# Three things to ask your management team and accounts payable vendor to overcome your AP challenges Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2018-04-16 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: Discovering the Best Accounts Payable Software: Key Meta Description: Discover the crucial questions to ask your management team and AP vendor to find the best accounts payable software solution for your business needs. URL: https://financedigest.com/three-things-to-ask-your-management-team-and-accounts-payable-vendor-to-overcome-your-ap-challengeshtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/fd160418-1-1736842839072-compressed.jpg) Accounts payable is an essential part of any business so being asked to research the best solution for your company can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not a ‘finance person’. Whether you work for a large company being asked by your management team to source a better accounts payable platform, or a smaller business wondering how to find out which system is best for you – this blog will provide you with three key questions you need to ask. **What to ask your management team:** - **What problem do [management perceive the accounts payable software](https://www.financedigest.com/calibration-management-software-market-to-witness-exponential-growth-by-2030-end-tmr-study.html "Calibration Management Software Market to Witness Exponential Growth by 2030 End | TMR Study") will solve?** The most basic problem with a manual, paper based, accounts payable system is that, given the need to store six [years](https://www.financedigest.com/is-2022-the-year-green-finance-incorporates-climate-risk.html "Is 2022 the year green finance incorporates climate risk?") of financial information for tax purposes, it can become very space consuming. If the objective is only to free up space, a digital solution with an element of [document management](https://www.financedigest.com/document-management-software-market-to-expand-at-a-value-cagr-of-12-3.html "Document Management Software Market to expand at a value CAGR of 12.3%") should be enough. If the problems go beyond space, and involve invoice processing directly, then accounts payable [software that enables your business to automate](https://www.financedigest.com/guide-to-the-most-affordable-marketing-automation-software.html "Guide To The Most Affordable Marketing Automation Software") some or all of the process will be relevant. Typical problems are one or more of, the process is too costly, [late payment](https://www.financedigest.com/how-big-is-the-late-payments-crisis-and-who-will-break-the-deadlock.html "How big is the late payments crisis and who will break the deadlock?") of supplier invoices, ineffective use of their staff (too much data entry not enough progressing and control of transactions), difficulties with the approval and coding process or clerical errors like duplicate payments, coding errors or inaccurate processing of invoice amounts and VAT. - **Are they willing to change the [current accounts](https://www.financedigest.com/euro-zone-current-account-swings-back-to-a-surplus-in-june.html "Euro zone current account swings back to a surplus in June") payables process?** It is important to know how flexible your management team is going to be when it comes to adopting a new accounts payable [software solution](https://www.financedigest.com/healthcare-software-solutions-to-ride-the-immunohematology-market.html "Healthcare Software Solutions to ride the Immunohematology Market"). Will there be [things that the company does today that will remain set in stone](https://www.financedigest.com/iomt-internet-of-medical-things-to-accelerate-the-pancreatic-and-bile-duct-stone-management-market.html "IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) to accelerate the Pancreatic And Bile Duct Stone Management Market")? For example, the authority register, who can sign for certain things to a set limit. If your [company requires multiple signatories in the coding and approval process it is important](https://www.financedigest.com/australian-state-balks-at-energy-companys-request-for-help-with-lng-import-terminal.html "Australian state balks at energy company’s request for help with LNG import terminal") to know this before engaging with vendors. Some solutions assume away the approval process, invoices are processed as though they are already approved. There are also other complexities to consider, for example a desire to [automate processes](https://www.financedigest.com/the-aquaculture-feed-and-pharmaceutical-market-to-move-ahead-on-rpa-robotic-process-automation.html "The Aquaculture Feed And Pharmaceutical Market to move ahead on RPA (Robotic Process Automation)") that are performed outside accounting like raising purchase orders and the receiving of goods and services. - **Who, internally, will be responsible for implementing the solution?** People are [key to the introduction of a new business](https://www.financedigest.com/animal-drug-compounding-market-trends-business-strategies-and-opportunities-with-key-players-analysis-2030.html "Animal Drug Compounding Market Trends, Business Strategies and Opportunities With Key Players Analysis 2030") process solution, which is a change project. Finding out who will be using the system and most importantly who will be the project champion (key person for implementation) should influence how you evaluate vendors depending on their ability to support your change project. **What to ask your AP vendor:** - **How does their software address your specific problems?** Each vendor [needs](https://www.financedigest.com/money-orders-vs-checks-what-you-need-to-know-as-a-consumer.html "Money Orders vs Checks: What You Need to Know as a Consumer") to be able to listen they know about their software they do not know about your company and its challenges. If they are unable first to understand the business issues identified by your management team and then explain clearly, jargon free, how their software addresses those specific problems then beware. Their [software may be a solution](https://www.financedigest.com/healthcare-software-solutions-to-ride-the-pneumatic-compression-therapy-market.html "Healthcare Software Solutions to ride the Pneumatic Compression Therapy Market") to someone’s problems but not necessarily yours. - **What is the process for implementing the solution?** Each vendor needs to be able to explain the services they will provide and other services required from either your personnel or third parties. For example you may require additional hardware or integrations with third party software. One way of getting a good understanding of this is to get them to walk you through an implementation timetable identifying who is responsible for what. 1. **How experienced are they?** Any change project is not easy and you should be wary of any vendor who tells you otherwise. You [need to know](https://www.financedigest.com/how-much-do-you-need-to-know-about-the-atos-cryptocurrency-letter.html "How much do you need to know about the ATO’s Cryptocurrency Letter?") if their proposed solution has been implemented before. They should be able to give you access to customers who can take you through their [experience of working on a project](https://www.financedigest.com/cherry-picker-crane-market-is-expected-to-experience-substantial-gains-with-projections-around-6-to-8-cagr-from-2021-to-2031.html "Cherry Picker Crane Market is expected to experience substantial gains, with projections around 6% to 8% CAGR from 2021 to 2031") with them. They should be able to talk about the experience of the staff who would implement your project. **Conclusion** Bringing in any new [business processes or software](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-choose-the-right-software-architecture-for-your-business.html "How to choose the right software architecture for your business") – especially bringing something new into an established business – is never going to be easy and it is vital you do your research before make any recommendations. Whether you need a platform that [improves, document storage, work flow, invoicing processing or purchasing](https://www.invu.net/), don’t go into the process without thinking through what your business is looking to achieve, and what you need to know from your vendor. Failing to [know these things is unlikely to impress your management team and could end](https://www.financedigest.com/does-softpos-signal-the-end-of-payment-hardware-as-we-know-it.html "Does SoftPOS signal the end of payment hardware as we know it?") up with your business starting a project that doesn’t work for your business. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---