In this instructional video, Sachin Sharma, founder of ProCare Desk, walks viewers through a concise three‑step framework for selecting the right accounts‑payable (AP) automation solution amid a crowded market. He first emphasizes the importance of defining detailed, end‑to‑end procurement‑to‑pay requirements—not just basic invoice capture—highlighting key features such as OCR, AI coding, and specific approval workflows. Next, he outlines a vendor‑shortlisting method based on three criteria: industry relevance (vendors with proven experience in the viewer’s sector), company size (matching the vendor’s target market to the buyer’s scale), and seamless integration with the existing accounting system. The third step advises a hands‑on test, recommending a 14‑day sandbox or trial and involving power users to validate real‑world use cases beyond a standard demo. As a bonus tip, Sharma stresses the need for cycle‑time reporting to quantify ROI by measuring invoice approval and matching times. The video concludes with a recap of the three steps and a call for viewer engagement.
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If you're in the market for a AP Automation solution, then this video is for you. Now again, granted, we all have so many choices, right? Software market is crowded. If you go to let's say a G2 or a Capterra and search for AP Automation software, you get hundreds of listings. Now who has time to go through each one of them and try to figure out which is the right solution for you, right? So in this video I'm going to give you a simple three step process that you can use to shortlist the right solution that meets your requirements. If you're joining me for the first time, welcome. My name is Sachin Sharma. I am the founder of ProCare Desk where we help growing companies automate their processes for purchasing an API automation. Let's jump right in. Number one is first of all define your requirements. So what I mean by requirements, right? So if you just look for any generic solution for AP automation, it has to have the ability to upload an invoice. Now granted some solutions have the OCR capabilities, AI to automatically code the invoices and so on. Those are I would say must have, right, table stakes. Now from an AB automation solution standpoint. But what I would encourage you to do is look for not just invoice but end to end process. Like before the invoice there is a purchasing process that's happening, right? So if you take think about just invoice, you have to send every invoice for approval before you can make the payment. But if you think about end to end procure to pay process, then if you have a purchasing or a PO system before that you can have the AP system match the invoice automatically with the PO and receipt for example. So in this case if everything matches out, you really don't have to spend time on getting that invoice approved. That's how powerful this is. So if you think about end to end process, not just invoicing, I think that'll serve you best. But think about the top requirements, right? The key features that you need, the key use cases, what are the specific requirements around approvals? So not just don't just list and say all right, it should do approvals, of course, every system does. But what are your specific requirements regarding approvals? So those are, that's step number one is define those requirements, right? Number two is shortlist the vendors. Now here is a simple process to shortlist down to three or maybe five max in terms of vendors. Number one is look for industry. Do they serve your industry right or do they have A solution. If you are in, let's say in biotech, you know, construction or you know, you are a charter school, whatever you are, you should look for, you know, companies who have already served that market so that they already have baked in the best practices. They know the use cases specific to your industry and, and they know how to best solve that. Right. Number two is size. There are many solutions out there, right? A company that is selling to a large clients, like enterprise clients have a very different motion, have a very different price tag as compared to a company that is selling to small to medium sized companies, right? Or a very small company. So look for a, a software company that matches your size, they sell it to your near size, similar size companies, right. Number three is integration with their accounting system. And I think that is a must have, right? So if you're going to use a third party system for managing your invoices, the last thing you want to do is manually upload that invoice. Again in accounting system, right? That defeats the purpose of automation. So it must have a integration and integration should be seamless. So it shouldn't be like I need to download a spreadsheet and upload that into my accounting system. That is not automation. So when we say automation it is, it seamlessly goes to the, to your accounting system without you doing anything. Right? So that's, those are the three I would say criteria that you can use to further shortlist Number three is test run the system. So a demo itself is not enough nowadays, right. Demos generally run 30 minutes. You can see the tool, you know briefly in terms of how it works. But how do you know if it matches exactly your requirements that you defined in step one, which is your use cases. So the ideal way to do this is go for a 14 day trial or ask for a sandbox, whatever works for that vendor so that you can now test your use cases and who all need to you should involve in your testing. Of course, you know, if you are the one selecting the system, you should be involved, but involve a one or two power users so that you can get the feedback from stakeholders earlier. And if there's any feedback that can be incorporated right there and then, right? So that is step number three. Three. Now those are the three main steps. Now one bonus tip here. One common feature which many companies don't look for is cycle time reporting. So what do I mean by that? When you implement a software, you're implementing it to make your process better. One easy way to measure the ROI of that is how long does it take to do something. So how long does it take to approve an invoice? How long does it take to match an invoice? And if you don't have cycle time reporting there is really no way for you to know whether your new process is working better or worse than your previous one. And if somebody comes asking for you know what is the ROI of the system you really have no way to show that. That's why you should always ask for the vendor like who has the support for cycle time reporting. So just to summarize here are the steps you should follow to find the right AP solution for your team. Number one is think end to end AP process. Number two is shortlist based on industry size and integration with the accounting system. Number three is test run and make sure that it actually solves your real life use cases and not just like a quick demo. Now if you found this video helpful drop a yes in the comments and see you in the next video.
