All posts by Caroline

Caroline is a Director at Digital Print Management, a leading print management company specialising in providing print and mailing solutions. Having spent 25 years in the transpromo industry she is one of the UK's leading expert's in print and mail solutions.

Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Document Management, Featured Posts, Invoice Processing, Managed Print Services, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing, Payroll Processing, Print and Mail Services, Print Management

The best of 2012. All you need to know about outsourcing in one place.

December 31, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

This blog comes with a health warning…

WARNING: THIS BLOG COMES WITH A HEALTH WARNING… IT’S A TAD LONG. BUT YOU’LL SEE WHY AT THE END.

Here we are the last day of 2012 and what a year its been. It only seemed like yesterday that I sat at this very desk and typed my epilogue for 2011.

The beginning of the year heralded great expectations and even the economy looked like it was digging its way out of the hole it had dug itself into.

Sadly it didn’t happen and the UK along with the rest of Europe continues to stay in the quagmire.

The onset of New Years Eve can be a time of reflection as we consider the year that has gone before.

With all the ups and downs of the year you could excuse yourself for feeling a little disillusioned at the prospect of 2013.

New Year’s Resolutions?

If you are reading this then I’ve succeeded in holding my audiences’ interest? More importantly we survived the end of the world which was suppose to have occurred on 21st December.

As I stepped on to the plane with my family to travel back from Hamburg on the late afternoon of the 21st, I would be lying if I didn’t experience a little trepidation although its only an hour’s flight back to Luton.

I held my breath as we came into land and the passenger sitting next to me actually “prayed”as he muttered something in german under his breath I couldn’t help but think he knew something we didn’t?

The maya civilisation predicted the end of the world? They didn’t of course. It is the western interpretation of an apocalyptic ending. The maya civilisation predicted that December 21st this year simply marked the start of a new calendar.

“Mayan refers to the indigenous peoples of South-East Mexico, Central America notably Guatelmala. Mayan was actually spoken by the maya people and the maya calendar was used by the mayan civilisation”.

For the Mayan people 21st December represents a joyous event, not an apocalyptic event. What is coming is the end of a calendar and the beginning of a new one.

Are we facing another seismic shift both economically and personally? Isn’t the start of any new year synonymous with change?

Isn’t that indicative of a New Year – new year’s resolutions, a new chapter, new beginnings, changes, planning and a time to be reflective on what we’ve learn’t from the year just past.

Lets reflect on what a great year 2012 has been.

We had the 2012 London Olympic Games to look forward to. The country was at last unified in one common goal and that was achieving olympic success and putting London and the UK firmly on the map. It was sixteen days of amazing sporting finesse and talent exhibited at the greatest show on earth.

Who can forget that one weekend in August! I still get goose bumps thinking about it even now!

Digital Print Management advises and guides companies on the importance of how to go about outsourcing… just about anything so we’ve taken the best of the year’s blogs and stuck them here as a reminder of what were the best and most useful to you our audience and customer and we thank you for reading and contributing.

Round up of the year’s best blogs.

In January we talked about the differences between what is print management and managed print services a simple guide to understanding the differences.

With p60 time looming in April there was a helpful guide on how to go about having hassle free p60 printing

February provided top tips on how to benefit from outsourcing, automate your AR function and how to implement paperless billing in your company.

March saw the launch of our print-2-mail service and how easy it is for companies to manage printing and posting out invoices, statements and practically any customer letter without moving from your desk.

April saw a brief guide on RTI (Real Time Information) and the impact it’s likely to have on businesses in 2013. This is particularly important for payroll managers and business owners.

Paper chasing and outsourcing business processes dominated May’s round up.

June saw us delve into the murky waters of invoice processing and how to automate and streamline the process.

July concentrated on how to save money using hybrid mail and how to reduce print costs in your organisation.

Document Management Systems and strategies, controlling print costs and Invoice Management were the order of the month of August.

