Before embarking on any type of project, one of the first questions that usually comes to mind is “how much is this going to cost me?''
As a business owner, or even as an executive who's been in the industry for a while, you've pretty much seen it all. You've been involved in a ton of different projects throughout your career, and you have a good idea of what things cost.
But this time, you get a curveball.
You realize there's a need for improvement in your finance department. You have several employees in this department, including your finance director, your controller, your accountant and your accounts payable and receivable clerk.
It's still a very paper-based department, requiring a great deal of concentration to keep errors to a minimum. On top of that, everyone is overloaded with work.
So where do you start?
One place where the ROI (return on investment) is highest when it comes to business process optimization is in accounts payable. You've probably heard of “accounts payable automation”. It's a technology that uses a digital system to reduce manual, repetitive tasks such as data entry and validation of invoices, purchase orders and receipts. With this automation, companies can receive invoices, manage validation and approvals, and eliminate data entry through a single platform.
It's a technology that's becoming increasingly popular in North America.
You're interested in learning more, but before you begin the exploration process, you're wondering how much a project like this could cost. You've never worked on this type of project before, so you have no benchmark. Actually, the mere fact that you don't know how much you should be prepared to budget, puts a damper on your research.
You're thinking, “Am I going to spend hours researching, getting 3-4 quotes, having to manage needs analysis and demonstration meetings with these different suppliers, all to get to the proposal stage and see that it's a project completely out of budget?”.
We understand, so we thought it was appropriate to write an article on the costs of accounts payable automation software.
What impacts the cost of an accounts payable automation project?
The reason no one talks about cost when discussing accounts payable automation projects is that there are generally 3 factors that influence the price:
1. The number of invoices processed each month
2. The level of automation required
3. The complexity of integrating with your ERP or accounting software
It's a well-known sales technique: they tell you “we need to do a needs analysis before talking price” to establish a good contact, develop the relationship and determine your needs in depth. And they're not wrong! It's important to do it. But while we're at it, let us explain why each of these elements contributes to the price variability.
Let's take a closer look.
The number of invoices processed
To put it simply, our solution works by first scanning an invoice (or receiving it directly in your mailbox). Once scanned, the system uses robotic learning to understand the invoice, and deduce where the information to be captured lies. The rest of the process can then begin.
What can affect the price at this point is the number of invoices processed per month. A company that processes 100 invoices a month will pay less than one that processes 2,000. This is obvious.
However, the ROI of the company that processes 2,000 invoices also increases significantly. Automation offers significant savings in terms of time saved, fewer errors, a simplified approval process, and optimization of your resources.
Although the cost increases with the volume of invoices, the savings and increased efficiency maximize the return on investment. Ultimately, increasing the volume of invoices processed automatically translates into an exponential improvement in operational efficiency and a reduction in overall costs. Just something to think about!
Also, what's important to note is that XMA Solutions works with data packages, not with costs per invoice or per page. Data packages turn out to be much more affordable, so we make sure we have more competitive pricing than what's available on the market today.
But enough of the theoretical blah blah, we said we were talking about pricing, so let's do it!
In a typical project, you can anticipate processing costs to be around $5,000 per year, billed monthly. Ah, and your license allows you to have an unlimited number of users, which is a great bonus. That said, we'd be able to give you a much better estimate in a needs analysis.
Have we piqued your curiosity yet? Click here to schedule a meeting with our experts. If you'd like to find out more, read the rest of the article below.
The level of automation required
Every organization will need different functionalities, since everyone's processes are different as well.
A typical project generally requires the following basic software functionalities:
- Digitization of the approval process
- Automation of document filing
- Linking of supporting documents (e.g. invoices and purchase orders)
- Export to known accounting software
However, if you have more complex processes that require more advanced functionalities, you may find that costs increase. Here are some features that can be developed and added:
- Automatic comparison by amount
- Line-by-line invoice validation
- Digital form management
- Any other specific development
However, don't stress at this stage. If you're not sure of the relevance of certain functions before adding them, we can add them later if need be. In fact, we love doing projects in phases!
On the other hand, if you realize that certain functions are no longer needed, we can also remove them.
There's no fixed price here: the cost of adding functionality varies according to your specific needs and processes.
The complexity of integrating with your ERP or accounting software
We already work with a multitude of ERP and accounting software packages. In fact, our solutions integrate with most ERP and accounting software in North America and Europe (see the most popular ones right here).
If your ERP or accounting software is one of them, and your project is relatively simple (a typical project), you can expect a one-off fee of $5,000 for platform installation.
For others, our analysts can give you a better estimate.
Conclusion
So there you have it! We hope this article has shed some light on the potential cost of an accounts payable automation project with us. If you were reluctant to embark on this project because of the uncertainty associated with the costs, we hope we've dispelled your doubts and convinced you to go ahead. You'll see that switching from traditional invoice processing to automation makes all the difference.
Contact us today to start your transformation!
