Outsourcing Accounts Payable: The Pros and Cons

You may not even notice serious errors — such as duplication of invoice processing and exception processing — until it’s too late. Accounts payable outsourcing refers to contracting with a third-party team to manage your accounts payable process. In AP outsourcing, activities such as managing short-term debts and creditors are conducted by qualified third-party AP teams. Consider the current efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your in-house AP processes. If managing AP internally is proving to be cumbersome, error-prone, or too costly, outsourcing could offer a much-needed solution.

How to Solve Accounts Payable Issues: Outsource or Automate?

This is where accounts payable outsourcing enters the spotlight, offering a streamlined, expert-managed alternative to the traditional in-house approach. In these cases, there is sometimes a possibility that certain entries will be duplicated. Before outsourcing, it’s wise to educate your employees about the new process so they can work in tandem with your outsourced provider. There’s nothing worse than conducting an accounts payable audit and discovering errors.

Why do companies outsource accounts payable?

Outsourcing will quickly help you address your talent shortage, which not only helps you scale but increases the scope of your firm. The latter is necessary as you don’t want your accounting firm to be limited to compliance tasks alone. Rather than just a few chosen tasks, outsourcing accounting enables you to offer bundled service offerings. Our experts analyze the invoices and vendor statements in scope to identify accounts payable outsourcing companies and validate any cost recovery opportunities, identify the root causes of discrepancies and help you reconcile and make financial recoveries. GEP delivers an action plan that optimizes your contracts and payment terms, improves your procure-to-pay process, increases compliance and prevents future leakage. GEP’s automated invoice data capturing process using OCR technology ensures accurate invoice data extraction.

Your invoice processing costs are too high

Data security and compliance should be top priorities when outsourcing accounts payable functions. Assess the provider’s security measures, including data encryption, access controls, and disaster recovery protocols, to ensure the safety and integrity of your financial information. Additionally, verify their compliance with relevant regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and industry-specific standards. If your current accounts payable process has considerable cash leaks or issues, moving to outsourced AP may improve budget optimization even after the cost of service fees. The average cost to process an invoice is as high as $15, and outsourcing or automation may offer up to a sixfold reduction in processing costs. Moreover, invoice processing speed is limited by your staff’s abilities and work hours.

Vendor management

This can range from invoice receipt and processing to vendor management and payment processing. As a specialized accounts payable outsourcing services company, we have been successfully delivering customized accounts payable services that are suited to the specific needs of each business. We have assisted many organizations across the globe to simplify their accounts payable workflow, limit access and establish superior control, and prioritize invoicing processes. These have honed our skills to a level where we can meet your needs with full competency. Accounts Payable Outsourcing involves handing over AP tasks to an external service provider.

• Your accounts payable process may be put at risk, and switching to another system can be expensive and time-consuming.
• According to most case studies, companies typically use process outsourcing to add value to their businesses and to improve AP dramatically.
• By considering these factors, you can make an informed decision to outsource your accounting and ensure it aligns with your business goals.
• Rather than just a few chosen tasks, outsourcing accounting enables you to offer bundled service offerings.
• An AP team can easily track critical accounts payable metrics for accurate forecasting and opportunities for improvement.
• The accounts payable workflow process is a crucial component of financial management within organizations, typically comprising a structured four-step procedure, also known as the P2P process.

Automating your AP is within reach

For instance, a business with a high volume of vendor transactions may prioritize Vendor Management Services, while a company with complex invoicing requirements may find Invoice Processing Services more beneficial. Furthermore, the expertise in navigating complex financial landscapes ensures that https://www.bookstime.com/ companies remain compliant with tax codes, industry regulations, and reporting standards. If this is the case, a small error turns into a huge hassle that goes unresolved for days or weeks. Identify if the outsourced solution is leveraging complete AP automation or manually keying in data.

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• Accounts payable outsourcing providers often set pricing per invoice at the cost of $1.50 to $2.00 per invoice, not by the hour.
• This involves data migration, system integration, and comprehensive training for both the client’s staff and the outsourcing team.
• Accounts payable outsourcing is a form of outsourcing where a third party team manages your accounts payable processes.
• Besides covering tax preparation services, it’s crucial to emphasize the software solutions often employed for efficient Accounts Payable (AP) management.
• Accounts payable outsourcing can increase the efficiency of your AP processes by streamlining vendor invoices and payments.
• Understanding the unique demands of the accounting industry, we at QX leverage advanced technology and proven methodologies to deliver results that not only meet but exceed your expectations.