How To Make Your Finance Department More Efficient
As your company grows, you will see more invoices, not only going out, but also coming in. Your customer networks grow, your suppliers grow – but it’s worth remembering that the work of the finance department, whether it’s Accounting, Treasury, or Accounts Payable, also grows.
Somewhere during this growth, it will be essential that you invest in a firm and lasting evolution that supports the good management of your company.
Invoice processing is a very operational job, but no simpler: you can see that it is quite demanding if you look at the human and physical resources and the time it consumes. And because it is a very mechanized job, it is also more prone to human error.
Problems and difficulties: entering and approving invoices
Do you know your colleagues who work in your company’s financial department? In all likelihood, this is the one you visit most often and who is most interconnected with every single structure in your organization. That’s where you’ll usually find employees who perform invoice processing: under pressure to deliver good results in the shortest possible time, even with obsolete processes.
The work they do may involve dealing with piles of paper – opening dozens of letters, daily; mailing dozens of letters; printing and scanning hundreds of pages.
Then it is necessary to manually enter the invoices into a computer system, typing in the invoice number, supplier number, invoice amount, among other data. All of them have to be checked, and it is always necessary to approve invoices: the values have to match those described in the purchase orders and delivery records – a process that involves several employees from different departments.
When an invoicing error is found, several people and authorizations have to be moved to correct it. International business also adds complexity to invoice management, with numerous different currencies, laws, and tax regimes. Your accounting colleagues are subject to scrutiny by audits when they have to prove compliance with the law and display accurate records that stand up to scrutiny.
Add to all this the costs of paper and archiving invoices, which are quite high and usually require specific filing rooms.
The importance of the digital transition
Not surprisingly, the obsolescence of processes in finance departments is costly for companies. With existing and increasingly developed RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, predominantly manual and mechanical work, leads to costs for tasks that technology could perform. This leads to a single solution: go digital and automate invoice recording in your company. leaving people freer to perform value-added functions. All this leads to a single solution: go digital and automate invoice recording in your company.
With digitization, you can eliminate the need for manual data entry in a computer system. It becomes possible to automate the capture, extraction, automation, and approval with automatic invoice scanning, a process that allows you to extract all necessary data from documents and record it in the system. OCR reading software is usually used to convert the image capture information into data, which can then be used for various purposes.
The ease of implementation and use makes Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions the most recommended by Konica Minolta for automating invoice registration. Thus, with a simple program, you can completely change the functioning of your financial department. And even your entire company: imagine having your entire accounting archive organized and available, on a single platform, to all your teams.
What you will simplify with the invoice automation solution
Here is the good news: now you can take the burden of manual invoice processing off your employees and free them up for more important tasks.
With Konica Minolta’s invoice automation solution, we help you computerize your entire accounts and invoicing system. You can have an overview of your financial department at any time, with reduced costs, happier and more available suppliers and human resources, and controlled accounts: all you need is an Internet-enabled device.
How it works
# Send or upload your invoices to the cloud;
# Invoice data is automatically extracted and the invoice is registered;
# Encode and approve the invoice in your web browser;
# Post the invoice data to your financial system;
# Access performance-based reports and usage data;
With our solution, when you receive a new invoice, instead of entering all the fields manually, the software will automatically enter the data into the system and generate a predefined workflow for Accounts Payable approval. Whenever there is a new invoice that you do not recognize, you can check the invoice fields and the system will be fine-tuned to handle similar future situations.
You can also extract, transfer, and use the collected data for other financial analysis purposes.
Some of the main advantages of automating your organization’s invoice register
# Reduces time and errors in invoice recording: optical scanning and data distribution automate recording and eliminate data entry errors;
# Improves the accuracy of records: employees in finance departments can rely on reliability and accuracy to give their records transparency and traceability;
# Processes paperless invoices: with the invoice automation solution you can upload digital invoices, without the need to print every invoice
# Reduces processing and storage costs: you will reduce paper and physical filing costs;
# Improves document approval cycles: one of the major advantages is to speed up approval processes, which leads to faster payments as well;
# Achieves operational efficiency: material, time, and human resources consumption are optimized;
# Greater control over the financial picture: computerizing data allows you to get a deeper and broader understanding of your company’s accounts
# Increased team productivity: employees will be free to dedicate themselves to more complex and interesting tasks;
# And, finally, leverage the power of your information: the data collected will be a valuable aid in defining the future paths of your company.
Now that the Cloud has reached maturity in security, scalability, and reliability, SaaS solutions are the ideal choice for automating invoicing and are fully scalable to the size and turnover of your company.
And, in addition to all these advantages, we remind you: telecommuting is here to stay. If you haven’t already done so, you should start thinking today about the best way to manage your financial processes collaboratively and remotely.
© This article has been translated from this publication on Konica Minolta Portugal’s website: https://www.konicaminolta.pt/pt-pt/rethink-work-pt/workplace/como-tornar-o-departamento-financeiro-de-uma-pme-mais-eficiente