September discussed the importance of Accounts Receivable and how to automate payment allocations.

We then provided a guide on how to outsource your debt collection letters and a really important blog about making sure printed information is kept secure.

November – really exciting month firstly because its getting close to Christmas so we in the office start to feel a tad christmassy but we spent some time on payroll outsourcing and my favourite data cleansing and what this means if you do it right.

Wow we are in December, how quickly the year has gone! It is the month of why invoice scanning is so important to the AP process, then there was print management solutions for professional services companies.

Finally if you really wanted something completely different from what you’ve come to expect, we threw caution to the wind.

Working from home use to be such a big deal and now companies actively encourage it what do you think?

Mobile working and how it’s changed our lives.

With so much social media or anti-social media we talked about how great it feels to tune out once in a while and actually read a book. Are you switching off from digital media?

With the business landscape having changed so radically over the last 20+ years I found researching this blog particularly relevant what’s in a business relationship? Do you feel the same way?

Next to my family I love Formula 1 Motor Racing so I knocked this one out after Sebastian Vettel won his third consecutive world championship. The importance of teamwork and why its integral to any business.

If you’ve got to the bottom of this blog without faltering then a big T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U for reading, for liking us, following us and connecting with us in 2012.

My final note for the year:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts” (Winston Churchill)

Happy New Year from all of us at Digital Print Management.

Follow us on twitter, like us on facebook and do connect with us on linkedin.

Happy New Year.

Featured Posts, General, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing

How to survive 2013! Keeping ahead of the competition.

December 24, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

With the growth of the economy in reverse mode and the Chancellor exclaiming that it’s going to take longer to recover from the financial crisis (although the national debt has reduced) companies will be striving to look at ways of streamlining their operations and improving efficiency.

There’s an argument that suggests the more economically challenged the economy is the greater opportunities there are to be exploited.

Only the strong succeed, losers need not apply spring to mind. Therefore our business objectives need to include a strong will, being well prepared and persistence.

The companies who include the above in their business objectives are likely to survive the global doom and come out on top on the other side.

Recently one company/manufacturer with a turnover of £10 million+ told me “we’ve tried everything, we’ve exhausted every possibility, the business is as solid as it can be given the current climate but no-one is buying anything. You can’t sell it if people can’t buy it because they haven’t been given a budget.”

Are you keeping a close eye on your profit? All well and good looking at the cash value in the bank but are you making a profit. There is always something companies can do to make sure they are running a tight ship and are as efficient as they can be.

There is no magic wand to fix the erring global economy and for many businesses, survival is making it from one month to the next; one week to the next.

The companies that win are those who lead, take the initiative and are not afraid.

Businesses that remain focussed use initiative and aren’t afraid will fare well in 2013.

Here are some points to consider:-

1. Rely on no one – does this sound cynical? Success will not happen until you accept that no one thing or no one person is the cause of your problems and only you can make your goals happen.

2. It’s unlikely that the economy is suddenly going to do a u-turn anytime soon so it’s important to make sure we are aware of any industry changes that might have an impact on our business or us personally. Make yourself invaluable to your company (as an employee) and to your customers by being visible and offering solutions even if they are not in the frame of mind to consider them. At least it demonstrates entrepreneurial intent and that you have the customers best interests at heart.

3. Be more pro-active. Just when you think you’ve exhausted all avenues talk to other businesses, colleagues, associates and customers. Find out what they are doing, how are they generating business, what marketing initiatives have they deployed that you might not have done yet? Set small goals and tick them off when they are done. It could be a change in the workflow process that can make all the difference in increasing your profit margin.

4. Be upbeat – at the start of this year, the majority of businesses we spoke to were. There was a sense of optimism in the air, sales were being done and then along came the Greek economic crisis and kicked everyone out of touch. Nothing like a bad bit of economic news to knock businesses. Being upbeat and optimistic separates us from the rest of the “done-in” crowd.

