Why UX Matters in Accounts Payable

Accounts Payable (AP) is not just a concern of the finance department; it's a crucial process that spans the entire organisation, involving both finance-side and business-side users. AP is often managed within a company’s ERP system, and while their extensive financial capabilities and functions are a valuable asset to finance teams, their complexity often represents a steep learning curve for business-side users. This in turn presents barriers to the necessary involvement of business-side users in the AP process. This complexity can discourage timely completion of AP tasks, potentially leading to unapproved spending and operational bottlenecks. In fact, according to a survey of The CFO Magazine’s audience, 51% of businesses report that purchase requests are often raised after a spend has already been committed, becoming nothing more than a formality which cannot effectively control spend. This complexity can lead to inefficiencies and compliance issues, highlighting the need for more intuitive, user-friendly AP solutions. 

The Power of Good UX in AP  

A user-friendly UX in AP systems can dramatically change this scenario. By simplifying the interface and workflow, employees across all departments can engage with AP tasks more effectively and efficiently. This improvement in user experience can lead to better protocol compliance, quicker approval processes, and ultimately, greater financial control. A quicker, more streamlined procure-to-pay process can also hold direct financial benefits, such as early payment discounts and the ability to negotiate favourable terms with the supplier in the future.  

Enhanced accessibility of the AP process can also, over time, produce long-term cultural change in an organisation. When every team member can easily and conveniently engage in AP best practice, it fosters a culture of collective financial responsibility, collaboration, and compliance, profoundly impacting a company’s financial health and visibility in the long term. 

Kloo: A Case Study of User-Friendly AP 

• Intuitive Interface: Kloo’s interface is a departure from complex ERPs. Designed with ease of navigation in mind, it encourages participation from all employees, fostering a more inclusive financial culture. 
• Email Integration: Kloo allows users to manage a range of AP tasks directly from their email inbox, without even having to log in to the Kloo platform. Users can raise and approve spend, upload invoices and get visibility of tailored, relevant financial insights, all without having to log in. This integration of AP into the daily workflow of business-side users significantly reduces the time needed to complete one of these actions, streamlining the process from procure-to-pay.  
• Simple User Permissions: In order to account for the complexity of the systems, ERPs often have elaborate and complicated tiers of user permissions. With Kloo, there are three, straightforward user categories, with permissions designed especially for the AP process.  

“The intuitive UI means that business-side users can quickly action approval, and document ingestion is as simple as forwarding emails to our own Kloo AI agent. This enables us to operate faster and empower the finance team to spend their time on the real value-add activities - not chasing for approvals!”​​

 

Yuan Liu, Certinia Implementation Program Director, Agilisys

 

These features accelerate tasks, encourage responsible financial practices, and lead to timely payments and healthier supplier relationships. 

Key Takeaways: 

In the world of AP, the user experience of a system like Kloo is pivotal in determining how efficiently and effectively an organisation manages its finances. Kloo’s user-friendly features ensure widespread compliance and streamline operations, leading to a healthier financial ecosystem. This demonstrates the significant benefits of accessible and efficient financial management tools, showcasing Kloo as a prime example of innovation in the AP space.