Enhancing Accounts Payable Efficiency -- Recent Innovations from Zoyer

In the midst of a dynamic digital transformation, the finance department finds itself at the forefront of steering businesses, shaping sustainability, and safeguarding future financial health. The transformation is mirrored in the evolution of the Accounts Payable (AP) function, driven by the imperatives of automation, efficiency, and innovation. An effective AP process plays a critical role in maintaining healthy cash flow, strengthening supplier relationships, and upholding financial integrity.

Zoyer - Empowering Financial Transformation

Zoyer, a SaaS-based business spend management platform with embedded finance capabilities, is enabling organizations to make this transformation. Designed to provide businesses with enhanced visibility and control over supplier payments, Zoyer's full-stack platform automates the complete accounts payable cycle spanning supplier onboarding, automated invoice receipt, routing and approval, three-way reconciliation, and payment execution.

Recent Enhancements - Meeting Business Needs

Zoyer’s recent enhancements are designed to meet evolving organizational needs for greater speed, efficiency, and productivity. Informed by new market developments, detailed research, and customer feedback, these enhancements are carefully curated to deliver substantial value to businesses.

Minimizing Exceptions - Three-way Invoice Match

With the growing incidence of AP fraud, the adoption of three-way match processing is gaining momentum While two-way matching is the conventional norm for invoice verification, Zoyer's recent enhancement offers a three-way match process, extending verification to including goods received notes, safeguarding business against fraud, reducing exceptions, and preventing revenue leakages.

The Process in Action

The process involves three essential documents: invoices, purchase orders, and goods received notes. Before invoices enter the approval stream, Zoyer automatically verifies details including amount and quantity to ensure that the invoice for the product aligns with the goods received note and the purchase order.?

Administrators have the flexibility to establish tolerance limits for exceptions. For example, consider a scenario where the goods received note specifies amounts to two decimal places, while the amounts in the purchase order and invoice might be rounded. If the discrepancies fall within the pre-defined threshold, the invoice enters the approval stream, ensuring only meaningful exceptions are flagged for further review.?

The process in action:?

Order initiation: The buyer initiates an order with the supplier generating a corresponding purchase order.?

Shipment and goods receipt: The vendor provides a shipment note to the buyer. Zoyer raises the GRN, confirming receipt of goods and shares it with the vendor.?

Invoice generation and submission: The buyer receives an invoice from the supplier referencing the PO and the GRN.?

Verification of invoice details: Upon receiving the invoice, the details are verified against the corresponding GRN and the PO?

Matching documents: If details align, the invoice enters the approval stream; discrepancies prompt further review.?

Benefits of the Three-way Match Approach?

• Mitigates risk: Quick detection of potential payment issues enhances straight-through processing and minimizes financial risks.?
• Strengthens supplier relationships: Error reduction expedites payments, enhancing credibility with suppliers.??
• Simplifies compliance:? Accurate data records facilitate comprehensive auditing and compliance.

Simplifying Bill Payments???

Currently, many AP departments use different systems to manage recurring and non-recurring invoices. This f not only consumes valuable time and effort but also increases the risk of errors and delays leading to process inefficiencies. Zoyer supports integration with third-party biller systems to streamline payment workflows. The system caters to various payment scenarios, including advance payments, complete payments, and partial payments.?

The Workflow in Action?

• Seamless interface: Zoyer seamlessly interfaces with the Bill Pay system, enabling instant access to crucial bill details including biller's details, bill amount, bill ID, bill type, cost central, and payment due date.?
• Streamlined workflows: Bills progress seamlessly through a pre-defined approval workflow for validation and authorization.??
• Automated payment initiation: Upon approval, business users can initiate payments through various supported payment methods – Cards, IMPS, Net Banking. This automated process eliminates manual intervention and speeds up the payment cycle.?
• Payment confirmation: After successful processing by the Bill Pay system, Zoyer receives a payment confirmation and notifies stakeholders of the payment status.?
• Integration with ERP systems: Zoyer posts details on the ERP system, ensuring financial records are in sync.?

Benefits of Bill Pay

• Simplifies recurring payments: Single platform for managing recurring and non-recurring payments boosts the efficiency of AP teams.?
• Timely payments:?By automating the payment cycle, Zoyer ensures that recurring payments are processed promptly, helping businesses avoid late payment penalties Choice of payment methods:? Provides businesses with a choice of payment methods to speed payments and optimize processing costs?
• Comprehensive reporting: Detailed reports facilitate efficient tracking, monitoring and analysis of recurrent expenditures.?

Strengthening Cash Flow - Flexible Payment Terms?

Managing cash flow remains a persistent challenge for Accounts Payable teams. Zoyer now supports flexible payment terms, empowering businesses to tailor payment arrangements based on criteria such as amount, advance, schedule, and milestones. This strategic flexibility aids businesses in aligning payment schedules with revenue cycles and other operational considerations.???