Each day our world is rocked by events that are either unplanned or completely unexpected by staying focussed and working on a plan keeps us calm and less stressed.

5. Be ever-present everywhere. Now is not the time to live in obscurity. Let potential customers know you are there.

Have a social media strategy, showcase your company with up to date content on your website, tell your companies success stories and share your success openly.

It defines the importance of keeping focussed and why we are actually in business and these things are sometimes forgotten when we are in the thick of things.

6. What if you’ve lost that va va voom; the passion you need that gives you the reason to get up in the morning? Think about a business coach or a friend who can be objective enough to give you advice.

Finally…

If you no longer enjoy what you are doing then its time to take a good look and understand why.

If you’re not enjoying what you are doing then you need to take a long hard look at the reasons why.

Be honest with yourself and if the job or the business is not working and you’ve exhausted every avenue; if the passion has gone completely and you are not motivated to continue, then its time to take a long hard look and make a decision about whether you continue.

Could it be there is no longer a market or niche for your products or services in which case is it time to cut your losses and ship on out? Sometimes things happen for a reason and events are out of our hands.

This is not being negative its being a realist.

Too many companies bury their heads in the sand and think the next week or month will be better when the profit and loss sheet tells a different story.

What do you think?

How are you keeping ahead of the economy?

What tactics have you employed to get through the downturn?

You can find Digital Print Management on Twitter, like us on Facebook and connect with us on LinkedIn. For all our news and updates.

Print Management

Print Management Solutions for Professional Service Companies.

December 17, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

Print Management Solutions for Professional Services Companies helps track billable expenses, saves time and reduces paper waste.

Recover costs, reduce waste by implementing a print management solution.

Using an effective print management solution tailored specifically for professional services companies provides more than just cost recovery.

Recovering client billable expenses using the appropriate print management software provides an audit trail of all your printing – capture, allocate, and accurately bill for every applicable client-related expense. Giving professional services the ability to:-

Track client expenses automatically
Record client’s information for every service
Enforce internal rules that reduce total print volume
Redirect jobs to the most cost-effective output device
Identify and relocate overworked or underused systems
Manage from a central location which helps to reduce the burden on your I.T. department

Using Print tracking to recover costs and reduce expenditures

How often does this happen?

A dash to the printer to keep private information safe from prying eyes wasted paper, resources, and money from documents left unclaimed. Lost time and productivity because of queues at the printer waiting to collect your documents.

How can the print flow be improved?

print management solutions for professional service companies

Implementing a recognised print management solution will save professional services companies time, money, and human resources.

Implementing a recognised print management solution, Equitrac Professional which supports multi-function printers (MFPs) and is widely deployed in law firms, architecture firms, marketing, and PR agencies, and other professional services firms. Seamlessly integrated within the MFP, the software features provide the ability to:-

Utilise the machine’s own control panel or touchscreen
Provide full print tracking and cost recovery capabilities right at the MFP
Automatically capture, allocate and bill for every client expense generated anywhere within your organization
Gain mobility and convenience of secure document printing to your terminal of choice via Follow-You Printing®
Convert scanned documents to searchable and editable format for improved archiving, document discovery, and productivity
Redirect print jobs to the most cost-effective machines
Make scanned documents compatible with court-filing requirements with PDF/A output and file-size control

Documents are held in a secure print server until users authenticate themselves at the networked printer of their choice anywhere on your print network this includes departments and regional offices.

This means you don’t have to choose between security and economy as the print management system only releases documents when users are at the printer. Wasted paper is reduced by adding accountability to encourage users to print only the documents they actually need.

Card-based ID systems simplify authentication and integration into a multi-vendor environment is straight-forward.

Follow-You Printing® with secure document release makes it easy to keep confidential materials out of the wrong hands by accounting for and reporting all document output activity.

Employee productivity and mobility are improved because users are no longer tied to one printer and users can output documents when and where they are needed thus avoiding the inconvenience of printers that are busy or out of service.

