Accounts Payable Services

Bill paying. One of the most tedious accounting tasks. Especially if you’re still sitting down to review and sign a pile of checks. At least when you’re invoicing, there’s the promise of revenue coming in. With bill paying, there is only the realization that cash is going out the door. 

One of the biggest issues with Accounts Payable is the lack of big picture visibility. Bills come in via email, snail mail, from multiple sources – vendors, contractors, service providers. Some are for general overhead – rent, utilities, supplies, etc. Some are from subcontractors with a range of hourly rates matched to a job number or purchase order.

These bills get processed in a number of ways, none of which is ideal. They end up in different places, sitting in various inboxes until those people finally have time to deal with them. Eventually, each vendor invoice gets entered by hand into the business’ accounting software, and then the paper is stored somewhere else.

If the invoice is unusual in any way, it gets flagged and a secondary process takes place…finding the person that knows what the bill is for. That tends to happen by email, so the record of those communications isn’t stored with the invoice or with the accounting records but across several different email accounts throughout the company. It’s no wonder that sometimes important bills get lost in the shuffle.

As the owner it’s up to you and your AP person to make sure that they are all legitimate expenses. And usually once a week or twice a month, you get to sit down and sign a stack of checks without exercising any discretion as to its impact on your current cash position. Why? Because you don’t have the ability to see your Accounts Payable as a collection that you can easily sort by amount due, date due, and the importance of the service the bill is for.

Momentum Accounting Outsourced Accounts Payable Services fixes this.

When you outsource your accounting to Momentum, we give you powerful new capabilities with regards to how and when you pay bills.

1) We digitize the process. 

One of the biggest inefficiencies in traditional AP processes is the large amount of paper involved. From paper invoices to paper checks, the reliance on hard copies slows down the processing of incoming bills. Scanning bills into digital records and bringing them into your AP system speeds up your ability to store and retrieve information, request approvals, and follow audit trails if you ever need them. 

Digitizing AP helps businesses spend an average of 50% less time on vendor payments while getting an extra “pair of eyes” looking out for potential errors thanks to our advanced software solutions.

You have a single source of truth for all your AP information.  Vendors can email invoices directly to a special inbox, or you can drag-and-drop files from your desktop, or you can snap a photo with your phone and add it through your Momentum Accounting mobile app. Every invoice, no matter how it arrives, is stored in one place.

Digitization also lets you control who has access to those records, and it leads to cost reductions through a reduced need for paper, toner ink, staples, folders, and postage.

2) We eliminate data entry errors.

Manual processes are always prone to human error. By digitizing bills at the beginning of the process, your Momentum AP service software “reads” the invoice and match them to purchase orders, flag duplicate bills and stop mistakes before they happen. 

And, once you review, approve and pay those bills, the amount of the approved invoice is automatically transferred to the payment and synced to your accounting software. 

3) We give you complete control of who gets paid and when.

Have you ever finished a bill paying session with hand cramps from signing checks (fun, right?), and realized that you probably should have waited to pay some of them because of your current cash position.  

With your bills stored electronically you have a newfound ability to see your AP data in one place. You can scroll through, search, and sort your bills. Prioritize payments based on your criteria. Who you pay and when you pay them becomes part of your overall cash management strategy.

Customize your approvals and handle them remotely. Set up your approval workflows, as many as you need, and your Momentum Accounting AP system will automatically route notifications to the right people while ensuring that your internal controls are followed. Custom roles support separation of duties and multiple-reviewer scenarios, helping to eliminate fraud and errors.

Every time someone “touches” that invoice, the system timestamps the interaction, creating a permanent log. If anyone raises a question or makes a note, that communication is stored with the invoice itself. Whenever you bring up that invoice again, its entire history is still attached to it in a clean, intuitive interface, putting everything you need at your fingertips.

Momentum Accounting AP Services tracks payment terms and attaches them to each invoice, providing real-time status on due dates, approval cycles, and projected spending, for powerful cash management insights that often lead to better decision making. 

And, it’s all available to you 24/7. You can pay bills anywhere, anytime with just a few clicks.

4) We integrate and sync your AP system with your accounting software.

You only have to enter each invoice once and Momentum Accounting makes sure that AP and payment information is captured and synced automatically with QuickBooks Online or Xero.

Get a big picture view of your AP and see the difference that Momentum Accounting can make

See everything that’s due soon in one easy notification center. Or use our simple search function to find whatever you need to know. Did that vendor get paid yet? How much have you paid them historically? Who approved their last invoice? Or their first? If it’s in your Momentum Accounting AP system, you’ll have access to it anytime, anywhere, even on your mobile device.

Pay those invoices in the same system. Once an invoice receives approval, you can pay it with a few clicks, on any device. The amount is filled in automatically, and you can make that payment by ACH, virtual card (a credit card-type payment that hides your actual account information), paper check (we’ll print and mail it for you), or even international wire transfer, all with just a few clicks.

We enable you to make more informed, strategic cash decisions.

With your big picture view of AP, you pay bills based on your current cash position. Plus, you no longer have to spend hours and hours each month on a tedious task. It’s really a game changer. 

Want to take control of your accounts payable?
Schedule a no-obligation discovery call now!