Since the onset of the pandemic, businesses have found new ways to operate efficiently across remote and dispersed workforces. Calls to action to streamline, automate and implement new technology have flooded the conversation of how to work smarter to carry out mission-critical functions and stay positioned for growth through this year’s ups and downs.
Given this movement, it’s no surprise that today’s environment has also brought to light the vital role technology and automation plays in making and receiving payments. While inefficiencies and lack of faster payment options have historically made the task of maintaining cash flow difficult, businesses are finally getting serious about easing their B2B payments pain points and shoring up automated processes.
As companies settle into this new normal, ensuring the right fintech stack is in play can make or break their ability to not only continue operating efficiently, regardless of an in-office or dispersed workforce, but also accelerate growth to be better positioned for future opportunities. To ensure recovery, it is important for companies to help their suppliers not only maintain essential liquidity through the crisis but also to accelerate the restart of their own businesses.
In order for suppliers to bounce back and prepare for future growth, it’s critical to understand the complex nature of the corporate cash cycle, the value of automating manual processes, including how utilizing emerging technologies brings visibility and agility for more strategic business decisions.
According to Goldman Sachs, 80% of all B2B payments are made with a paper check and 60% of SMB B2B payments are made via paper check – a gap that today’s business environment makes even more apparent. With the ability to support advanced payments or offer the flexibility and security to make timely payments from anywhere, accounts payable (AP) automation is helping transform manual processes that once posed great challenges, relieving businesses from the stacks of paper that weighed down mission critical functions.
For some suppliers, even on-time payments are not enough to maintain success. Many suppliers need cash advances to remain efficient, and fintech solutions are helping facilitate faster cash and lending capabilities. Advance payments in preferred payment methods give suppliers better control of cash flow and easy access to funds to continue operating efficiently through any circumstances, unforeseen or planned.
Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning are permeating every facet of business and the AP process is no exception. By implementing and utilizing fintech that has integral AI and ML capabilities, businesses are able to better predict shifts in cash flow and determine how likely an invoice is to be paid on time. This level of insight creates the agility to react to industry changes, gaining more predictability and better control.
With the introduction of AI and ML to historically manual processes, functions like AP have finally seen major changes. Reduced processing times and increased accuracy are just a few of the benefits freeing up an AP team’s time to focus on larger revenue-driving tasks.
Whether automating for efficiency, or embracing emerging technologies to inform strategic business decisions, technology is changing the B2B payment landscape, helping businesses recover quickly and plan for a profitable future.
