AP Automation, Why Don’t We Change?

I recently read a great blog post called "4 Obstacles to Starting and Completing Challenging Projects" by Amber Singelton Riviere posted on http://www.webworkerdaily.com

This article relates very much to AP Automation, as going paperless and streamlining your AP is a project. And a change. It involves many people in your organization. However the benefits of the change are so obvious and become ever more glaringly so when you look at the facts. Organizations are saving left, right and centre. The benefits are abundant. So why is everyone not doing it?

Most of us shy away from challenges like taking on a new project. We procrastinate or quite halfway. There are so many obstacles that get in the way, ultimately most of them are self fulfilling if you let them.

Inspired by from Amber's post, where I list her thoughts and include my own below. Here are the 4 obstacles to overcome when initiating an AP Automation project.

Obstacle #1: Fear

Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, fear (of success and failure, of ticking people off, of looking stupid, etc.) is debilitating. A lot of times, it's easier to just keep our heads down, avoid eye contact, and not raise our hands (even when we know the answer). We ask ourselves:

• "What if it doesn't work?"
• "What if it gets me fired?"
• "What if I do this, spend a lot of time/money/energy, and it gets me nowhere?"

Fear is always going to be present, but nine times out of ten, the thing we fear doesn't even eventuate. Yet we still let it hold us back, even though we know it's not likely to occur.

When it comes to AP Automation, we fear changing the way we do things today. Disturbing the peace. Ultimately the way we are doing things today is SO manual and inefficient, and when we look back in 10 years from now, it will be retarded. Our kids will be laughing at us, saying "you used do what with paper?". When making change there are always a few hot coals to walk on. Under the worst case scenario you can always go back to the way you were doing things before.

Obstacle #2: Avoidance

More often than not, we know what we need to do, yet we make excuses about why we can't or haven't made progress. Maybe we need to get that new marketing strategy off the ground, maybe we need to start that new business, or maybe we need to write that e-book. Whatever the case, we don't get it done or don't even get it started and instead say things, like:

• "I would have started it, but I've just been so busy at home."
• "I've been meaning to finish that, but I've been swamped lately."
• "I got sick, then the kids were off a week, then my in-laws came to visit, and I just haven't had the time."

We convince ourselves that our complete avoidance of getting things done is caused by legitimate delays and distractions, because they are legitimate. The question is, how badly do we want to complete that big project/challenge? For example, how much do we really want to get our businesses off the ground, or how much do we really want to see them succeed?

Everyone wants electronic documents. Unless you're a luddite and don't believe in email or computers, the benefits are enormously obvious. So why aren't you doing anything about it? This is often the most common delay with AP Automation, the excuse that something else has to get done. Sure, there are more important things, but to Controllers, CFO's and financial executives out there what's more important than knowing what's going one with every transaction in the business at anytime. Who has it, where its been, where's it going. And who's doing their job and who is not. AP Automation presents that operational visibility where managing your workforce with measured facts is an undeniably powerful administration tool.

Obstacle #3: Motivation (Or Lack of It)

I think a lot of times, we say we want something because maybe we should want it (or think we should want it).  Maybe we say, "I want my business to make more money," but in reality, we're pretty comfortable where we are, and even if we're not completely comfortable, the discomfort is not so overwhelming to make us want to put out the extra effort to effect change in our situation.

If there is no real motivation to do something, we have to admit it, own it, and say, "I don't even want that," and so, it's not necessary to put out all that effort to complete some arbitrary project or challenge. If we can't at least get to the place where we can accept our lack of motivation, then there's this feeling of obligation or guilt that constantly nags at us.

If your organization is happy with traditional paper pushing, documents getting lost, approvals taking forever and lack of transparency, then you have no motivation to change. And we truly wish you all the best with that.

Obstacle #4: No Map

Sometimes we'd do what we needed to do, if only we knew where to start or how to get it done. Especially in business, there are times when we walk around clueless and have to figure things out as we go, and that leads back to the first obstacle. If we don't know what we're doing, how can we get people to believe in us, and how do we avoid looking stupid when people figure out that we don't know what we're doing?

