The AP portal solution

Blog | March 15, 2022

Reading time: 4 min
Billtrust's Business Payment Network, the integrated solution to capture, analyze, and view the entire cash flow, transforms the way you invoice and work with AP portals.
on ap portals procure-to-pay portals video thumbnail
Watch the video to learn how Billtrust's Business Payment Network Invoicing can help you get paid faster.
Watch the video to learn how Billtrust's Business Payment Network Invoicing can help you get paid faster.

The problems with AP portals

For years, I’ve worked with clients struggling with invoicing challenges and payment delays. And the root of many of their problems lies in the number of accounts payable (AP) portals they are forced to used, which has accelerated in recent years. 

AP portals, or procure-to-pay portals, are deployed by the accounts payable departments of many large businesses, and they automate the acceptance and processing of invoices. 

There are over 200 distinct AP portals providers that my customers’ buyers may use, and each comes with an array of different requirements which bogs down AR teams and creates inefficiencies. I have numerous customers who are trapped in a cycle of managing 20, 30 or even 50 different AP portal requirements. 

But where there is a problem, Billtrust has a solution. 

I’m so happy to be able to offer Billtrust’s Business Payments Network (BPN) Invoicing to my customers. Our automated AR solution ensures that our customers can get their invoices into every required portal on time and in the correct format. We present a single-screen solution that enables our customers to invoice and then check the status of those invoices across all of their customers' AP portals. 

Diagram demonstrating BPN connection services for a business

Billtrust's invoicing solution

We make it easy to streamline the process of managing buyers’ AP portals through our innovative design, an automated, web-based AR solution. You input the invoices into our solution, and we take care of it from there.  

We have built-in integrations with 200+ AP portals. And even in the rare circumstance of having a buyer with a homegrown AP portal solution, we can still deliver invoices. You just give us the requirements, and we can deliver invoices to any system.

Billtrust automates the invoice delivery process and gives you status updates, enabling quick exception handling. 

How Billtrust's invoice delivery works diagram

Here's how it works:

  1. You input your invoice data into our solution.
  2. We quickly upload your invoices into your buyers’ AP portals and provide a report on invoice delivery, noting exceptions and rejections.
  3. If there are any rejections, we provide the reason code for those rejections in a seamless, automated fashion.

Need to resend an invoice? No problem!

We can submit a corrected invoice on your behalf as many times as is required for you to get paid.

Want to check the statuses of your invoices?

You can enjoy the 24/7 convenience of a dashboard where you can go in and review your submitted invoices and manage any exceptions. You can monitor the progress of your invoices through every step of approval on the way to payment. 

man and woman looking at a computer screen with cash FAQs

The importance of accurate invoice statuses

In most businesses, the practitioners working on invoices are separate from those in collections. In the equipment vertical, invoicing and collections are sometimes in different branches entirely. 

So, an invoice that’s been submitted into an AP portal and marked approved with an assigned payment date, may look delinquent to a collector, because they don’t have access to the invoice status. Our solution solves this problem, creating one central place that all of AR can go to see the statuses of their invoices. 

Solving for the bigger picture

The level of risk and complexity that our customers have to manage on a daily basis in order to get paid is unacceptable. And what our solution does is bridge the gap between our customers and their buyers. 

This frees up people's time, helps them provide better customer service and get paid faster. 

That’s how we measure success at Billtrust.

abstract diagram of print invoice being shared digitally on a global scale

Why Billtrust?

I've heard for years from my customers about the challenges they're facing around the AR automation solutions that their customers are implementing. The level of financial risk and complexity that our customers have to manage daily to get paid is unacceptable!

One of the most significant advantages of our Billtrust solution is that it's completely configurable. That means you can tailor it to meet your organization's specific needs, including workflows, notifications and more. We also offer a variety of deployment options to choose the one that best meets your needs. The Billtrust BPN Invoicing solution bridges that gap between our customers and their customers, which frees up time and allows you to get paid faster.

Moving forward together

Looking for a partner to help you free you from endless paper trails and go-betweens?

As we're constantly innovating and expanding our solution, we're confident that we can continue to provide you with the best possible AR automation experience. After all, automating the process as much as possible to keep your business on time, within regulation, and on top of your budget with our Billtrust platform management is what it’s all about.

Ready to learn even more? You can reach out to me directly at awilson@billtrust.com or visit Billtrust BPN Invoicing. Contact me today, and let me show you how Billtrust can make a difference for your business!