Accounting is all about processes and accounts payable is no different. Your accounts payable workflow is a list of steps to be completed. But with modern cloud-based accounting, you can do your accounts payable process online in a much more efficient way. As a business owner, you should not be involved with any part of accounts payable other than approving the actual payment.
In today’s episode, Bernard Roesch shares how to simplify the accounts payable process using bill.com. For more information, visit www.MissionBusinessPodcast.com.
If you have any questions about this podcast episode, please feel free to contact us.
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The Typical Accounts Payable Process
The accounts payable process typically follows a few specific steps. However, these are usually done in a desktop accounting system by one or possibly two individuals, and not in collaboration with an entire company.
Here are the steps:
- Someone sends you a bill either via email or physical mail.
- You collect those bills and provide them to your bookkeeper periodically.
- Your bookkeeper enters each one manually into QuickBooks as a bill.
- Using a accounts payable aging report, your bookkeeper works with you to determine which need to be paid at what time.
- Your bookkeeper prints checks for each bill you decide to pay at that time.
- You sign those checks to authorize payment.
- Your bookkeeper sends payment for the bills.
Although this process works and has been around forever, it’s something that is not efficient in today’s cloud-based accounting environment.
- The activity is not available online as you’re working with paper bills and physical checks.
- It’s not easy to collaborate with others in the process that can do much of the work rather than you and your bookkeeper manually processing accounts payable.
Online Accounts Payable Process With Bill.com
Using an online accounts payable process with a service like bill.com enables you to streamline the above accounts payable process significantly.
Here’s how it would work:
- You tell your vendors to send a bill in a way that bill.com can automatically intake. This can be done directly to bill.com or you can forward emails.
- The bill then appears in bill.com, usually with the information pre-populated if you use the direct to bill.com bill receiving process.
- Multiple steps for approval based on your configured approval process. For example, initial approval to intake the bill, coding of the bill with QuickBooks, and then final payment approval.
- Finally, payment is sent by check or ACH.
Configuring Bill.com With QuickBooks Is Easy
The configuration process of bill.com with QuickBooks Online is pretty straightforward.
- First, you sign up for bill.com and connect to QuickBooks Online.
- From there, QuickBooks Online syncs to bill.com so that bill.com has a record of your vendors, chart of accounts, etc.
- Bill.com also connects to your business bank accounts that are used to send payments.
- Finally, you set up users and permissions within bill.com and configure your accounts payable workflow. At that point, you’re ready to contact your vendors and have them send bills directly to bills.com or otherwise get the bills into the accounts payable workflow.
Need Help?
If you need help configuring your accounts payable process to work with bills.com, contact Bernard today.
You can also visit MissionBusinessPodcast.com for more insights that Bernard has been sharing with us in the previous episodes.
[Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bankenverband/15816711490]
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