Nacha, the US payments association, has published a set of guidelines for business on the benefits of integrating accounts payable operations with electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) systems.
The guidelines have been published by Nacha's Council for Electronic Billing and Payment. They have been issued in response to a member survey conducted in September 2000 by the Association for Financial Professionals which concluded that "the major barrier to increased use of electronic payments continues to be the lack of integration between an organisation's electronic payment and accounting systems."
Jeff Wainscott, senior product specialist at DST output and co-chair of the council's B2B committee, comments: "The purpose of the Council's presentation is to describe the benefits of accounts payable integration to corporate payers...The concepts presented in this project pave the path to automating business processes and improving return on investment."
The council identifies the benefits of accounts payable integration as cost reduction, streamlining the accounts payable process, improving control and risk management, improving strategic vendor relationship, and improving the accuracy and timeliness of information.