A Complete Guide to AP Automation for Medspas
A Complete Guide to AP Automation for Medspas
Medspa owners and operators are focused on delivering exceptional client experiences and staying ahead of aesthetic trends. However, behind the scenes, managing the financial health of a growing medspa involves complex challenges. Juggling dozens of specialized suppliers, tracking high-cost inventory like injectables and skincare products, and processing endless invoices can quickly drain resources and pull focus from patient care and business growth.
Manual accounts payable (AP) processes are often the source of these operational bottlenecks. They are not only time-consuming but also prone to costly errors, making it difficult to maintain financial control, especially when scaling to multiple locations. This is where AP automation for medspas becomes essential. By replacing manual workflows with intelligent software, medspas can streamline operations, gain complete financial visibility, and unlock significant cost savings.
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What is AP automation, and why does it matter for medspas?
AP automation is the use of software to digitize and streamline the entire accounts payable workflow, from receiving an invoice to processing the final payment. For a medspa, this means automating the tedious tasks of invoice data entry, routing approvals for new supplies, matching purchase orders to invoices, and paying vendors, all within a single, centralized system.
Manual AP processes in a medspa are inefficient and risky. They rely on paper invoices, spreadsheets, and manual data entry, which leads to human error, duplicate payments, and missed early payment discounts. Staff spend valuable hours chasing approvals from busy practitioners instead of focusing on client services or strategic initiatives.
Automating these workflows is critical for medspas to operate efficiently and scale effectively. It provides real-time visibility into spending on high-value products, ensures critical supplies are always in stock, and gives finance teams the control needed to manage budgets across one or multiple locations. By automating the back office, medspas can dedicate more resources to what matters most: delivering outstanding patient outcomes and growing the business.
Choose the Right Procurement Technology With This Decision Matrix
Find 15 must-ask questions to narrow down your software search and make your research process MUCH easier.
Top 5 AP challenges medspas face (and how automation solves them)
Medspas typically struggle with managing numerous specialized vendors, tracking spend on high-cost inventory, processing invoices manually, navigating slow approval workflows, and lacking real-time financial visibility. AP automation software directly addresses these challenges by centralizing and streamlining the entire procure-to-pay process.
1. Complex vendor and supply management
Medspas rely on a diverse and extensive network of suppliers for everything from dermal fillers and laser equipment to marketing materials and office supplies. Each vendor has unique ordering processes, payment terms, and invoicing methods, creating significant administrative complexity. Manually tracking orders and payments across dozens of suppliers is inefficient and makes it difficult to manage relationships or leverage buying power.
AP automation centralizes all vendor data and invoices in one place. An end-to-end platform like Order.co takes this a step further by consolidating all purchases and payments. Teams can order from every vendor in a single cart and pay for everything with one consolidated weekly or monthly bill, dramatically simplifying procurement management.
2. Manual invoice and payment processing
Manually keying in data from paper or PDF invoices is a major time sink for any lean administrative team. This tedious process is not just slow; it’s a primary cause of errors in the accounts payable ledger, leading to overpayments, missed payments, and inaccurate financial reporting. Processing each payment individually also adds unnecessary complexity and administrative overhead.
A procure-to-pay automation platform like Order.co accurately codes every purchase by line item to keep the general ledger clean and up-to-date, helping to accelerate month-end close processes and reduce errors by over 90%. The platform also pays vendors Net 1 on your behalf and issues consolidated invoices with all orders placed on a weekly or monthly basis, giving your team just a few invoices to pay each month rather than hundreds.
3. Inefficient purchase approval workflows
In a busy medspa environment, practitioners and clinic managers are focused on clients, not paperwork. Chasing them down for approvals on purchase orders and invoices causes delays, which can lead to stockouts of critical treatment supplies. This lack of a standardized approval process also opens the door to unauthorized purchases and maverick spending.
Automated approval workflows solve this problem by routing purchase requests and invoices to the appropriate approver based on preset, customizable rules. Approvals can be triggered by dollar amount, product category, or location, ensuring every purchase is compliant with company policy without slowing down operations. Approvers can review and authorize purchases directly from their email or a mobile app, keeping the process moving.
4. Lack of spend visibility and control
Without a centralized system, it’s nearly impossible to get a clear, real-time picture of what your medspa is spending and where. This lack of spend visibility makes it difficult to manage budgets, identify opportunities for cost savings, or spot sudden price increases on essential supplies. As a result, many financial decisions are based on outdated or incomplete data.
AP automation provides a comprehensive view of all purchasing and payment data. With real-time dashboards and robust analytics, you can track spending by location, product category, or vendor. This empowers you to make data-driven decisions, negotiate better terms with suppliers, and maintain tight control over your budget to improve profitability.
