Benefits of Automating Vendor Payments with CSI and Sage Intacct

Benefits of Automating Vendor Payments with CSI and Sage Intacct

Five years ago, Goldman Sachs predicted the rise of automated vendor payment solutions, noting the exceptionally high cost of manual payments. The firm estimated that it costs small businesses about $22 to pay a single invoice with a paper check. That figure includes the high cost of labor, as well as costs associated with the inefficiencies of manual labor—including the need to resolve disputes, find and fix errors, and pay late fees.

Today, there are numerous automated payment solutions to choose from, but the one we recommend most often brings together the best-in-class, cloud-based financials of Sage Intacct with the easy-to-use and feature-rich Vendor Payments platform from Corporate Spending Innovation (CSI).

Streamline workflows

Instead of spending a lot of time jumping between different systems to pay bills and reconcile bank statements, CSI’s automated platform enables AP teams to move quickly and seamlessly from bill to reconciliation—without leaving Sage Intacct.

Businesses simply submit payments from within Sage Intacct, and Vendor Payments handles the rest. Vendors can be paid faster, reconciliations are extremely quick and easy, and transaction costs are lower throughout the process. Plus, every payment is backed by CSI’s extensive security program and its status as a Mastercard and Visa processor and issuer.

Reduce costs—and even boost revenue

Automating vendor payments can help businesses dramatically reduce labor costs and deploy staff on more strategic, revenue-positive tasks. Companies can also save money by eliminating accidental late fees and improving relationships with vendors by providing accurate, on-time payments.

CSI’s Vendor Payments platform offers an additional benefit: When vendors choose to be paid with virtual cards, businesses receive cash rebates—a potential new revenue stream. Vendors that accept virtual card payments receive enhanced reconciliation data, so they also have an incentive to choose the option.

Boost visibility

One of the underappreciated limitations of manual payment processing is that it doesn’t give businesses adequate visibility into their payment processes and the status of payments. There are inevitably costly delays where businesses don’t realize, for example, that a vendor has rejected a payment.

With Sage Intacct and CSI’s Vendor Payments, there are no more blind spots. Businesses gain full, real-time visibility into the status of every payment, with detailed updates at every stage to eliminate costly oversights and delays. When a vendor rejects a payment, the business is notified immediately and can take whatever action is needed.

Get help from the Sage Intacct experts

For more than 75 years, Kernutt Stokes has been a leading accounting and business consulting firm. Our Sage-certified experts are ready to assist you with software implementation, training, and support services to help your business manage accounts payable and other processes so that you can grow with confidence. Contact us for a free consultation.