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What is ePayables?

BY Advancing K12 Staff

Advancing K12 Staff

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One of the more interesting movements in the “new business office” of the modern school district is the push to turn accounts payable into a consistent revenue generator.

This approach started with the push for P-cards, and it has evolved even further to encompass a process known as ePayables, a higher-level adaptation of the P-card concept for AP’s largest bills.

What is it?

ePayables are essentially virtual cards, with each one assigned to a specific vendor. When an invoice is received and approved, the district AP department sends an electronic file to the bank indicating how much money should be added to which card. A remittance advice is sent to the vendor, which then charges the card for the appropriate amount.

ePayables infographic

How is this different from P-cards?

ePayables aren’t really cards at all, or at least not in the physical sense. Where you might hand out P-cards to employees for small purchases, ePayables are used for the kind of invoices individuals would not typically be paying. Think fixed assets, construction projects, enterprise technology systems, and the like.

Why would I want to do this?

While the use cases for ePayables differ from P-cards, the reasons for using them are similar. Banks typically offer rewards based on spend volume, suppliers will appreciate the faster turnaround times, and your business office will benefit from a noticeable reduction in manual, paper-based processing.

Get started

Your first step on the journey to ePayables is to find an ERP system that will support this approach. Most modern solutions should have no problem, but if you’re using legacy technology, your processes and procedures might be reflecting those limitations. Once that’s taken care of, have a talk with a representative from your bank. With the amount of money it takes to run a school district, you can expect to find some pretty sweet deals out there.

The revenue generating accounts payable department might just be a few process improvements away from becoming a reality. With ePayables, you have an easy-to-implement, low-risk way to move ever closer to that goal.