If you’re reviewing or replacing your ERP, it’s natural to assume everything else has to wait. ERP projects have a way of putting things on hold: new tools, process changes and fixes all get parked “until the new system is in”, sometimes for a year or more.
AP automation doesn’t need to be one of them. A good AP platform connects to the ERP you have today and can be connected to a new one if you change, so you get the benefits now instead of in a year or two: fewer duplicate payments and coding errors, invoices matched and approved without chasing, and a month-end that isn’t held up by a backlog.
It also keeps your ERP decision your own. You can choose the ERP that fits your business best, not one picked to suit the tools around it.
The one time to pause is during a live ERP implementation. Once data migration, testing and training are under way, adding another project rarely helps. In that case, plan AP automation in with the new ERP’s go-live, or start once the new system has settled.
Why waiting usually costs more than it saves
An ERP project is a long piece of work. You choose a system, pick an implementation partner, map your data, configure, test and train, and every one of those stages can slip. Go-live dates move, and so does everything you’d planned to do after them.
Your AP problems won’t wait. If invoices are keyed by hand, the same issues come up every month: duplicate invoices paid twice, coding errors, invoices that sit in an inbox past their due date, and a month-end close that stretches a little further each time. If your business is growing, or adding entities through acquisition, the volume grows with it, and so does the pressure on whoever processes the invoices.
There’s a quieter cost too. Your AP team spends its time getting invoices into the system instead of checking them. Fixing AP first gives that time back, during the very period when your finance team is also busy supporting an ERP project.
What happens when you do change ERP
With a platform that sits alongside your ERP, much of your setup lives in the platform, not the ERP:
- Your process. Approval routes, matching rules, tolerances and the way invoices arrive all live in the AP platform.
- Your history. Past invoices, approvals and the audit trail are held in the AP platform. Ask your provider how they’re handled when you switch, so you can still show an auditor who approved what and when.
- Your team’s habits. Approvers keep using the same system to sign off invoices, which is one less change for them during an ERP project.
What changes is the connection and the mapping. The AP platform needs to connect to the new ERP and pick up its master data.
If your new ERP uses a different chart of accounts, different supplier records or new dimensions such as departments or entities, those need mapping so invoices are coded correctly in the new system.
How fixing AP first can help your ERP project
Getting AP automation in place now isn’t only about relief sooner. It can also make the ERP change easier when it comes.
You’ll know your process. Setting up AP automation means writing down how invoices really move through your business: who approves what, which spend needs a purchase order, which suppliers cause the most exceptions. That’s the same information your ERP partner will ask for, and you’ll have it ready.
Your supplier data will be cleaner. Duplicate supplier records, out-of-date bank details and inconsistent names come to light quickly once invoices are matched by a system instead of a person. Cleaning them up before migration means you move better data into the new ERP.
Your team will have one less change at once. If AP is already settled, the people who approve invoices won’t need to learn a new approval process at the same time as a new ERP.
When it makes sense to wait
There are times to hold off. If your new ERP is already being implemented, or goes live within a few weeks, it’s usually better to connect AP automation to the new system from the start. And if an AP tool only works with your current ERP, it won’t move with you, so it’s worth looking for one that will.
If neither applies and invoice processing is causing problems now, there’s rarely a good reason to wait.
What to check before you start
If you decide to go ahead, three questions will tell you whether an AP platform will move with you. Ask them before you sign.
- Does it connect directly to your current ERP? Ask for a direct integration, not a CSV export someone has to import by hand, and check exactly which fields sync.
- How wide is its ERP coverage? Check it connects to the main ERPs you might move to, so the AP platform never limits your choice.
- What does moving to a new ERP involve? Ask how the new connection is set up, who handles mapping and data migration, how long it typically takes and whether it costs extra.
It’s also worth telling your ERP partner what you’re doing. They’ll want to know that invoices will arrive from an AP platform, so they can plan the integration as part of the project instead of discovering it late.
How Webexpenses Accounts Payable fits around an ERP change
Webexpenses Accounts Payable, part of the Webexpenses FinOps platform powered by Zudello, is built to sit alongside your ERP, not replace it. So you can start now with the ERP you have, and it works with a wide range of ERPs if you change later.
- It works with the ERPs you’re likely to shortlist. The platform integrates with Sage Intacct, NetSuite, Xero, SAP Business One, Sage X3 and the Microsoft Dynamics family, including Dynamics 365 and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. It also connects to many bespoke systems, and on-premise systems connect through the platform’s own middleware.
- Your ERP stays in charge. Your ERP remains the master for suppliers, customers and GL accounts. The platform fetches that data on a schedule, usually hourly or daily, with a manual sync for urgent updates. Transactions sync both ways, so anything processed in the ERP is still visible for matching and budgets.
- Invoices are handled the same way throughout. Invoices are read to line level as they arrive, duplicates are caught before they’re processed twice, and each invoice is matched two-way or three-way against what was ordered and received. Exceptions go to the person who can fix them, showing which line is out and by how much. None of that changes when the ERP does.
- Implementation is scoped before it’s priced. You’ll know what’s included before you commit, and a typical implementation takes 8 to 10 weeks, so you’re not waiting on an ERP timeline to see the benefits.
You don’t (necessarily) have to wait
If your ERP review is likely to run for months and invoice processing is causing problems now, there’s no need to put AP automation on hold.
Getting it in place now means your team spends the ERP review checking invoices instead of keying them, and moves into the new system with cleaner supplier data and a process that’s already written down.
Every finance team’s ERP plans look different, so we start with a conversation, not a demo. Book a discovery call and we’ll talk through where your ERP project stands, how invoices move through your business today and what a phased approach could look like for you.
