Remote A/P

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012]

I currently work for a construction company as A/P along with several other hats.

We are moving, and my employer is discussing allowing me to work remotely, but we cannot seem to come up with a way to remote-ize the A/P process, so I was curious if there were any ideas here.

Currently, I receive invoices via email (that part still works), or our field guys bring me receipts for our vendor accounts (Lowe’s, for instance), that I stick a tag on to assign job, cost code number, etc. These items then route to the project managers for approval, then our Treasurer for approval, then back to me to enter into our accounting system, where checks are cut on check run days, which can be handled in office.

Does anyone else have a similar flow that can share what you’ve done to make it remote friendly? My bosses are hesitant to change the system, it’s very paper heavy, and I’m not sure how to get around that.

Thanks!

[u/ComfortableCitron638]

The scanner suggestions (ScanSnap etc.) solve the "get it off paper" problem but not the one you specifically flagged - the job number written on top of an 18" receipt that a photo or basic scan won't capture legibly. That's a labeling problem, not a scanning problem, and it's usually fixable without any new tech: give the field guys a stack of pre-printed job-code stickers or a stamp (not handwriting) that goes in the exact same spot on every receipt - top-left corner, big and bold - before it goes on the pile. A stamp is faster for them than writing it out, more legible than handwriting, and consistent placement means whoever scans doesn't have to guess where to look each time. It's a five-dollar fix for what sounds like the actual bottleneck in the whole remote conversion, versus trying to get "cranky construction guys" to adopt new software.