Accounts Payable Reporting: 5 Essential Reasons Why It’s a Business Priority

AP Leaders balance traditional priorities with those that place them on the path ahead. According to industry leaders Ardent Partners, the top priority in 2023 is improved accounts payable reporting and analytics. This underlines the professional awareness that there is significant opportunity in capturing the streams of data created across the AP function.

What is Accounts Payable Reporting?

Accounts Payable Reporting is an essential financial management function that provides critical oversight into an organisation’s expenditures and liabilities. This form of reporting encompasses a wide range of activities, including tracking invoices, documenting payments made, and identifying outstanding debts. The primary aim of accounts payable reporting is to ensure timely payments to suppliers and to offer valuable data that can enhance cash flow management and spending analysis. Utilising accounts payable reporting tools and analytics dashboards, companies can gain actionable insights that support strategic decision-making and operational efficiency. Therefore, accounts payable reporting isn’t merely a back-office responsibility; it’s a key factor in financial transparency and business success.

What Insights Does Accounts Payable Reporting Offer?

By enhancing accounts payable reporting, a new era for the AP function beckons. But what exactly can your team learn from all this data?

We break down the data and offer you 5 compelling reasons why Accounts Payable reporting has shifted from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have”.

5 reasons why AP Analytics Has Transitioned from Optional to Essential

• Supercharge your Cashflow Management

  Ever get blindsided by an unresolved payment? Those days are over. AP analytics dashboards act as your financial weather forecast, helping you pinpoint potential storms on the horizon, whether it’s unpaid invoices or delayed payments. Armed with these insights, you can take proactive steps with suppliers by better predicting your cashflow.

  As part of Kefron AP, you’ll find 6 complimentary Accounts Payable reporting dashboards. Each dashboard offers unique insights into your AP process, optimising your team’s efficiency and productivity. The Ageing Dashboard, for instance, displays invoices’ status and tracks their lifecycle. This allows you to identify problematic invoices and unresolved payments instantly.

• Unearthing Bottlenecks and Enhancing Efficiency

  Scrutinising AP data identifies bottlenecks and inefficiencies entrenched in your processes. These roadblocks might be delays in invoice approval, manual errors, or superfluous approval steps.

  Kefron’s Extraction Reporting Dashboard provides a detailed view of supplier and document performance. Notably, it offers an overview of exceptions, highlighting suppliers whose invoices consistently contain anomalies. Armed with this knowledge. Your team can proactively reach out to suppliers and streamline the process. A Win/Win for you and your suppliers.

• Quantifying Value and Savings

  The age-old question when it comes to investment in technology: “Is this actually saving us money?”

  With Accounts Payabale Reporting dashboards, you don’t have to wait. Our ROI Dashboard measures our promise to you. From the number of duplicate invoices prevented, to the hours saved in manually entering data, this dashboard makes it an open-and-shut case for why investing in analytics isn’t just smart — it’s essential.

• Who are your Top Performing Suppliers?

  Harnessing AP analytics empowers an objective analysis of supplier performance. By dissecting payment history and overall collaboration, you’re able to identify top-performing suppliers.

  Kefron’s Received Vs. Processed Dashboard simplifies this evaluation by comparing invoices received with those successfully extracted and processed. The result is crystal-clear insight into your top-performing suppliers. This enables you to prioritise these collaborations for heightened relations.

  This intelligence proves invaluable when negotiating contracts and deciding which vendors warrant priority. Strengthening bonds with dependable suppliers can result in more favourable terms, consistent quality, and an enhanced supply chain stability.

• Evaluating Productivity and Engagement

  Accounts Payable reporting extend insights into your team’s productivity and engagement levels. Through daily processed invoices and error metrics, you’re in a position to gauge your team’s efficiency.

  The User Productivity Dashboard, thoughtfully designed for tracking team performance, facilitates task delegation. The acquired insights can guide resource allocation, highlight training requirements, and encourage continuous improvement.

The Transformative Impact of AP Dashboards

Embracing AP analytics as a vital part of your business can have a profound influence on your financial health, operational efficiency, and vendor relationships. This strategic emphasis informs decision-making rooted in definitive data. It also propels process optimisation and improves resource allocation. The knowledge gained from Accounts Payable reporting supports enhanced financial management, fortified competitiveness, and enduring organisational growth.

So what are you waiting for? Book a 30min assessment to find out what Kefron AP can do for you