Accounts Payable AP Outsourcing in 2024: Pros, Cons, and Evaluation

outsource accounts payable

Your in-house team will probably need time to familiarize themselves with the same. While these don’t give you the full picture, checking reviews and testimonials is a great place to start. Read about the benefits and drawbacks people have faced when hiring a particular provider.

outsource accounts payable

Through the power a how-to guide for creating a business budget bench accounting of outsourcing, you can bid farewell to the endless back-and-forth communication, missed deadlines, and frustrating negotiations. Experience the sheer delight of streamlined vendor management, where every interaction is a seamless dance of efficiency and hilarity. Make sure you hire the best outsourcing provider to match your accounts payable needs and keep your data safe.

Review Their Compliance and Industry Standards Adherence

To explore how our AP outsourcing and staffing solutions can benefit your organization, schedule a call and let us tailor a strategy that aligns with your unique business needs. For example, the average salary for an in-house AP clerk in the United States averages around $45,366 annually, not including benefits and taxes. Outsourcing lowers these costs by providing cash flow statement direct method access to a team of experts at a fraction of the price. Book a 30-min live demo to see how Nanonets can help your team implement end-to-end AP automation.

Leading Accounts Payable Outsourcing Companies in 2023

  1. Since you are not physically present to supervise tasks, mistakes may not receive due attention.
  2. Outsourcing your accounts payable processes can help streamline payments and save on labor, time, and errors.
  3. When you hire new employees, you don’t just hire anyone — you consider their skillsets to determine if they’d be a good fit for your company.
  4. Furthermore, by working with an AP outsourcing provider, businesses can ensure that they maintain a high level of compliance with financial regulations and industry best practices.

But no matter your focus, clearly defining your end goal is essential to measuring your outsourcer’s performance and setting the right expectations for your business. Hiring, automation, or outsourcing is a choice businesses can make depending on their means, time, and capability to ensure smoother AP processes and better business efficiency. Any company dealing with accounts payable best practices in-house is bound to have greater control over its processes. Emergencies can be prioritized and handled straight away with direct approvals. With a third-party provider, you will have to play by their terms and timings.

The Cons of Outsourcing Accounts Payable Processes

Growing businesses have to maintain relationships with many suppliers and vendors, and this usually ends up making the Accounts Payable process complicated. Vendors with different invoicing standards/procedures tend to make accounts payable processes quite cumbersome. When you automate accounts payable processes, you may find that your existing accounts payable functions take fewer hours—to the point that you aren’t feeling the need to outsource anymore. With a global presence and a reputation for excellence, Genpact has become a go-to choice for companies looking to streamline their accounts payable operations.

Managing your relationships with vendors and suppliers is challenging enough. Read our guide on everything you need to know about nearshore outsourcing. Below, we’ll explore these benefits and how they can directly impact your organization’s bottom line. Elevate your hiring process with Job Description Generator – a tool to create customized, compelling job descriptions, attracting the right candidates effortlessly.

While it is easy to supervise an in-house AP team, the same cannot be said for third-party service providers. You cannot control how they handle your accounts or run back-office processes. This frees your in-house AP department to focus on higher-level tasks and attend to the core business processes that enhance your company’s performance and improve service levels. If you don’t have access to technologies that give you AP automation, workflows, and other time-saving tools, your outsourced provider can step in to deliver them at a fraction of the cost. If you’re still reliant upon cumbersome processes and old technology, outsourcing could help you see results faster and more clearly.

Companies who outsource accounts payable services introduce a new level of efficiency and productivity to their team, thanks to the advanced technologies and automated processes of specialized firms. The accounts payable process consists of several key steps to ensure timely and accurate payments to vendors. AP processes are essential to “keeping the lights on” but generally add little strategic value to a business.

The efficacy of diversification third-party service providers is difficult to gauge without implementing performance metrics and measurement tools. You may never know if they are billing for idle time, accessing non-work websites, accurately reporting issues, etc., if you don’t set expectations and check that they’re met. Despite the benefits of using accounts payable outsourcing companies to relieve your internal accounts payable department, there are drawbacks to this approach. An alternative to outsourcing your AP function is implementing AP automation. When you outsource accounts payable, a third-party company runs your AP department.