By centralising your print flow and eliminating the need for single desktop printers print management software brings the security of personal printers to every shared device.

Follow-You printing® works with output devices from any manufacturer and provides one convenient administrative user interface for managing a company’s entire fleet of printer devices.

Available as device embedded and terminal based software. Compatible with IPSec encryption and supports alpha-numeric login, PIN entry and magnetic strip or proximity card authentication.

Contact Digital Print Management for independent advice on 01234-271156.

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Accounts Automation, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Document Management, Invoice Processing

What is a digital mailroom?

December 10, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

A digital mailroom captures or converts into digital format all incoming business documents – paper, emails, faxes, indexes them and stores them securely.

Organisations receive thousands of documents every day in multiple formats – paper, fax, emails, PDF, XML (Extensible Markup Language) and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) resulting in disparate systems using manual processes with often high invisible costs.

To first understand how a digital mailroom might benefit an organisation we need to know what it is or does?

“A digital mailroom is the automation of incoming mail processes using document scanning and document capture technology. Companies can digitise incoming mail and automate the classification and distribution of mail within the organisation. Paper and electronic mail can be managed through the same process allowing companies to standardise their internal mail distribution procedures and adhere to company compliance policies”. (Wikipedia)

Why implement a digital mailroom?

Accuracy, faster and cost-effective which helps organisations remain competitive and regain focus in the current global economic climate.

With mail volumes growing at an exponential rate and I include ALL types of correspondence, not just paper-based and with companies having mobile workforces and various regional offices it makes sense to convert all incoming correspondence and communication into a digital format for distribution.

Instant communication accurate information and distribution of this information is vital coupled with the compliance and accountability that companies invest in back up systems, document scanning and storage and compliance solutions all of which are time and money.

A digital mailroom automates the process of distributing incoming documents into a document management system.

How does it work?

Information is captured or converted into digital format with each item classified using intelligent capture. It is then indexed and placed in the document management system

A workflow process notifies the user or group of the existence of the document so that they are able to control the processing of this document to its completion.

An additional workflow process is then created to let the sender of the document know that it is being dealt with.

Once allocated the document is then moved into the correct folder within the document management system which contains all other relevant information and documents.

Management information from incoming documents and their current status within the business is available.

What benefits can be derived from implementing a digital mailroom?

Turning all incoming paper mail, faxes, electronic mail into images reduces operational costs, reduces manual processes and provides instant access to documents by employees irrespective of where they are located.
Decision-making processes are quicker because the information is accessible faster.
Reduced paper storage and archiving costs by encouraging employees to do without paper for example reducing printing and copying of documents.
Minimal distribution of paper-based mail.
Creating digital images of incoming mail and establishing a workflow process ensures the document can be tracked through its life cycle.
A scanned document is accessible by authorised users and can be referenced to other relevant documents in the document management system.
The security of the process guarantees the authenticity and integrity of the document which aligns with the records management policy of the company.

Finally

Many companies believe that they are legally obligated to archive documents in paper format for a certain amount of time such as accounting and contract documents.

The legal admissibility of scanned documents is still perceived as an issue for many businesses because they want to avoid risk at all costs.

It is the reason why businesses rely on costly paper-based archiving and storage.

But the reality is that only a small minority of documents are required to be paper-based and most digitised documents are legally acceptable in a court of law.

What next?

Digital Print Management provide print management solutions designed to reduce costs. For further information call us on 01234-271156.

You can also follow us on twitter, like us on facebook and connect with on linkedin for all our updates.

Accounts Automation, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Document Management, Finance Printing, Invoice Processing, Outsourcing

Invoice Scanning Solutions – reduce costs and automate the workflow

December 3, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

Invoice scanning solutions are by far the easiest to implement saving a company time and money.

Invoice scanning solutions

Invoice processing and scanning is one of the most effective applications suitable for scanning and OCR (optical character recognition) technology.

