Office scene transitioning from paper-based past to a modern digital workspace, separated by a soft diagonal gradient.

From Paper Stacks to Digital Roles: Rethinking How AP Teams Divide Work

Many Accounts Payable (AP) teams face a big challenge when they move to a new ERP system. It is not just a change in software; it is a change in how the whole department works.

In the past, invoices were often divided by alphabetical order. One person handled vendors A to F, another handled G to L, and so on. This made sense when everything was on paper and stored in file cabinets. But in today’s digital world, that method can slow your team down and create uneven workloads.

Do Not Use New Tools for Old Habits

Using an ERP but keeping the same A to Z system is like putting a new engine in an old car but never leaving the driveway. You have more power, but you are not using it to go anywhere new.

Modern AP teams work better when tasks are divided by function, not by vendor. This means each person focuses on one part of the process and becomes an expert in it.

Common Roles in a Modern AP Team

PO Processors: Handle purchase order (PO) invoices and make sure the PO, goods receipt, and invoice match.
Non-PO Processors: Take care of invoices without POs and make sure they are coded and approved correctly.
Exceptions Specialists: Fix problems such as missing information, duplicates, or vendor errors.
Vendor Master Data: Manage vendor setup, updates, and compliance checks.

What AP Practitioners Are Doing

Highlights from a recent thread in our APPG community:

Lead as traffic controller: the team lead releases payments, triages the shared inbox, answers vendor questions, and coaches the team. Non-PO entry is being transitioned to another processor to reduce bottlenecks.
Role specialization in practice: a dedicated person owns T&E and corporate cards. Another analyst specializes in freight and duties, runs the first pass from the capture tool, sends remittances when needed, and handles selected BS and vendor reconciliations.
Inbox owner enters the invoice: some teams keep consistency by having the person who manages the inbox also enter the document, which vendors appreciate because responses stay consistent.
Healthcare model that works: one group reports success with a mailbox manager plus two AP teams, with clear SLAs and escalation paths.
Automation first: members recommend automating intake, data capture, and routing with AP automation platforms to reduce manual triage and speed approvals.

Practical tweaks you can try this month

Move from “sort then assign” to “assign at intake”. Let the lead focus on exceptions and payment release instead of living in the inbox.
Create explicit queues: PO, Non-PO, Exceptions, T&E and Cards, Freight and Duties, Vendor Master.
Use inbox rules: subjects containing “PO” to PO queue, known carrier domains to Freight and Duties, anything missing required fields to Exceptions.
Publish SLAs: inbox to queue within 2 hours, exception responses within 1 business day, vendor recon cadence weekly.
Add a simple RACI. Make ownership visible so approvals and escalations are quick.

Activity	PO	Non-PO	Exceptions	T&E and Cards	Freight and Duties	Lead
Intake and entry	R	R	R	C	C	A
Vendor questions	C	C	R	I	I	A
Remittances	I	I	C	I	R	A
Reconciliations	I	I	C	R	R	A
Payment release	I	I	C	I	I	A

Key: R = Responsible, A = Accountable, C = Consulted, I = Informed

The Mailbox Problem

One of the biggest slowdowns in AP is having a person manage the shared mailbox, sorting emails, opening invoices, and sending them to the right person. That job used to make sense when invoices came in by mail or fax, but today it is something technology can do faster and better.

An AP automation or Intelligent Data Capture (IDC) system can take over this job. Here is how it works:

Collects: The system watches the AP mailbox and grabs all incoming invoices.
Reads: It uses OCR and AI to read vendor names, invoice numbers, dates, and amounts.
Routes: Based on the data, it sends each invoice to the right queue automatically.

If there is a PO number → it goes to the PO Processor.
If there is no PO → it goes to the Non-PO Processor.
If data is missing → it goes to the Exceptions Specialist.

This way, the “mailbox manager” job disappears. Only the invoices the system cannot read or sort go to a person. That means your team can focus on the work that really needs human thinking and decision-making.

The Takeaway

Moving to a new ERP is not only about switching software. It is about rebuilding how your AP team works. When you stop dividing work by vendor and start dividing it by function, you reduce stress, fix bottlenecks, and make your team more efficient.

Let automation handle the busywork so your people can focus on what they do best: solving problems and keeping your company’s payments on track.