Optimizing business processes? Start with the foundation of your organization: financial administration!

If you want everything within your company to run streamlined, it is important to first analyze the current processes of financial administration. In order to keep running and growing, you need to make sure the flows are there. Making payments, processing incoming documents, booking and approving purchase invoices: these processes are the foundation of your organization. So if you want to optimize your business processes, it’s crucial that you make sure they run efficiently and flawlessly. But how exactly do you do that? Use our handy three-step plan!

Optimizing processes: the benefits at a glance

More time for challenging work that allows you to add value

Incoming documents, such as purchase invoices, must be processed in your accounting system. But challenging is different. Typing over data is an error-prone, time-consuming and repetitive task. If you optimize this through digitization, you will have time left over for more enjoyable work that creates more added value for the organization.

Working more efficiently and pleasantly

By eliminating error-prone retyping, you also work much more efficiently. If you achieve process optimization with an automation solution, you minimize human errors and laborious actions. Your processes will run more smoothly. And that is much more pleasant work!

Always insight and overview

In financial administration, you receive purchase invoices and receipts from various suppliers. Sometimes they call with questions, for example, about payment. In such cases, you want to check the status of an invoice quickly. If your processes are manual, it can be a long search – you don’t know where the invoice is and what has happened to it so far (yet). However, if you’re using an automation solution, you can pull up the invoice with a few clicks. So you can answer questions quickly. And you always maintain an overview!

Optimizing your business processes? Use this 3-step plan

Where do you start to optimize financial administration? Do you want to improve current processes to increase productivity? Do you introduce new processes? Or do you make a mix of both options? Of course, this depends entirely on your specific situation and the stage of digitization your company is in. Our three-step plan takes this into account – which is why you can always use it, regardless of the status quo!

Step 1: Map the total process plús subprocesses

How are the processes currently running in financial administration? Make a complete overview of all steps and actions so you can see where the weak links are. Which tasks are repetitive and have a high error rate? Which tasks could use an efficiency boost? Once you’ve determined this, you can start discussions with your ERP vendor. Many ERP systems are surprisingly capable these days, so inquire about the possibilities!

Step 2, Option A: Jump on the digital transformation train (with smart OCR software)

Are you not yet using an automation solution for processing received documents? If so, it probably takes you a long time to cope with the incoming flow. After all, it is becoming increasingly diverse. Where you used to deal only with paper purchase invoices, for example, you now also have to process PDF and e-invoices. The latter category also comes in through different channels, making the processing process even more complex. You want to process all these documents in a uniform way – regardless of format and method of entry. Can your ERP system handle this? If not, smart OCR software offers a solution. With this, you don’t have to worry about document types and formats. You process all incoming documents (including e-invoices) in the same way – without having to perform any special handling. Now that’s optimization!

Step 2, Option B: Automate further (with additional tools and modules)

Have you already made a big improvement by implementing an OCR solution? Then it’s time to take a critical look at the rest of your administrative operations. What else can you automate to work faster and more efficiently? To give you some ideas: it is possible to have incoming invoices pre-sorted and processed by a handy tool, so that you always find a “clean” invoice mailbox – even on Monday mornings and when returning from vacation. Or you might choose (to complement your OCR software) a module that automatically recognizes invoice lines. And perhaps the automatic matching of purchase invoices is also a way to further optimize your business processes.

Step 3: Optimize the approval process (with workflow software)

How do you currently obtain approval on an invoice? Do you run the document past approvers via your e-mail program or (even worse) on paper? This can be done much more efficiently! With advanced workflow software you can make the approval process easier and faster. Perhaps such a solution is already built into your ERP system. But if this is not the case – or if the ERP version is too limited to meet your needs – it makes sense to find a workflow solution that interfaces with your accounting package. Preferably choose software that also has a smartphone app variant. That way, approvers can approve booked invoices anytime, anywhere. This makes the approval process run much more smoothly. Moreover, you have insight into the status of an invoice at all times!

Getting started on improving your administrative processes?

Do you want to work more efficiently and streamlined? Feel free to contact us. We would be happy to discuss with you how you can best implement the three-step plan in this blog post within your company.

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