I believe our industry is at a tipping point. In general, accounts payable (AP) automation is not where one would’ve expected it to be in 2017. Larger corporations like General Electric and IBM can afford to build or purchase the necessary technology to streamline their AP. Small to mid-sized companies simply don’t have access to or don`t see the need for the same intelligent accounting tools.
Broader innovation has been waiting for demand that has not come. I am amazed at the time and money organisations still waste on antiquated AP processes. This makes the status quo the biggest challenge facing our industry today.
It’s up to us, the industry leaders, to disrupt our industry with new ideas—teaching our clients and business partners let go of the familiar. We need to demonstrate that intelligent AP is not only possible, but ready to increase the velocity of global business. By democratizing the technology of AP, we challenge decades of old business models ripe for disruption.
Predictability is the primary culprit for twenty years of complacency. Give a business of almost any size a predictable cost for a function like AP and, if management perceives that cost to be acceptable, innovation and improvement are not prioritized.
With proven technologies available today, we can eliminate manual tasks by automating processing and payment. What is coming tomorrow is the real opportunity to transform our industry. Automation is a great way to build trust—a task or process is automated, the user relies on the service. With every new idea, trust grows. For example, new Entryless users test our ability to automate billing data entry and eventually rely on our service to manage the entire AP function, including payments.
These are solutions we build—platforms that can learn from the flow of information (in this case, transactional data). This is not science fiction. Technology provides us with the disruptive tool and every day we demonstrate to our users what is possible.
Intelligent automation is not aimed at replacing human resources, but rather helping businesses focus their people on tasks that can only be done by humans. It is our job to educate businesses and help them see that employing people to perform the same mundane task over and over is holding itself back. The discussion changes from “Should I automate?” to “Why haven’t I automated?”
Perceived roadblocks to automation need to be removed. You don’t have to be a Fortune 100 company anymore. The tools are out there. Service providers must challenge the status quo in AP and prove that businesses can be simplified via technology.
We have worked hard to make automated AP easier. Now, our systems learn from the transactions they manage, making intelligent AP a reality.
About Sukanta Ganguly
Dr. Sukanta Ganguly is an experienced and global entrepreneur with a passion for building successful products and businesses. He has been instrumental in the formation of global business focusing in Compliance Software & Security, Fintech and Enterprise Networking systems.
Sukanta has worked for years to build a personal brand synonymous with quality. He understands the needs of the customers targeting the specific markets, by recognizing the subtle clues provided by customers. Sukanta has created and built out innovative products that are used daily on a wide scale.
About Entryless
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Entryless provides Accounts Payable Software as a Service. Our platform offers an intelligent accounts payable solution that eliminates manual tasks, improves efficiency of bill management, and accelerates the bill payment. The Entryless management team possesses expertise in multiple disciplines, giving unique perspective on both the challenges faced by accountants and the solutions best suited to meet them.
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