[Music] hey everyone mark brousseau here remember when you were a kid and you wanted to ask your parents a favor maybe you wanted to go see that new movie or sleep over a friend's house but you were reluctant to ask their permission because you assumed they'd never go for it and yet when you finally mustered up the courage their answers surprised you they weren't only agreeable they were enthusiastic this got me thinking about a new study from the institute of finance and management it shows that 60 of senior finance managers are more amenable to accounts payable automation these days i bet the results of that survey surprise many of you for years many accounts payable leaders were reluctant to put forth automation proposals because they assumed senior management would never go for them well there's four things that have got senior managers excited about accounts payable automation these days number one is that it reduces costs all businesses are looking for ways to tighten their belts these days and accounts payable automation eliminates the repetitive manual tasks that drain company resources second accounts payable automation is a quick win compared to other automation projects the payback on automating accounts payable is really really fast third accounts payable automation doesn't burden company resources cloud-based solutions can go in fast no matter where staff work with little it involvement without disrupting existing processes and they can be seamlessly integrated with your legacy erp and finally accounts payable automation is strategic the visibility provided by an accounts payable automation solution enables senior managers to better manage their cash to tighten spend management to mitigate risks so if you've been thinking about accounts payable automation but you've been reluctant to ask senior management i encourage you that do so their answer might surprise you you