Unanet has developed and launched the latest iteration of its Accounts Receivable automation solution. The AR automation platform is the next generation of Unanet Pay, first launched in 2021. The solution provides an end-to-end accounts receivable solution. It will help AE firms streamline processes, accelerate payments, reduce errors and help reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions.
The solution is an add to Unanet ERP, and its goal is to help get firms paid faster. Existing customers can use the functionality immediately. The revenue benefits include the following:
- Increased cash flow
- Faster invoice-to-cash cycle
- Better insights to act faster on business decisions
- Improved customer satisfaction with new digital payment options
Operational benefits include reducing or eliminating manual processes such as printing and physically mailing invoices. It enables digital payments through an online payment portal integrating banks supporting ACH and credit card payments. These automated processes eliminate errors and discrepancies that sometimes creep into client payments.
Unanet has enhanced Unanet pay, and the new iteration includes the following:
- Tracking email delivery and customer engagement gives AE firms up-to-the-second insight into delivery status and customer engagement.
- Incentivizing early pay by dynamically setting discounts and days outstanding on invoices.
- No-cost ACH transactions.
- Customizable automated reminder cadences for past-due or unopened invoices.
Steve Karp, Senior Vice President of Financial Products for Unanet, commented, “Getting paid quickly and fully is mission-critical for any business, but often project-based businesses like AE firms are so busy managing projects and delivering on behalf of their clients that streamlined and effective invoicing becomes too much of an afterthought.
“Now, with Unanet’s AR Automation add-on product, not only do they get relief from the time-intensive work of delivering and tracking invoices, but they also make life easier for their clients. AR Automation is a win-win for all because it takes an essential, but error-prone and manually intense job, and makes it happen in minutes, not days.”
Making a difference at firms
Research by Bain has shown that 40% of B2B payments are still made by check. This is a painful and manual process that causes payment delays. According to PYMNTS.com, 47% of suppliers cannot anticipate when payments will arrive. Digitising the process has several benefits. Not only are firms paid faster, analytics on the data can also better predict when future payments will be made. This improves cash flow forecasts with accurate data. When variances occur, they can be investigated, and firms can take action if they feel a firm is slipping on its normal payment habits.
The PYMNTS.com research also indicated that 96% of CFOs say they believe optimized A/R and A/P processes are highly important to maintaining healthy balance sheets. Gilmore & Associates, a civil engineering and consulting firm, already use Unanet Pay. They have already seen considerable benefits, including the following:
- a 10% reduction in days sales outstanding (DSO)
- a 2x increase in invoices paid digitally
- 100+ hours saved annually by project managers
The release of AR Automation means more AE firms can benefit from those kinds of outcomes.
Jeffrey Gilmore, Accountant at Gilmore & Associates, commented, “Unanet’s invoice delivery and payments features have streamlined our operations and enabled our accounting department to work much more efficiently, so now they can focus on important responsibilities and tasks that they didn’t have time for previously.”
Karp concluded, “AE firms gain a complete end-to-end system that delivers real ROI for them, from creating invoices, to tracking their delivery, to accepting payment, to automating accounting entries and reconciling funds. It’s all about simplicity and helping our customers’ bottom line.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Unanet has enhanced its platform in a direction that many customers will welcome. While this may not yet have the same level of sophistication as a dedicated AR solution, it will deliver many of the low-hanging fruit that finance teams can benefit from without another investment or software supplier relationship.
