Paying suppliers without the paper chase: automating accounts payable
Invoices arrive by email, get approved by message and are paid from a banking app. Automating that chain saves time, stops duplicate payments and is the best defence against invoice fraud.
In many small businesses, paying a supplier involves six people and four tools: an email, a forwarded PDF, a message asking for approval, a spreadsheet of what is due and a payment typed into the bank. Each step is a place for a delay, a duplicate or a fraud.
An automated chain
- CaptureSuppliers send invoices to one address; software reads them and matches the supplier.
- CodeRules and learned patterns suggest the account, VAT and cost centre.
- ApproveThe right person approves in the software, within limits you set.
- PayApproved invoices are batched into a payment run, and the bank feed confirms them.
What it fixes
- Invoices paid twice, because they arrived twice.
- Late payment charges and unhappy suppliers.
- Bank detail changes slipping through without checks.
- Month-end surprises from invoices sitting in someone’s inbox.
From April 2029, VAT invoices will need to be e-invoices exchanged over a standard network. A business that already receives invoices digitally into its software will find that change straightforward.
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This insight is general information, not advice for your circumstances. Talk to us before acting on it.