As one of our customers pointed out to us recently

“we use to process an invoice on average one every ten minutes we are now able to process ten invoices a minute. The use of scanning technology has completely revolutionised our accounts payable process.”

There a two scanning options:

Scanning invoices as they arrive into the company which is called “front end scanning”.
Scanning invoices after they have been dealt with “back end scanning”

Both options are relevant according to the business and industry type.

Depending on a company’s requirement this will determine the scope of a solution employed ranging from archiving to full process automation built around existing technology and the company’s document flows.

What is front end scanning?

This involves scanning invoices as soon as they enter the company even before they are processed whether paper, electronic or fax and is the first step in the accounts payable invoice process.

Vast amounts of staff time can be saved by the automatic keying of information into the accounting system (indexing).

Scanning is straight-forward and indexing invoices is quick and accurate when using software designed for the purpose.

The fundamental difference between invoice scanning software and standard scanning software is the amount of supplier invoices/templates that need to be allowed for in any invoice scanning solution.

Every supplier invoice will have a different layout and using an Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) scanning solution will effectively recognise content wherever it is on the page of an invoice.

No one company and business are the same and each have a unique method of handling invoice exceptions therefore by integrating an automated system which has to be able to cater for bespoke requirements is a prerequisite for any invoice scanning solution.

What is required is invoice processing technology. In turn this frees up the accounts payable team’s time and enables quick and easy access to up to date financial information.

There has been a steady increase in the various electronic invoice and EDI. A significant number of invoices are still paper based but there has been a steady rise in XML documents, encrypted PDF and digital images.

Any invoice scanning solution must be able to handle all types of documents regardless of how they arrive.

The right invoice scanning solution will manage all invoice formats regardless of how they arrive.

Total Automation

Achieving an automated accounts payable process involves scanning invoices as they enter the business in turn this will increase your flexibility to automate more of the accounts payable process.

What is back end scanning? (Archiving and post process)

If space, resilience and access to documents from multiple locations is the primary objective then scanning invoices after approval is relatively quick to implement and wont require a change to your current processes.

The benefits of the back end process are:-

It’s quick and provides easy retrieval
Provides an audit trail
Saves archive storage space
Provides resilience by way of backups

How do I choose the scanning hardware?

The decision will be influenced by the volume of invoices you capture across a given period
The type of documents – paper, electronic, digital images
The budget you have allocated to the project

If you’re not sure where to start then contact us using one of the social buttons or by adding your contact details below on the form and one of our consultants will call you.

For Accounts Payable and Receivable Solutions contact Digital Print Management for help and advice.

You can find us on twitter, facebook and connect with us on linkedin

Managing Business Relationships, Outsourcing

Great teamwork. What makes a good team great?

November 26, 2012 Caroline 4 Comments

What makes a great team?

Great teamwork, resilience and hard work are some of the components needed to make a good team “Great”.

For those of you who follow F1 Motor Racing yesterday’s Brazilian GP was nothing short of tantalising.

If anyone says Formula 1 is boring then clearly they haven’t sat through a race like yesterday’s.

The last four races of the season have been nail biting and after the furore died down yesterday evening I reflected on the season.

For me it ranks up there with the 2008 season which went down to the last turn and Lewis Hamilton became the then youngest ever Formula 1 champion .

Trying to cast your mind over the last 3-4 years is difficult when you try to recall the outcomes of each successive season.

And so it is for businesses to.

Comparing last year’s financial statement with this year’s gives you an overview of where the business was and where it has arrived at today, facts are all that we have to compare one year’s performance to the next.

But does that really present the whole picture?

After yesterday’s GP I couldnt help but notice just how tuned in the guys and girls are at Red Bull. They are completely focussed on the tasks in hand and at the end of a gripping season Red Bull finished 1st in the constructors championship and Seb Vettel won his 3rd consecutive world championship not bad for a kid that’s 25 years old.

