Optimized Supplier Payment Accuracy in Action: 7 Use-Cases of How FlexTrap Solved Real Problems
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A typical accounts payable (AP) department is responsible for an enormous amount of data. Maintaining that data and ensuring suppliers get paid accurately and on time requires a complex web of people, technology, and processes. With these elaborate systems in place, accounts payable departments are over 99.5% accurate on average – that’s an incredible feat.
However, when processing countless transactions a year, that .05% adds up. That is half a million dollars in erroneous payments for every one billion dollars spent. It doesn’t matter how well-trained, well-tuned, or advanced those people, technologies, and processes are: AP departments are making so many transactions per day that payment errors are inevitable.
AP errors can happen for a variety of reasons:
Organizational changes, like personnel, systems, and technology
Process changes, like the adoption of AP automation
Human error or fraud
Incorrect billing from suppliers
And more.
To combat erroneous payments, AP teams have a variety of systems and processes in place, such as an ERP system, AP (invoice) automation, or a manual review of paid transactions to recapture erroneous payments. Many large organizations also engage in regular accounts payable audits after the end of their financial year. All of these are critical components of AP health, but none of them represent the full picture. Disconnected technologies, such as ERP controls and Excel reviews, often fail to see the entire picture at the critical moment, leaving gaps that can result in undetected errors.
Accounts payable teams need a solution that can promise them immediate, complete control and assurance in their payments. They need to know that every payment they make is the right one.
They need 24/7, continuous monitoring of AP transactions to optimize payment accuracy.
Payment accuracy optimization is a payment error prevention approach where teams utilize an automated tool to monitor all transactions for potential erroneous payments, suspicious activity, and a variety of customizable validity checks. At FlexTecs, we enable customers to optimize payment accuracy with our in-house solution, FlexTrap. Team members can customize the tool to alert them to specific red flags depending on their unique risks and priorities.
Unlike traditional recovery strategies, payment accuracy optimization is a real-time, round-the-clock solution that helps stop erroneous payments from going out the door.
Optimized Payment Accuracy Benefit #1: Uncover What You Don’t Know
Many AP departments insist that erroneous payments do not happen at their organization, as they believe their ERP system will prevent them from happening. However, Accounts Payable teams typically have no way of knowing when an erroneous payment has slipped through. They either rely on the supplier to return erroneous payments, find out a year or more later in an accounts payable audit, or simply never find out at all.
Payment accuracy optimization eliminates that uncertainty and waiting period. By monitoring transactions for errors as they occur, AP teams know exactly when, where, and why errors occurred. They don’t have to go looking for errors – instead, the errors are surfaced directly to them.
Optimized Payment Accuracy Benefit #2: Remove Manual Tasks and Improve Efficiency
As effective and accurate as an accounts payable team may be, AP errors are bound to occur. That means that teams must stay on constant alert, looking back for errors regularly correcting the transaction, and recovering the cash. That vigilance and attention to detail are the reason AP teams operate at such a high level of accuracy…but it also slows them down and adds more work to their already full plate. FlexTrap provides a more time-efficient solution by continuously monitoring all transactions to ensure payment accuracy.
When the AP team is no longer bogged down by a constant barrage of alerts and errors, they can focus on continuous improvement in accuracy, supplier relationships, and internal functions. The time once devoured by manual processes and the reconciliation of errant payments will be freed up to invest in the business and fulfill the greater objectives of the AP department (instead of AP fire drills).
Optimized Payment Accuracy Benefit #3: Final Layer of Protection Before Payment
Most AP departments are constantly changing, with new technology or process changes happening regularly. This may be in the form of an ERP migration or the addition of AP Invoice Automation. All of these changes solve some potential areas for erroneous payments, but they are replaced with new openings for erroneous payments as a result of the new technology or process.
Optimized payment accuracy serves as the last line of protection before the payment is made so that all transactions are continuously monitored and flagged for correction before payment.
When AP teams have to postpone error resolution until after the transaction has been made, they open the door to operational risk and inefficiency. However, by monitoring transactions for erroneous payments and suspicious activity, they can prevent errors altogether and optimize payment accuracy upfront.
Explore how these inefficiencies stemming from erroneous payments could be impacting your organization…and how FlexTrap has helped real customers overcome these obstacles.
1. Is your organization struggling with ERP systems that fail to identify and prevent duplicate payments to suppliers?
2. Have you ever faced challenges in recovering cash from an erroneous payment?
3. Has your organization ever invested significant time and resources into manually reviewing invoices for accuracy, only to find that errors still slip through?
4. Is your organization hesitant to take on new projects due to the time-consuming nature of migrating to a new ERP system?
5. Is your organization struggling with duplicate errors caused by misconfigured systems?
6. Is your organization struggling with ensuring the standard validity of invoice payments?
7. Is your organization looking for a way to customize invoice validation processes?
If you’ve ever experienced a duplicate payment, incorrect payment, or just an organizational change that caused errors out of your control, FlexTrap might be a perfect fit for your AP team. FlexTrap is a first-of-its-kind tool that actually prevents payment errors at the source. It gives accounts payable teams flexibility to customize the data they’re analyzing, visibility into why their errors are occurring, and the control to ensure they stop once and for all.
If you’re ready to get ahead of your payment errors and improve AP accuracy, get in touch with FlexTecs today.