Cryptocurrency is a fad of the modern world that is receding lately. However, accounts payable is a part of businesses and companies that require attention. Accountants come across new accounting standards for various things like cryptocurrency, so having appropriate knowledge about them can be very necessary. This article will highlight multiple parts of the relationship between accounts payable and cryptocurrency.
What is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a digital token that lets you pay and is recorded using a digital ledger. This is what is called a blockchain. Anyone can use cryptocurrency in exchange to pay for services and goods. However, it can also be used as the right to use certain services or goods and represent ownership interest. What does it mean to own cryptocurrency, though? Owning cryptocurrency means that your name has been registered to the digital ledger. In addition, your name has been registered to the blockchain, so any transaction is written there.
Cryptocurrency usually represents the specific amounts of digital resources that you own. These assets are typically dynamic. You can decide how to control these assets and allocate them appropriately. Proper management of these resources ensures you earn correctly on your investment, the return is good, and you don’t incur losses.
What are accounts payable?
Accounts payable are an essential part of a business. It decides how and when you will have to pay your vendor for their services and the goods they provide. It involves a lot of processes like invoice generation, invoice checking, approval, and the subsequent payment. This task can be challenging as it involves a lot of effort and can be hectic to manage manually. However, there are ways in which you can improve the efficiency of your accounts payable workflow and manage it better, which involves some technical knowledge and some efforts, but is smooth sailing after that.
Accounts payable dominate a company’s supply chain; it decides how quickly or slowly a raw material or a product will reach your company. This often depends on how fast you pay off your vendor. The sooner you pay, the sooner you will get the product you paid for; the later you pay, your order will be late.
How to account for crypto?
Cryptocurrency should logically equate to cash. But it does not. Cryptocurrency is not an asset that can be immediately liquefied or exchanged readily for goods or services. You will need an intermediary to convert your cryptocurrency into cash, which is then exchanged for the said service or goods. Also, they are very volatile. They might cost a lot in a denomination one day but might cost nothing the other day. From what you might have read on cryptocurrency, you might think they can be accounted for as financial assets. If you think so, you will be wrong.
Cryptocurrency is never classified as a financial asset as it does not meet the requirements for being a form of cash, equity, or debt. In addition, it does not represent an ownership interest in a single entity. However, you can catch a break as it classifies as an intangible asset.
How to manage your accounts payable?
The accounts payable workflow of a company can be hectic to work on because of the sheer amount of invoices. To make this AP workflow efficient, you can automate the process. However, automation can be troublesome because you need to make all the entries into the software you apply in your company. This is especially prevalent in companies making invoices without software for so long, so ensuring that your AP workflow is the most efficient can take some time.
Manual tasks can be tough to manage. They can cause duplication of data, which can cause enormous losses for the company. Although managing your company’s accounts payable is totally up to you, it is an essential part of a business that requires attention and efficiency.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a company’s accounts payable workflow and cryptocurrency ownership are essential to any business. You need to understand how these work to ensure your business flourishes in the market. Cryptocurrency has been prevalent in the market recently, so ensuring that you stay in the loop is very important. Hopefully, you can understand the basics of AP accounting and cryptocurrency through this article.