A Look Back: Our Top 5 Blog Posts in 2018

As the end of the year approaches, we always like to take a minute to sit back and reflect on where we’ve been – and where we’re headed. 2018 was a big year at DataServ. We launched our 3.0 User Experience, deployed online resources and product enhancements based on client input, presented at IOFM’s Spring and Fall APP2P conferences, and welcomed many new clients including World Wide Technology and NFI. We also grew our team and are currently expanding and renovating our office space. What a year!

We enjoy sharing with our readers what we’ve learned throughout the year. Here’s a look back at our top five blog posts, along with some thoughts from each of the authors on why these topics are important and what we expect to see in the next year.

#1: Why We Use a Five-Step QA Process (Hint, It's So You Don't Have To)
By Amy Cameron

Technology is great, but accounts payable functions are too critical to not have some failsafe plans involved when automating. It’s important not to lose control of the upfront part of the invoice handling process – and that’s why we like to offer reassurance that we’ve got you covered with our five-step QA process!

What’s coming in 2019? We’re planning some big updates in the next year. We’re implementing a new version of our Invoice Processing Machine™ that will improve automation and accuracy, and we’re taking steps to reduce our turnaround time, so we can process documents even faster. Stay tuned for more information!

#2: The Five Groups Significantly Impacted by AP Automation (Hint: They Don’t Work in AP)
By Kathi Haller

Change management plays a critical role in the success of any system, accounts payable or otherwise. The system’s acceptance among the users is so important to delivering the value originally promised. Understanding the impact of the system on each user group is essential to success.

What’s coming in 2019? Change management and user adoption are concepts that remain critical over time. With the increased introduction of bots and process automation, these tried and true concepts will increasingly become a main focus for decision-makers – and rightfully so.

#3: Building a Custom AP Workflow into Your ERP: Costs, Risks, & Inefficiencies
By Jamey Biegener

ERP solutions have historically lacked functionality to support workflow processes – yet they continue to attempt to solve that problem. But there is a better approach.

What’s coming in 2019? We are seeing ERPs release new versions that claim to provide automation, but we are finding out that they still leave something to be desired. It will be interesting to see if companies adopt more accounts payable automation functionality in their ERPs and at what cost. When it comes to AP processing, we still believe that ERPs are not the experts in best practices.

#4: The Value of Integrating Invoice Capture Services
By Julie Lintner

Intelligent data capture is a topic that every organization needs to address, regardless of how they decide to automate AP. Many organizations have struggled with doing this in-house successfully.

What’s coming in 2019? As industry organizations, such as IOFM, start advocating for single stream invoice processing, this topic will become more prevalent. Organizations will need to weigh the pros and cons of performing invoice capture in-house or outsourcing to a third party.

#5: Yes, Artificial Intelligence is Essential to AP Automation, but You Should be in the Driver’s Seat
By Jeff Haller

AI and robotic process automation. Those are two of the most commonly heard phrases at industry events these days. We’ve long understood that artificial intelligence is critical to AP automation – in fact, we began leveraging it well before it was a buzzword – but it’s important to understand the right balance between AI and human involvement.

What’s coming in 2019? AI will continue to be a top trend in 2019. And why shouldn’t it be? It saves time and resources, reduces human errors, and adds capacity without increasing headcount. But we think the focus should be on understanding and providing human input on how the software makes decisions, so you can be more confident in its results. We’re big believers in trust, and ultimately your trust in the technology is what will make it successful.

Ready to discuss how DataServ can help your organization in 2019? Contact us.