I tried using our payroll provider to manage our contractors and it was a square peg in a round hole. Liquid works and I’m not looking back.Jonathan DiBenedetto, COO of Finli

Invoices are an everyday part of a company’s operations. Chances are they’ve come across your desk, you’ve wired payment, and crossed another thing off your to-do list. But if you aren’t rigorous about invoice matching, you could be losing money.

The Invoice Matching Blues

Let’s be honest: invoice matching is usually a labor-intensive process. It probably goes a little something like this:

1. You go to your company’s hiring manager to get approval that the invoice was right

2. Or you dig up your original scope of work (a document we strongly endorse creating), work order (WO) or purchase order (PO) to make sure it lines up with the invoice

3. Or you check it against the payment history of other invoices to make sure it’s in range

“Before Liquid, we spent hours reviewing and matching our contractors’ invoices to their work orders,” Waziri Garuba, founder of Harlem Labs Advisory, told us. And if your company uses independent contractors (one of the keys to rapidly expanding your business and minimizing costs), then invoice matching is a crucial step to managing your cash flow and preventing duplicate payments. But in addition to the time it takes, the process is prone to human error.

There’s A Better Way

Liquid takes the variables out of it by adding controls throughout the process:

1. WOs and POs are created with clear, upfront terms and units to clarify the work being agreed to

2. Liquid automatically matches incoming invoices to their appropriate WO and PO

3. Liquid double-checks for errors, double payments, and any inconsistencies between the invoice and original WO or PO

4. Invoices are then routed to the appropriate HR or AP party for approval

By consolidating contracts, invoices, and other elements of invoice matching, Liquid’s streamlined workflow makes it easy to verify and confirm you’re paying what you should. After switching to Liquid, the COO of Finli Jonathan DiBenedetto said, “I used to manage onboarding docs, contracts, exchange rates, and timesheets myself and it was a total waste of time. I tried using our payroll provider to manage our contractors and it was a square peg in a round hole. Liquid works and I’m not looking back.”

Liquid prepopulates vendors’ invoices with data directly from the WO. New line items are highlighted and require manual approval – which means Accounts Payable doesn’t need to cross-reference WOs every time it pays an invoice. Other accounts payable software for small businesses focuses on getting invoices paid as quickly as possible; Liquid’s automated process and multi-stage checking let you rest assured invoices are right and ready to be paid. “Now, we’re able to expand our engagement with 1099 workers thanks to the time and money we save with Liquid’s invoice matching,” Garuba noted.

Invoice Matching Made Easy

With Liquid, invoice matching is simplified and streamlined: invoices are automatically matched to the work orders they came from, and any inconsistencies are flagged or your review before payment. And if you’re working with foreign contractors, Liquid’s invoice matching also readily converts currency types and offers competitive exchange rates, so you can pay in a contractor’s preferred currency in 175+ countries with a single click.

Ready to save time and frustration? Contact us today, and we’ll find the right plan for you.

#invoicemanagement #operationalefficiency