Seth Godin talks about working without a map in his book "Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?", and discusses about how we have to be OK with working without a map and just get used to not knowing our way around. If there was a map, everyone else would be following it, and then the journey and destination would probably not be as worthwhile.

It can be hard to take on big projects and challenges and even harder to actually complete them, but by identifying the root cause of our hesitation or procrastination, we'll be much more likely to tackle those big challenges and get things done.

Every organization is different. Every person is different. Thank goodness for that! The same applies in accounts payable. All organisation process their documents with slight differences. However there are major overriding themes to processesing vendor invoices like:  Most of them arrive on paper. They need to be coded or allocated to an account, job cost or item. They need to be approved and, for better or worse, they need to be paid. By connecting those main themes into a flexible online business process and workflow, that caters to most scenario's, you can find your way around without map.

What are some of your obstacles to automating your AP? What's holding you back from taking steps to go paperless?

KISS applies to Accounts Payable

Accounts payable is not rocket science. However complexities in the process seem to be common place.  Complexities cost mucho time and effort ultimately taking a big bite out of the bottom-line.

 

Most organizations payables processes grow organically or through acquisition along with the needs of the business. Over time, with added volume and locations, those processes often become cumbersome and unmanageable.  By this time, they review their options and either turn to a pricey accounting system upgrade or live with the current setup.  It’s up for debate on which ultimately costs more, however it’s usually the later as resistance to change is generally the road most travelled.

 

Let’s take another look at these home grown complexities. The belief that each company runs their ap differently “we are unique” is standard fair amongst operations. Sure there is uniqueness to industries, or how business is conducted. But the objective and outcomes are always the same, place an order, receive a bill, code and approve it, and pay it.  Really companies are running the same process in slightly different and mostly manual ways.

 

When the Ford model T was introduced to world through standardized production, it made a huge amount of sense and continues to be a massive factor in everything we serve and produce today.  Are the benefits of standardization not available to the ap process? If the objectives are the same, and the outcome is the same, why are businesses not looking to standardize and take advantage of the same efficiencies and economies.

 

Truth is most are not… yet. Most companies are not in the accounting business, nor should they be. It’s a necessary evil. They don’t have time to focus in on process improvement while running their business.

 

Incorporating accounting best practices right from company inception is ideal but hardly realistic, at least not until recently.  Today, there are solutions that expand the functionality of conventional accounting applications and many of them are web-based and affordable to the small and medium sized businesses.  These solutions offer built-in best practices to help businesses with compliance and efficiency to allow them to concentrating on the core competencies of the business rather than the paperwork involved with running the business.

 

Creating efficiencies on your own, without the expertise and tools is impossible. Standardizing and incorporating best practices right from company inception is ideal but hardly realistic, at least not until recently. Today, there are solutions that expand the functionality of conventional accounting applications. Many of them are web-based and affordable to the small and medium sized businesses. These solutions offer built-in best practices which help standardize processing, boost efficiency, and focus businesses on their core instead of the time consuming paperwork that surrounds their core.

 

Standardization is becoming essential to create efficiencies in business process. As my beloved marketing prof repeatedly broadcasted, "KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid" in other words don't get caught up in the complex when there are proven simple ways to process your ap.

"Our Iceberg is Melting"

Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Octavia, one of the resident technophiles at Bean Services. As interesting as technology can be, I am also equally fascinated by how people interact with technology.

In light of the many challenges (technical and non-technical) faced by organizations today, it may become increasingly intimidating to create successful change.

John Kotter, Harvard Business School's resident leadership guru, has teamed up with Holger Rathgeber, and written a nifty little fable about a penguin colony in Antarctica. One penguin notices that the iceberg they live on has the potential to break apart; however, no one listens to him. So what do penguins have to do with change?

"Our Iceberg is Melting" is a quick, fun read with an inspirational message about change management. You can easily relate to the colorful penguin personalities in the story. Kotter and Rathgeber weave eight steps on how to make a successful and lasting change within the simple storyline. More details are available here: http://www.ouricebergismelting.com/html/8step.html. This process can be applied to both your professional and personal lives.

As Bean introduces the concept of paperless payables to the world, many organizations would benefit from such a shift in their workflow. This book is sure to get the people in your company talking about this possible change.