The Evolving World of Cloud- Based AP Automa:on Overview of the 2012 Cloud Survey Results
Drivers for the AP Cloud Survey Key ques:ons come to mind: How many companies are s/ll using a paper- based system to process invoices? What level of automa/on are companies interested in implemen/ng? Do they want the full package or only some automa/on pieces? How familiar are finance professionals with AP cloud- based solu/ons? Are financial professionals willing to consider cloud op/ons for AP automa/on?
Survey Methodology What were the survey parameters? Presented to several thousand AP professionals Total of 115 respondents took part in the survey Approximately 20 ques/ons Some could be answered with a single click Others required respondents to retrieve data Respondents given several weeks to take the survey
About the Respondents: Industry Which industries had the greatest response? Manufacturing (32%) Banking/Financial Services (15%) Healthcare (13%) Educa/on (12%) Retail/Government (9%) Other Industries e.g., Insurance, Electronics, Transporta/on, Aerospace, Oil/ Petrochemical, etc. (each less than 5%)
About the Respondents: Company Size Key employee size percentages: Employee Size About 43% of respondents came from companies that have more than 5,000 employees Equal % of responses came from small, midsize, and large companies
Key Findings How paper- based is the invoicing process? What percentage of your invoice volume is paper- based? More than 1 in 3 respondents said that over 90% of their invoice volume is paper- based More than 2 in 3 respondents said that over 50% of their invoice volume is paper- based
Key Findings How many invoices are being processed monthly? How many invoices do you process a month? Nearly 1 in 3 of the respondent companies process more than 10,000 invoices per month This means on average, the AP departments are processing 333 invoices daily
Key Findings How many people (FTE s) does it take to process this monthly invoice volume? Fewer than 5 (48%) 5-10 (25.5%) 10-15 (12.7%) 15-25 (5.9%) More than 25 (7.8%)
Key Findings Why would AP automa:on be beneficial? What is the main benefit you would expect by automa:ng accounts payable? Lower costs (38.8%) Be_er visibility and repor/ng (28%) Faster turnaround (11.3%) Be_er management of working capital (20%)
Key Findings What type of automa:on is needed? Over one- half of the respondents want full AP automa/on; but there is s/ll a good por/on who only need pieces of automa/on (44%) Scanning (16%) Electronic archiving of vendor invoices (8%) Archiving and removing manual data entry with intelligent capture (20%) What type of AP automa:on solu:on would your company likely implement?
Key Findings What op:ons would your company consider to automate accounts payable? Outsourcing (17.3%) Purchasing in- house sobware (44.4%) Using a Sobware as a Service (SaaS) applica/on (39.5%) Don t know (42%)
Key Findings Are companies willing to evaluate a cloud- based AP automa:on solu:on? Would your organiza:on be willing to consider a cloud- based AP automa:on solu:on? Around 24% respondents said they would consider it 40% said they weren t sure When asked if familiar with cloud- based solu/ons, over 65% of respondents said they weren t very familiar
Key Findings What are the main concerns of implemen:ng a cloud- based solu:on? Integra/on issues (e.g., connec/vity and down/me) (62.3%) Security concerns (58%) Total cost of ownership concerns (55.1%) Lack of customiza/on (42%) Complicated pricing models (34.8%) Applica/on performance (30.4%) Adaptability by AP professionals (27.5%)
Main Benefits of a SaaS/cloud- based solu:on? Key Findings
Key Findings Why do shared services and cloud- based AP automa:on go hand- in- hand? Is your company using a shared services model for AP? Address diverse systems automa/cally Logic to prevent errors 24/7/365 monitoring supports shared services centers in different /me zones
How Intelligent Automa:on Works
Workflow Outside the ERP System
Advantages of External AP Workflow Integrate AP automa/on with mul/ple systems ERP applica/on instances Other enterprise applica/ons AP data available to ERP and other systems automa/cally Extend AP automa/on to all users and business units Access for remote employees and mobile devices Reduce the need to add ERP seats
Advantages of External AP Workflow Web- based deployment Simplify training Promote user acceptance Recogni/on, valida/on and workflow in one place Full audit trail for process control One screen to validate recogni/on and ini/ate workflow
Why the Cloud Makes Sense for AP 1. Capital vs. Opera:onal Expense AP is a non- revenue- genera/ng func/on Lowers up- front investments (brings enterprise solu/ons to SMBs) Ability to execute an automa/on ini/a/ve with minimal IT support 2. Decentralized / Distributed Processes Scan and enter invoices remotely Expand approval workflow to all company loca/ons Securely With audit trail 3. Control and Visibility Overcoming the Catch 22 Addi/onal headcount Process automa/on versus process outsourcing (BPO)
Conclusion Paper- based invoice processing is s/ll widely used Although a full AP automa/on package may look good it can be an enormous project to take on, and is OK to implement a solu/on in phases Many finance professionals are not familiar with SaaS solu/ons for AP automa/on Willingness to evaluate SaaS packages has grown Cloud- based AP automa/on provides clear cost and usability advantages from which companies of all sizes can benefit
Contact Info Steve Smith Vice President of Sales Americas Tel 608-828-6110 Fax 608-828-0100 steve.smith@esker.com Steve Smith U.S. Chief Operating Officer Tel 608.828.6000 Fax 608.828.1000 info@esker.com Esker, Inc. 1212 Deming Way Suite 350 Madison, WI 53717 For more informa:on on the Esker Accounts Payable Automa:on solu:on, please visit h\p://www.apondemand.com or Call us at 1-800- 368-5283