Common AP Challenges Solved With Integrated Document Management for Sage 100 ERP

If your accounts payable department is processing paper documents, you likely experience a number of different challenges that prevent you from being as efficient as you’d like to be. For many, those challenges go unnoticed because the unnecessary steps are viewed as part of the process rather than extra work. Going paperless can allow you to cut costs and address those hidden challenges.

Lack of Control of Invoice Approval Process

As it stands now, you receive invoices in the mail or through email. You may need to match the data against a purchase order and/or packing slip, which will require searching for those related documents. Before you pay the invoice, it needs to be approved by one or two other people, and maybe some coding will be handwritten on the document before it gets entered into Sage 100 for payment. As these paper documents move through the organization, what controls are put in place to make sure everything gets paid on time and nothing gets overlooked?

That’s where Sage ERP Document Management comes in. When documents are routed through an electronic approval process, automation and controls can be put in place to improve efficiency. From the start, an invoice can automatically be routed to a specific approver based on data in that document. The entire workflow can be configured so documents follow a specific set of steps, taking the guesswork out of who needs to review next. Alerts can be set to notify a manager when deadlines are approaching or an invoice has been sitting at a specific step for too long.

For approvers working remotely, invoices can be sent via email with “Approve” or “Deny” buttons embedded in the body of the message. From a smartphone or tablet, that document can be approved and moved to the next step in the process. For approvers who participate in invoice coding, a form with validated fields will travel through the workflow with the document. All parties can participate in the coding or review the coding before that data is imported back to Sage 100.

With all those controls in place, the AP manager can be sure everything is moving along as it should unless he or she receives a notification from the system saying otherwise.

Documents Are Lost or Misplaced

When it comes time to search for documents, digging through file cabinets and walking to people’s desks can take up a lot of valuable time. If someone in a different office needs a document, he or she has to call and interrupt the AP clerks to request the document.

In an electronic document repository, anyone in any office can search for the documents they need from their desktop (if they have been given security rights to view it). From there, they can see where the document is in its approval process. Any actions taken with the document are recorded for reporting and auditing purposes—who viewed it, saved it, emailed it, appended it or routed it to another user.

During an audit, a set of documents easily can be saved to a flash drive or presented to the auditor through access of the application itself. For both employees and auditors, being able to retrieve a document in a moment’s notice is a huge time-saver. Employees can focus on other tasks that use their more valuable skills.

Speak with a BKD Trusted Advisor to learn more about Sage 100 ERP Document Management.