Top 3 Benefits of an Invoice Automation System

Despite the innovations occurring across the billing industry, getting digital access to utility and telecom bills remains a challenge. Utilities aren’t broadly offering EDI feeds or readily joining P2P supplier networks. As a result, AP departments have to manually get payment data into their systems, which requires multiple steps, is error-prone, and delays payments. Let’s explore the three biggest opportunities that AP automation service providers miss out on due to their lack of a utility invoice automation system.

1. Increased invoice volume

Many AP automation service providers don’t have a great way to capture utility and telecom invoices, leaving their customers with a headache. According to a shared services study, in 63 percent of cases, utility invoices are processed by an internal AP department. Offering a touchless process for utilities can lead to substantial growth in invoice volume if the method is scalable. For companies with multiple locations, the increase can be as high as 30 percent.

According to a shared services study, in 63% of cases, utility invoices are processed by an internal AP department.

Utility and telecom invoices are recurring, and roughly every business has three to five per location. Acquiring invoices across all utility types – electric, telecom, internet, natural gas, and waste – for multiple customers can lead to a significant lift in volume month over month.

2. Simplified workflow and reduced costs

Utility invoice processes are prolonged when paper and PDF invoices are involved. AP departments must await the arrival of paper invoices or regularly check utility websites to retrieve PDF invoices; plus, mailed invoices can easily get lost. Mistakes and delays from manual processes are inevitable, leading to unreliable data, higher costs for your organization, and more human intervention.

Given the complexity of utility invoices, manual review is necessary to achieve 99 percent accuracy. Incorporating an invoice automation system into your workflow can simplify and improve the AP process and reduce indirect costs, including:

• Staff fatigue
• Time spent contacting suppliers for missing invoices
• Time resolving under/overpayments
• Fraud
• Re-routing for approval

 

Learn how to reduce hidden inefficiencies with utility invoice automation

 

3. Enhanced customer experience

Straight-through processing (STP) completely automates the transaction process from start to finish by importing the utility invoice from the vendor directly into the AP system, ready for payment. This eliminates human intervention related to mailed invoices, reduces error risks, and expedites utility invoice payments for your customers. Incorporating STP into your workflow allows your customers to reallocate staff time to more strategic functions and improve overall customer satisfaction. 

Make Urjanet your utility invoice automation system of choice

Utility and telecom invoice automation is a win-win for both you and your customers. In a highly competitive market, an invoice automation system like Urjanet Utility Invoice Capture for AP Automation can open the door to more opportunities for increased recurring invoice volume, improved customer satisfaction, and lower costs. 

An invoice automation system can open the door to more opportunities for increased recurring invoice volume, improved customer satisfaction, and lower costs.

Ready to learn more about improving your utility invoice workflow? Speak with a utility data expert today.

 

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• Optimizing the Accounts Payable Workflow
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• Utility Billing Platform Provider Reduces AP Processing Time with Urjanet

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