Ardent’s FinTech Influencer Series highlights innovative voices in the world of ePayables automation. This series is the go-to spot for progressive thoughts on how technology, transformational thinking, and revolutionary ideas are changing how AP work gets done. Continuing our FinTech Influencer Series, today we are speaking with Nick Sprau, Co-CEO at Metafile
Ardent Partners: Welcome Nick and thank you for spending some time again with me today. It’s been about a year since we last connected and what a year it’s been. A great deal has changed, especially within the Accounts Payable function. Given the events of the previous 15 months, is the need for AP automation viewed differently now than in the past?
Nick Sprau: The last 15 months have posed a lot of challenges for companies, especially within accounts payable departments. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to think more strategically about how they’re managing their financial operations, and much of that has transitioned into an even greater need for AP automation technology. We’ve seen more and more organizations prioritizing automation in an effort to maintain business operations efficiently and accurately during the pandemic, especially with the majority of AP staff working remotely but still needing to keep operations running smoothly.
Ardent: Many AP departments are still drowning in paper. Ardent’s most recent survey results indicated that 45%of all invoices are still received in paper format. Why is paper still so prevalent in the AP and, more importantly, what should companies be doing to solve this long standing problem?
NS: When we talk to prospects about their automation needs, we often find that much of the reason that companies are still buried under paper is because of legacy systems and processes that have been in-place for an extended period of time. However, despite the fact that these processes and systems are antiquated, they are still familiar to veteran staff members and making the change to an automated system can be daunting. Cost and implementation time are often the main reasons why companies put off automation and/or digitization efforts, but solutions today, such as MetaViewer, can generate substantial ROI and can be implemented quickly in the cloud with far less disruption to the Finance Department, the IT Department, and the C-Suite.
Ardent: What’s the biggest mistake companies make when automating accounts payable?
NS: One of the biggest mistakes companies make when implementing AP automation is trying to automate for every exception right from the start or even automating poor business practices rather than improving them. We provide a full set of ‘Best Practices’, available right out of the box, that are designed to be implemented quickly and easily into almost any Finance Department, yet also manage the small subset of outliers and exceptions efficiently. Once the solution is fully adopted, other more specific needs can be addressed with optional products we have available that can be tailored by our Professional Services Team to your needs.
Another related mistake when implementing AP automation is the preverbal “biting off more than they can chew”. We created MetaViewer to be scalable for a reason and are a big proponent of the “Crawl, Walk, Run” methodology. Companies can start small and build upon the solution as they realize its benefits. This allows us to cater our solution to an AP team’s specific business needs and be able to expand into other key departments. When automation is implemented into one department at a time, a company can see the ROI faster and can slowly prepare other departments for digital transformation based on the challenges and successes they experienced from the first implementation. However, when it’s all implemented at once, we often run into issues that are more large-scale. Starting small and scaling is always recommended.
Ardent: What do you say to companies that think AP isn’t within their reach because they are too small?
NS: We say that no company is too small to automate! Because our solution is tailorable and scalable, we are able to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes, from small to mid-market to enterprise.
Ardent: What advice would you give to someone wanting to pursue a career in Accounts Payable?
NS: Be open to change and innovation. The way a company has been handling their financial processes is not necessarily the right way and it’s ok to suggest and embrace change.
Ardent: What’s the biggest surprise you’ve had in the last few months and why?
NS: COVID-19 has brought with it a host of surprises, but I think the biggest and most inspiring surprise has been watching teams come together to continue to innovate and move forward, even in the face of challenge. With everything constantly in flux these days, our team and our clients constantly amaze me with their flexibility and tenacity.
Ardent: Nick – It was great to catch-up. As always, thank you for your time and market insights. I look forward to our next conversation.
