What are Accounts Payable Outsourcing Services?
By hiring an accounts payable outsourcing services firm, you can get rid of a time-consuming task. They regularly update your books with invoices. They help you pay your supplier and vendor payments within the deadline.
Accounts payable services enable you to avoid fines and interests that are charged for late payments.
Why Should You Hire an Outsourced Accounts Payable Services Firm?
Your accounts payable outsourcing services firm takes care of several tasks: invoice scanning, matching, data validation, and approval. It increases your processing time, enabling you to pay quickly.
An accurately processed invoice means quick payable clearance. It may earn you discounts for paying early.
Efficient Workflow
These professionals use the latest accounting software to digitise and index your invoices. They also install workflow to streamline your invoice approvals and quality checks, bringing accuracy to supplier and vendor payments.
Invoice Indexing
Invoice indexing makes sure that you or the approval authority get to eyeball each invoice in real time and across all territories. It lends to efficient management of information and decision-making.
Improved Payment Cycle
The firm brings efficiency to your payment cycle. Paying your suppliers and vendors is important. These entities contribute to the growth of your business. Paying them what you owe to them already, on time, keeps them happy. It helps maintain healthy relationships with them.
Invoice Processing
Outsourced accounts payable firms employ a team of experts. They know the accounts payable process inside-out. They treat all kinds of invoices and work orders accurately in a tax-compliant manner.
Payment Processing
Payment processing uses the latest invoicing data and enables you to manage cash flow efficiently. You can either choose to pay early and earn a discount or pay within due dates and enjoy a full credit period. This freedom of choice helps you maintain a handy working capital in reserve to deal with unexpected situations.
GR/IR Reconciliation
To know the true state of your ledgers, you have to update your books by reconciling your inventory and payables. If you find an open balance on your Goods Receipt/Invoice Receipt (GR/IR) account, you must see whether the supplier's invoice matches the goods received.
If they differ, you have to do (GR/IR) Reconciliation and explain away the shortcoming. It is a tedious task. Leaving it to the accounts payable outsourcing services saves you pain. It enables you to economise on time, manual efforts, and staff.
It is a great assistance, especially when you are busy doing numerous tasks to close the financial year.
Should You Trust Accounts Payable Services with Your Payment Processing?
Ageing Accounts Payable Report
Well, the control of payment stays with you. Your outsourced accounts payable services firm generates an ageing accounts payable report for your consumption. They bring critical invoices to your notice.
Payment Proposal
They also prepare and send you a payment proposal. You get to go through it and send it to the bank to initiate payments. They provide you with the necessary and enable you to make data-driven payment decisions.
Vendor Statement Reconciliation
Accounts payable outsourcing services reconcile all invoices sent by your vendors and the payments you issued to them.
They take into account the discounts/returns you are eligible for. They inform the vendor whenever they find a difference in the ledger. They also talk to the accounts receivable staff at the vendors to sort out the issue.
Vendor Data Management
Managing vendor data is vital for any business. It brings discipline to your daily transactions and accuracy to tax calculations at the end of your financial year.
Your accounts payable outsourcing services firm, at the initial set-up, asks your vendors for their details and tax certificates. They then keep the data updated.
They also act on the vendor's request to update name, tax ability, business activities, and contact details.
A lack of proper accounts payable management can doom your business. It can tarnish your credibility and brand image. Accounts payable services help you stay in control of your payment cycle.
Your accounts payable outsourcing services firm digitises your business' financial transaction data. It uses it to track your accounts payable status and to feed you data for making payment decisions. It is an excellent help for multi-tasking and small business owners without a bookkeeper or accountant.