5. Scaling for growth
Manual AP processes that are manageable for a single location become completely unsustainable as you expand. Each new clinic adds another layer of complexity, making it difficult to standardize purchasing, enforce budgets, and maintain financial oversight. Without a scalable system, growth often leads to increased administrative headcount and decreased operational efficiency.
A scalable AP automation software platform provides the financial infrastructure needed to support growth. It allows you to standardize the procure-to-pay process across all locations, ensuring consistency and control. You can easily onboard new clinics, set location-specific budgets, and manage the entire organization's spend from a central dashboard without adding finance staff.
Key features to look for in medspa AP automation software
When selecting an AP automation solution, medspas should look for key features like customizable approval workflows, centralized vendor management, seamless accounting integration, and powerful spend analytics. The right platform should not only automate payments but also streamline the entire purchasing lifecycle.
Centralized purchasing and vendor management
A truly effective solution for medspas goes beyond just paying bills. Look for a platform that allows you to centralize purchasing from all your vendors. The ability to create curated digital catalogs of approved products for each location helps standardize ordering and control costs. Consolidating all vendor payments into a single monthly bill further simplifies the AP process.
Customizable approval workflows
Your medspa has unique operational needs, and your software should adapt to them. The platform must allow you to create multi-level approval workflows based on your specific rules. For instance, you might require manager approval for all orders over $500 or additional approval from finance for capital equipment purchases. This flexibility ensures both compliance and efficiency.
Seamless accounting and ERP integration
To achieve true automation, your AP platform must integrate seamlessly with your existing accounting software, such as QuickBooks, NetSuite, or Sage Intacct. This ensures that all transactional data — invoices, payments, and credits — is accurately reflected in your financial system of record without any manual reconciliation.
Real-time reporting and analytics
Gaining insight from your financial data is one of the most significant benefits of automation. The ideal platform will offer real-time dashboards and detailed reporting capabilities. For a medspa, this means being able to analyze spend on specific product lines, track costs per treatment, and monitor budget adherence across different locations. These insights are invaluable for optimizing spend management and driving profitability.
Choose the Right Procurement Technology With This Decision Matrix
Find 15 must-ask questions to narrow down your software search and make your research process MUCH easier.
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How to implement AP automation in your medspa
Implementing AP automation is a strategic initiative that transforms your financial operations. A successful rollout involves auditing your current processes, selecting the right software partner, preparing your team for the transition, and integrating the new system into your existing tech stack.
Step 1: Audit your current AP process
Before you can improve your workflow, you need to understand it. Document every step of your current AP process, from how an invoice is received to how it’s paid and recorded. Identify the biggest pain points, such as approval delays, manual data entry, and time spent on reconciliation. Quantifying these inefficiencies will help you build a strong business case for automation.
Step 2: Evaluate software solutions
Not all procurement software solutions are created equal. Look for a vendor that understands the unique needs of multi-location, service-based businesses like medspas. Compare platforms based on the features listed above, paying close attention to user-friendliness, integration capabilities, and scalability. A comprehensive platform that can automate the entire procure-to-pay process will deliver a greater return on investment than a simple bill pay tool.
Step 3: Plan for onboarding and team training
Change management is critical for a successful implementation. Get buy-in from key stakeholders, including practitioners, office managers, and your finance team, by clearly communicating the benefits of the new system — less paperwork, faster approvals, and easier ordering. Choose a platform with an intuitive interface to ensure high user adoption and provide thorough training to all users.
Step 4: Integrate and go live
Work with your chosen software provider to connect the platform to your accounting system. A good partner will offer dedicated support to ensure a smooth integration. Start by onboarding your highest-volume vendors first and gradually transition all purchasing and invoice management to the new system. Once live, continuously monitor the process and gather feedback to optimize your new workflows.
Streamline your medspa's accounts payable with Order.co
Order.co provides a complete, end-to-end solution designed to help medspas manage growth by centralizing procurement, automating accounts payable, and controlling spend in a single platform. Go beyond basic AP automation to transform your entire purchasing lifecycle, freeing your team to focus on client care and strategic growth.
With Order.co, your medspa can:
- Centralize and control purchasing: Place orders with all your suppliers — from clinical distributors to local vendors — in one universal cart. Use curated catalogs and custom budgets to enforce purchasing policies across every location.
- Automate the entire AP workflow: Eliminate manual work with AI-powered invoice capture, automated three-way matching, and streamlined approval workflows.
- Simplify vendor payments: Consolidate hundreds of vendor invoices into a single monthly bill with flexible payment options. Order.co handles vendor onboarding, communication, and payments.
- Gain 100% spend visibility: Access real-time analytics to track spending by location, category, and GL code. Use these data-driven insights to identify cost-saving opportunities and optimize your profitability.
Stop letting manual financial tasks hold your medspa back. By automating your accounts payable and procurement processes, you can build a more efficient, scalable, and profitable business.
Ready to see how a centralized platform can transform your medspa's financial operations? Request a demo to learn how Order.co can save you time and money.
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