The significant benefits of accounts payable automation are nothing new, but they are changing and adapting to the latest innovations in financial technology. AP automation and purchase to pay solutions are bringing your finance team even faster and more secure processes. Businesses who desire to remain competitive have already shifted from manual, paper processes that became tedious and outdated. The pandemic accelerated a shift into digital transformation that was needed for businesses to adapt to modern trends and meet the needs of their clients. For many companies, this meant adopting cloud-based software that allowed them to enhance the way they do business without overhauling their current process.

What is Zahara?

• Zahara is an all-in-one accounts payable automation solution that helps finance teams process invoices faster and gain control over what they spend. Invoices are emailed into Zahara, where they are read automatically, routed out for approval and matched against purchase orders. In short, Zahara speeds up processing bills, ready to be paid.

What is Comma?

• This is where Comma steps in. Coming soon, Comma will be natively embedded into the Zahara software as a new feature, Pay with Comma, which allows businesses to pay all outstanding invoices with the click of a button. This removes the need to create an account with Comma, move to a different website or onboard a new software. Instead, Zahara users will be pushed to their current bank account where all invoices can be bulk paid in one transaction; powered by Open Banking.

Becky Danks, Head of Product at Comma, commented

“By adding payments functionality to Zahara, SMEs can save time and drive efficiency into their invoice management process. No more uploading of payment files or manually key-ing in amounts.”

Benefits of implementing a purchase-to-pay solution

• On average Comma speeds up paying invoices by 77%. Combined with Zahara, who have saved customers thousands of pounds per year by eliminating one day a week of financial administration, whilst increasing on time payments by up to 15%. Employees’ time is freed from manual data entry, allowing them time for more value-adding tasks.
• As well as speed and time saving, automation removes the likelihood of human error from manual entry, which when dealing with large invoices can be extremely costly. It also supplies protection against fraud, as Zahara users can see the full history of a purchase order and any flagged discrepancies between a PO and an invoice. Fraudulent details are noticed by Zahara and invoices are sent down multi-step approvals to ensure they are checked by the right people. Comma then supplies rigorous due diligence check early in the customer journey and users pay using their own bank accounts that provide an extra layer of protection. With cyber security and fraud prevention becoming more imperative, a business using Zahara with Comma can reduce risk of unnecessary financial loss.

Jordan Butler, Account Executive at Zahara added

“We are delighted to be pairing up with Comma, who will now enable users to make secure payments out of Zahara. Zahara is now truly an all in one accounts payable solution, from procurement to payment.”

Built with SME needs at heart, Zahara’s tagline of “affordable software that makes your life easier” fully encapsulates how both companies are trying to reduce the tedious workload of SME operators while future-proofing their businesses.

To see how Zahara and Comma can streamline your processes, feel free to book a free 1:1 demo with our experts, who can show you how to gain control over your business spend. Both companies are exhibiting at Accountex on May 11/12th, make sure you swing by stand 861 and 150 to meet our finance enthusiasts and explore our solutions.

Book your free Accountex ticket here.