5 ways to improve vendor relationships

Reduce Operating Costs
and Improve Cashflow

Discover practical steps to streamline payment processes and improve vendor relationships. You’ll also learn:

Why 79% of vendors prefer digital payments for faster, seamless transactions
How adopting AP automation results in faster payments and lower costs
How to protect against fraud and earn cash-back rebates with virtual cards

What Do Vendors Want From AP?

1. Get Paid
On Time

Labor-intensive, error-prone methods slow down operations, often leading to late payments. It’s nearly impossible to consistently provide prompt vendor payments using manual methods, especially in difficult market conditions.

2. Prioritize
Cash Flow

Cash flow is critical to vendors, enabling them to continually produce more goods, as well as to ensure their financial health. Because of this, they are vigilant about payment status and often reach out to AP for updates. Unfortunately, many vendors are disappointed with the response time they receive, and cite inquiries as the biggest pain point in the payment process.

3. Adopt
ePayments

An overwhelming number of vendors want to receive more ePayments. Not only will you gain greater control over your spend, while saving time and money, but your vendors can increase their cash flow through more timely payments, as well as gain process efficiencies. It’s a winning strategy all the way around.

Labor-intensive, error-prone methods slow down operations, often leading to late payments. It’s nearly impossible to consistently provide prompt vendor payments using manual methods, especially in difficult market conditions.

Cash flow is critical to vendors, enabling them to continually produce more goods, as well as to ensure their financial health. Because of this, they are vigilant about payment status and often reach out to AP for updates. Unfortunately, many vendors are disappointed with the response time they receive, and cite inquiries as the biggest pain point in the payment process.

man making payment approval on mobile phone

An overwhelming number of vendors want to receive more ePayments. Not only will you gain greater control over your spend, while saving time and money, but your vendors can increase their cash flow through more timely payments, as well as gain process efficiencies. It’s a winning strategy all the way around.

What Are the Benefits of Automated Payment Systems?

Save time and money

Businesses spend $510 billion each year on manual AP processes — a significant portion of which is generated by paper checks, which can cost between $5 and $12 to process. Not only does payment automation speed up the process and increase efficiency, but it does so in a more cost-effective manner. In fact, with limited automation (only having 1-2 steps of the AP process automated), the cost per invoice drops down to $2.81 and $1.64, respectively.

Control outgoing cash flow

With payment automation, organizations can determine precisely when and how they pay their vendors to ensure maximum control over outgoing cash flow. This allows you to capitalize on early-pay discounts and virtual card rebates – all while avoiding late fees and duplicate payments.

gears and hand holding phone making digital payment

Business continuity

Payment automation solutions help to support your organization’s business continuity plan by enabling your team to execute their payments process anytime, and anywhere. The ability to facilitate this process remotely has proven to be especially helpful in recent times as many organizations have gone completely remote.