[Music] hey everyone mark brousseau here if it's taking your accounts payable department longer these days to approve the invoices it receives from suppliers well you're not alone a new study from the institute of finance and management finds that invoice approvals and exceptions resolution are two of the ap functions that have been most impacted by the sudden shift to remote working breakdowns and invoice approvals can result in late payment penalties missed early payment discounts more phone calls and emails from suppliers inquiring about the status of their payments and invoices more frustrated suppliers even difficulty forecasting your cash here's the good news automating your accounts payable process can accelerate invoice approvals and eliminate potential delays invoices can be submitted electronically eliminating the need for you to send staff into the office to open the mail data from invoices can be extracted with a high degree of accuracy no more need for time consuming keying invoices can be matched automatically with purchase orders and proof of delivery documents invoices that are unmatched or require approval can be digitally routed to approvers whether they're across town or across the globe and approvers can make a decision on invoices instantly using any device from any location at any time alerts notifications and escalation procedures keep your invoice approval processes flowing and ap managers can see the status of invoices at any point in time so they can identify bottlenecks and take proactive action to avoid potential delays and reporting allows you to have end and visibility across your invoice processing life cycle so you can ensure that everything is running optimally so if it's taking your accounts payable department longer these days to approve its invoices automation may be the answer