Defining Payment Terms??

Businesses can define payment terms based on:?

• Amount-specific terms: Allows businesses to define payment terms based on invoice value to optimize cash flow.???
• Advance payment terms: Define advance payment terms for suppliers to capture a higher volume of discounts and better plan cash flow.?
• Payment schedule: Establish structured timelines for payments (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) based on supplier type and relationship.?
• Milestone-specific payments: Configure payment terms tied to milestones during project progression.???

Strategic Applications of Flexible Payment Terms?

Flexible payment terms enable businesses to tailor financial arrangements to suit their specific need and context:??

• Seasonal businesses: Companies experiencing seasonal demand fluctuations can adjust payment schedules to match revenue cycles. A retailer, for example, could extend payment terms during a slow season, ensuring essential inventory while conserving cash flow.?
• Startups and SMEs: Small and medium-sized enterprises often face cash flow constraints, particularly in the early stages. Flexible payment terms allow smaller businesses to prioritize essential expenses while deferring non-critical payments.?
• Economic uncertainty: Flexible payment enables businesses to adapt payment schedules to market conditions, contributing to financial stability.?

Benefits -- Flexible Payment Terms

• Enhanced cash flow: Payment schedules align with receivables cycles, averting cash flow gaps and optimizing fund allocation.?
• Strategic negotiation advantage: Customizable payment terms provide a strategic edge during supplier negotiations, fostering mutually beneficial agreements.?
• Better inventory management: Effective payment terms aid in optimizing inventory levels, avoiding overstocking or shortages.?

Data-Driven Procurement -- Price Central

For small businesses, a centralized repository for preferred suppliers' charges and payment terms provides significant advantages. Zoyer Price Central consolidates preferred supplier charges and payment terms and serves as an enterprise-wide resource, helping teams to make better procurement decisions.??

Price Central Operations

Procurement personnel can upload vendor details and corresponding list prices on Zoyer.?The system supports single and bulk upload of list prices, streamlining the process for maximum efficiency. Once the information is stored within Price Central, businesses gain immediate access to a comprehensive overview of their suppliers and associated list pricing.

Benefits of Price Central

Enhances negotiating power: Centralized vendor charges and payment terms streamline analysis and evaluation, resulting in better negotiating terms.??

Strengthens budgetary compliance: Comprehensive overview of prices aids in aligning spend with budgets, enhancing cash flow management.??

Improves procurement efficiency: Quick access to preferred supplier charges, reduces administrative overheads associated with soliciting multiple quotes, enhancing operational agility.?

Broadening Payments - Plural Gateway Integration?

Zoyer expands its payments management capabilities by integrating with the Plural Payment Gateway. The integration offers businesses a convenient way to make payments using credit and debit cards.?

Glimpse into the Workflow

Invoice approval and payment initiation: Upon receiving invoice approvals, users are presented with an option to proceed with the payment.

Selecting the Plural Payment Gateway: Users can opt for the Plural Payment Gateway option, which redirects them to a dedicated payment page.??

Enter card details: Users securely enter card details on the Gateway's payment page. For customers utilizing co-branded Zaggle cards, the Payment Gateway credits the customer’s virtual account linked to the Zaggle pool account.?

Credit supplier accounts: Zaggle credits the supplier account in accordance with customer-specified terms.?

Settle transactions: Transactions involving non-Zaggle credit or debit card are routed to the issuing bank and settled within a predefined timeframe, typically T+2 (where "T" represents the transaction date).??

Benefits of Plural Gateway Integration

Simplifies payment processes: Zoyer streamlines payment processes and provides businesses with a broader choice of payment methods.??

Collateral-free credit: Using Zaggle co-branded credit cards businesses can access collateral-free credit, along with cashback and rebates.??

Strengthens supplier relations: Timely payments nurture strong relationships with suppliers, fostering trust and collaboration.?

Competitive payment processing fee: Zoyer's competitive payment processing fee contributes to cost-efficient operations.

Faster Time to Market -- Integration with Zoho Books

Zoyer seamlessly interfaces with Zoho Books through purpose-built APIs, enabling the seamless exchange of crucial data related to vendors, purchase orders, invoices, and payments. These off-the-shelf integrations significantly reduce associate overheads.

Benefits - Zoho Books Integration

Lower integration overheads: Prebuilt connectors streamline integration, reducing time and costs.??

Expedited financial close: Accurate data sync ensures faster financial closing, freeing AP practitioners' time for strategic finance tasks.??

In Conclusion?

The enhancements enable businesses to enhance AP efficiency through automation and intelligent integration.?The advanced features, including three-way matching, flexible payment terms, Price Central, and seamless integrations, collectively empower businesses to achieve operational and financial agility.?

Take the first step towards a better Accounts Payable process.?Book a meeting with our AP experts.