The Power of Integration: Why a Fully Embedded AP Process in D365 Business Central is Essential to Success
The path to automating accounts payable (AP) management has evolved rapidly over the past decade, and organizations are presented with an increasingly diverse set of options. When researching solutions that can support their goals, we advise CFOs to take into account existing systems and processes, ensuring that they adopt a solution that does not conflict with past initiatives.
In this blog, we'll explore the importance of having a fully embedded AP process within Dynamics 365 Business Central, highlight the advantages, and offer examples for why your organization should consider this approach.
The Value of Interoperability and Integration
Your organization can optimize operations by focusing on one of the following aspects: processes, data, people, or tools. In previous blogs, we examined how AP automation empowers teams and enables career growth - but the intersection of processes, data, and tools continues to play a critical role in AP automation success.
By choosing solutions built to work in unison and that have a reliable way to transfer and consolidate data, finance teams can unlock greater efficiency and insights into their overall corporate performance. In the case of D365 Business Central, APIs help connect outside solutions and provide access to some of the system’s core data. But despite the continued efforts to improve, these solutions may fall short of your needs.
A better option for D365 Business Central users is to choose embedded solutions, available through Microsoft AppSource. An embedded solution such as Mekorma Payment Hub adds all the advantages of an integrated solution and then some. By being built specifically for the ERP, these solutions eliminate the risk of integration downtimes, version misalignment, and costly implementations.
Streamlined Invoice Processing
With a directly embedded AP automation process, your organization can significantly reduce manual data entry and speed up invoice processing times. By eliminating barriers created by integrations to external platforms, your Finance team can ensure that invoices are processed and approved faster. This allows you to take advantage of early payment discounts and maintain positive vendor relationships.
With zero lag time in tracking, you’ll also gain better visibility into invoice statuses, reducing risk and ambiguity. This ultimately helps organizations improve their efficiency, reliability, and accuracy which makes it a key driver for successful business operations.
Enhanced Financial Control and Compliance
Managing compliance requirements and retaining financial control is a key priority for all Finance teams, and especially those at small to medium businesses (SMBs). Integrating AP processes into D365 Business Central can help your team meet these goals by establishing robust audit trails, implementing segregation of duties, and creating approval workflows that align with best practices and regulatory standards.
When you have a single source of truth and all your systems share data accurately, it’s much easier to maintain detailed audit trails for AP transactions, and provide transparent and accountable records. This improves internal controls and also simplifies the audit process, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
By defining roles and responsibilities within D365 Business Central, businesses can ensure that no single individual has unchecked control over the entire AP process. Segregation of duties minimizes the risk of fraud, reduces errors, and enhances financial integrity.
Finally, integrated AP processes allow businesses to create customized approval workflows tailored to their specific needs. These workflows ensure that invoices are approved by the appropriate individuals, further enhancing control and compliance.
Future-proofing your Business
Integrating AP processes into D365 Business Central isn't just about the present—it's about being ready for whatever's next. With an embedded solution, teams are more empowered to pursue their growth goals and can feel confident that they will not face unexpected errors, scalability challenges, snowballing overhead costs, or suspended support for one of their solutions.
Limiting the amount of maintenance and custom integrations will help your organization be flexible and adaptive to market trends. You can quickly adjust to changes in regulations or industry practices, ensuring that AP processes are always up-to-date and in line with best practices.
A reliable connection between AP and ERP solutions also means teams can take advantage of new features and continuously fuel their innovation. By integrating AP processes into D365 Business Central, your organization can tap into a platform that's constantly evolving. As new features and innovations are introduced, you can incorporate them into your operations, maintaining a competitive edge.
In summary, integrating AP processes into D365 Business Central is not just a technological upgrade—it is a strategic imperative for organizations looking to optimize their operations, enhance their financial control, and prepare for the future.