His success came as a result of a great team of people focussed on the task in hand – collaborating, sharing ideas, challenging old ones, re-inventing new ones you couldn’t help but feel the “love” ♥emanating from the Red Bull garage when it was all over the adrenalin slowly ebbed away followed by euphoria.

It was high octane emotion and relief as the stress of the season came to an end and you couldn’t help but feel touched by the whole moment.

And so it got me thinking what makes a team of people special, great almost.

What makes a great team?

Like you, I’ve managed teams and been managed by managers with weird personalities. Some I’ve loathed and others I’ve admired.

In fact, I can recall only one great Manager I had the privilege to work with and for and that was 20+ years ago when I began my life in transaction print and mailing services. His knowledge, expertise and the way he engaged with me and the team taught me everything I know today.

I would go so far as to say that many of the qualities I admired in his management skills I’ve honed and still use today.

The one essential ingredient that makes a great team is to have a great leader someone who understands the individuals that make up the team, inspires, provides meaningful support and engages with it’s members when it comes to problem solving, instils confidence and a “can-do win” attitude and Christian Horner, team principle at RBR is not short of any of that!

What components are needed to make a great team?

There must be a desire to win. In sports we liken this to winning a gold medal or becoming a world champion. In business this can mean a company achieving great sales, winning a key account or the finance team looking to improve getting results out on time. Winning in this context is no different from winning in the sporting arena.
A team wants to be the best, every individual wants to work to their maximum and go beyond their own expectations and potential and be highly regarded by the rest of the team for the work they do.
A great team will respect their Manager or Leader as well as well as each other.
Working for and with each other is key to a team succeeding. Supporting and helping each other when some team members are inundated with work and those who might be struggling with a specific task.
Honesty is integral to any good team. How many times have we been in teams where individuals fail to be honest perhaps they’ve struggled with the completion of a task or did not take responsibility for seeing something through; or were unable to follow through on a deadline only to blame someone else or a situation for their failure. Frustrating! Setting realistic goals and deadlines and working the team to agree such goals reduces the likelihood of this happening. It also means accepting that we can’t be brilliant at everything and that sometimes things do happen beyond the scope of our control and we need help from others.

What qualities are needed to make a great team work?
Great teams will think “outside the box” and challenge why things are done in a particular way for example a process if it’s not working. They are not afraid of trying new ideas and testing them.
Remaining calm under pressure when big problems come along teams will look to their leader for direction but they will also look to the team to work out what the best course of action should be. This was evident at yesterday’s GP when Vettel sustained serious damage to his car on the 1st lap rendering him in last place. Red Bull analysed the situation, agreed a course of action and probably crossed their fingers too. But it was all team work!
A team needs to take responsibility for its actions that includes the Manager and the individuals comprised of that team. Mistakes are made we are only human after all and we know when we’ve made a mistake often before the boss does. A good Manager will also take responsibility for any errors he makes after all we learn from our mistakes don’t we? But it is equally important that individuals admit when something hasn’t worked out or they’ve made an error. Sadly in my experience this tends to be a problem. I can never understand why people dig their heels and refuse to accept responsibility when a simple explanation and “I’m really sorry I think/I’ve made a mistake” does the trick.
A team willing to take educated and calculated risks makes for a great team. Provided the information is available to make a well informed decision.
My favourite ADAPTABILITY being able to adapt to the ever changing needs of your business or environment is key to a successful team and company. And making sure the individuals that make up the team can respond to change and not be afraid too by being encouraged.

And that is why I believe Red Bull Racing are a great team and make a great model to follow for any success whether its business or Sport!

What do you think?

Accounts Automation, Outsourcing, Payroll Processing

Payroll outsourcing for the SME!

November 19, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

How can outsourcing the payroll process help you?

There are tangible benefits in outsourcing for the SME and I have talked about it here and here.

