the largest companies, invoice automation (electronic invoices, scanning invoices into workflow) can nearly double productivity (IOMA).

Post Payment: Much of the processing that occurs after an invoice is paid is related to checks: replacements, stop payments, reconciliation, escheatment, and duplicate check issuance. Paying with ACH Credits eliminates or reduces many of these costs, although certain types of maintenance (e.g., supplier address, bank account, etc.) may remain the same for checks and ACH Credits.

Supplier Maintenance: Maintaining supplier records is part of doing business, but typically cost a significant amount of labor and paper. Phone and manual maintenance request processing costs twice as much as more automated e-mail and fax, but together, they represent processes where paper is generated (a printed email or fax, a photocopy, etc.). Providing automated or electronic means of supplier self service, can greatly reduce both environmental and business impacts.