Obsolete AP Automation Solutions

December 1, 2020

Re-imagine AP Auotmation in 2021 

Obsolete AP Automation Solutions

Traditional old-school AP Automation solutions have had their day in the sun. Now it is time to retire them with other antiquated technology. APAutomation solutions' success on the business process improvements brought about by those systems, but they ignore the bigger, more important picture. Let's look at that bigger picture and why traditionalAP Automation solutions have no practical application in 2021 and beyond. Let's start with an overview of a typical enterprise and the functions ERP software platforms are designed to automate For example:

Obsolete AP Automation Solutions

With this view (above) of the enterprise, let's ask the obvious question.Is the accounting group the only area in the enterprise dealing with business process inefficiencies caused by document handling? Let's dig deeper into the modules that encompass typical ERPs accounting modules:

Obsolete AP Automation Solutions

What we see is that Accounts Payable is just one part of the accounting department. But let's dig even deeper by looking into a typical Account Payables workflow:

Obsolete AP Automation Solutions

What do we learn from drilling down into this typical Accounts Payable process flow? We find the key to obsolescence for legacy AP Automation solutions!


Legacy AP Automation solutions focus on the processing of invoices from vendors. Let's think about that in the context of the entire business and associated ERP platform.


Traditional legacy AP Automation focuses on:


  • One process in the Accounts Payable function
  • Accounts Payable is one component of the accounting group in an enterprise
  • Accounting is one functional area in the more significant enterprise


With this view of traditional legacy AP Automation solutions, it is easy to see their limitations. The issue is myopia, a lack of vision, the failure to see the big rich forest while focusing for years on a single tree. It is time to rethink AP Automation in 2021. Open up document-based transactions in the ENTIRE enterprise with
HandsFreeERP. All for less than you would pay to automate Accounts Payables with a traditional legacy solution.

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