Small businesses face constant challenges and are often looking for ways to streamline some of their processes and enable them to focus on their core business skills.

Why Payroll Outsourcing?

Payroll is of paramount importance to the smooth running of any sized business because it is concerned directly with a companies primary asset – its personnel. The mechanics of running a payroll in-house has become more complex over time with frequent legislative and changes in taxation.

Outsourcing Payroll Services

Payroll outsourcing has become a cost effective way of overcoming these difficulties coupled with the de-centralisation of finance departments into task specific i.e. AR, AP and Credit Control makes Payroll ideal for outsourcing.

Outsourcing your payroll function is one sure way a company will start to see savings by saving time, money and resources.

Here’s how!

1. Outsourcing once the sole preserve of the corporate is now just as cost effective for the SME’s who are increasingly benefiting from outsourcing their payroll and payslip printing.

Processing your payroll can burn a hole in your proverbial coat pocket particularly if your company has fewer than say 30 employees. Work out the hours your employees are devoting to payroll activities and then work out the costs for printing and distribution of the payslips?

2. An SME payroll can be a time consuming process particularly where you may have an employee who spends a certain amount of time a month on this very specific task and upon completion of the task returns to their preferred job or skill set.

3. In-house payroll can only be as reliable as the people doing the work. Utilising a payroll service will result in increased output, speed and quality will be consistently accurate.

4. Speed – as payroll service providers are specialists with technical resources and industry knowledge; payroll bureau can impart to you their advice and knowledge without you having to spend £’s.

With access to vast resources they can also handle any changes in your personnel and accommodate seasonal fluctuations without you having to worry about upgrading or changing systems.

5. A good payroll service provider will have the inside edge on up and coming legislative and tax changes likely to have an impact on your business and can implement whatever changes are required with minimum fuss to you.

6. Outsourcing mitigates the responsibility to a third party so any delays, paperwork inaccuracies or mishandling its down to the payroll service provider to ensure the issue is resolved.

7. Outsourcing ensures that as your company grows so do the payroll service company tailoring the service to fit with your company growth.

8. Lastly and often overlooked is SECURITY how do you ensure that there is no payroll abuse i.e. time and rate?

Use a checklist to make sure your payroll service company delivers what you want!

Checklist for using an outsourced payroll supplier

Can the payroll service company tailor the service according to your needs i.e small, medium or large payroll
Do they have a proven track record with your type and size of business
Can they supply weekly/monthly/bi-weekly payslips and provide weekly, monthly and annual returns (this is going to change in 2013 with the introduction of RTI)
Ensure that the charges for setting up the payroll system, printing and e-slip viewing if required are transparent
Make sure the administrative charges for managing the system are included in your monthly/annual fee
Do their charges allow for making all the types of deductions
Are there any additional fees
How scaleable is the service if you expand and take on more employees
Is the software they use HMRC accredited and is it compatible with software you use
Does it keep records in a format that will allow for easy online filing of forms P14, P35, P45 and P46
Agree that they’ll calculate tax and deductions accurately from the information supplied
They’ll make these deductions to your timescales
Ensure mandatory requirements are completed or met within the regulatory timescale
Stipulate reimbursement for any resulting penalties
Specify they’ll keep necessary records of any taxes and deductions as required by the HMRC
Transparency of any additional charges you might incur
SLA (service level agreements) to ensure that your timescales and deadlines are adhered to

But most importantly ensure the payroll service company provide you with up to date reporting, hold regular review meetings with you and deliver the service they commit to from the outset.

This can only happen if you are absolutely clear about which components of the payroll you intend to outsource and have committed the process to paper. in a detailed brief. Both you, the company and the payroll service company are clear on what is going to happen, by when and by whom. It also provides a valuable document by which both parties can refer to in the event of any discrepancy or disagreement.

We post updates regularly on twitter, facebook, linkedin and Google+

For more information on Payroll outsourcing please fill in your details here and one of our advisors will call you.

