Today’s accounts receivable departments receive payments from a variety of sources including traditional paper checks, EDI, and ACH. In larger departments, the volume of incoming payments coupled with the variety of processes and a lack of standardization make it challenging to capture payment details, remittance images, and payment discrepancies. Fortunately, SAP Accounts Receivable provides fast cash application by optimizing these processes.
For example, SAP Accounts Receivable can be used to automatically match remittance information, present payment discrepancies, and manage documents.
Auto-matching – SAP Accounts Receivable takes care of incoming payments by capturing check and remittance images and extracting relevant data. From there, status codes can be generated and payment discrepancies identified for further action.
Payment discrepancies – Creating a workflow to handle payment discrepancies allows AR personnel to follow a predefined structure to clear discrepancies as well as track their progress and actions. These steps and notes can be used to document the transaction, serve as an audit trail, and be used in conjunction with customer service.
Document management – SAP Accounts Receivable can also be used to support collections through document management processes. For example, documents such as purchase orders or signed delivery forms can be used to prove a disputed order as being authorized or delivered. SAP Accounts Receivable’s document management features ensure accounts receivable employees have the supporting documents needed to address payment issues.
Accounts receivable departments are customer-facing, making it essential that interactions with customers are handled with professionalism and care. Payment issues can quickly become tricky as money matters are sensitive subjects. Whether a customer has withheld payment because of a service issue or made an honest mistake when submitting payment, having the tools, documents, and processes in place help ensure a prompt resolution. Efficiently correcting payment discrepancies is but one example of how SAP accounts receivable provides fast cash application.
