By Matthew Kirkpatrick, ACN Member

While the economic outlook is brightening this spring, the recovery has yet to arrive. Your nonprofit is likely searching for more ways to lower costs and reduce workloads.

One easy way to save time and money is to stop using traditional paper checks to pay suppliers. Here are seven ways that switching to electronic payments will benefit your nonprofit:

• Improved efficiency: a single payment file upload initiates payment to all suppliers. This eliminates the need to log in to multiple banking systems, and the cost of paper, postage, printing, and mailing paper checks.  

• Streamlined reconciliation: integrating an electronic payments system with the general ledger in your accounting platform significantly reduces the time required to verify that payments have cleared.

• Fewer errors: uploading a single payment file eliminates costly error-prone manual processes. As a result, staff won’t need to waste hours uncovering and resolving a single payment error.     

• Easy integration: electronic payments can be seamlessly integrated with any accounting platform without requiring significant changes to existing accounts payable workflow processes. 

• Better cash management: electronic payments provide greater control over the timing of payments to suppliers. This opens the door to more early-payment discount opportunities.

• Fewer supplier inquiries: with electronic payments, suppliers have 24/7 access to the status of their payments, as well as their payment history. This visibility helps suppliers better manage their cash without the need to call or e-mail overburdened frontline payables staff.

• More time to focus on the mission: few things waste as much staff time as printing, signing, stuffing, mailing, and reconciling check payments to suppliers. Paying suppliers electronically frees staff from the drudgery of manual check processing, allowing them to focus more of their time on higher value, mission-driven activities.

Matthew Kirkpatrick is vice president of business development at Paymerang, located in Richmond, Virginia, which provides accounts payable automation to nonprofits nationwide. A former nonprofit director and program leader, he values Paymerang for its diversity and commitment to helping nonprofits become more efficient so that they are able to better focus on their mission. Click here to learn more about the benefits of electronic payment.