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Document Management, Outsourcing, Print Management

What is data cleansing and why is it important to your company?

November 12, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

we rely on data in some shape or form everyday.

“Data cleansing, data cleaning, datawash or data scrubbing is the process of detecting and correcting (or removing) corrupt or inaccurate records from a record set, table or database.

Used mainly in databases, the term refers to identifying incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, irrelevant, parts of the data and then replacing, modifying, or deleting this dirty data.”(Wikipedia)

Maintaining excellent quality data is essential to ensure long-term customers relationships.

Why?

Simple.

We rely on data every day in some shape or form whether it’s the integrity of your customers addresses and details right down to ensuring that the invoices you email or post are accurate and sent to the correct addresses.

Data quality is important if senior management are to take advantage of their customer data in a meaningful and productive way that gives intrinsic value to the company overall.

Data quality issues such as:

Data quality is essential if it is to add intrinsic value to the business.

Accuracy
Integrity
Cleanliness
Correctness
Completeness
Consistency

Are paramount for this purpose.

There is significant business value to be achieved by managing and ensuring your data is clean but all too often senior management find it difficult to justify a business case for data cleansing.

Consider the impact of the following to your business:-

the cost to the business of processing errors
manual trouble shooting
incorrect or invalid invoice data
deliveries/shipments to the wrong address or incorrectly post-coded items
customer or supplier frustration when documents are incorrect or invalid and therefore cannot be processed in a timely manner.

You can now appreciate the importance of keeping your data clean and it is an important aspect of any ERP/CRM system as incomplete transactional data is like putting petrol in a diesel engine; it will grind to a halt very quickly.

Resulting in exceptions and bad business decisions based on incomplete or insufficient business data as well as increasing the cost and service levels associated with your customers and suppliers.

A lack of clear and up to date information has the potential to jeopardise those customer and supplier relationships you have worked hard to maintain and keep.

Customer information is forever changing. People leave, change department or retire.

On-going data cleansing will ensure compliance and consistency particularly when data from different databases are combined.

Data cleaning ensures that your client information is updated and verified in turn this means that your team reach the right people on the right telephone numbers or valid email addresses.

Customer information is forever changing people leave, move to another part of the company or retire and these changes need to be reflected in the database.

Identifying duplication and making sure opt-outs are not contacted are key to good database management.

Typically, a good clean database prepared for an email marketing campaign will reduce bounce-backs and the updated information then becomes a key business asset in that the more accurate the data is the more effective your sales and marketing efforts can be strategically targeted to your audience.

Companies that have multi-branch locations where staff are working with the same customers makes data cleansing even more intrinsically valuable for the business as incorrect customer records have the potential to be damaging for the business.

What are the benefits in outsourcing my data cleansing?

Low cost and low risk way to employ additional resources without increasing staffing levels
Experiment with new ideas without investment up front
Flexible resources when needed

Companies grow their businesses and more resources are needed to maintain accurate database(s); data cleansing is a necessary business function that can be outsourced seamlessly which helps you maintain your business critical information at a high quality.

What do you think?

How do you manage your data?

What problems do you have managing the quality of your data?

What success stories do you have to share?

Please leave a comment in the box below.

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To find out more about outsourced data cleansing and how it can help your business then please call us on: 01234-271156 or contact us here.

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Document Management, Managing Business Relationships, Outsourcing, Print Management

Business relationships! What's in a business relationship?

November 6, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

Business relationships. What’s in a hand-shake!

Over the last 5-10 years there has been a dramatic shift in business relationships and the way we transact business.

Social media is viral and electronic methods by which we communicate have had a major impact on businesses and the way in which we transact our everyday business interactions.

Gone are the days when you’d receive a call from a customer requesting a quote for… its largely performed by email and telephone calls have been delegated to the bottom of the pile.

In my experience many of the people we transact business with prefer electronic methods of communication rather than talking on the phone or answering the phone for that matter.

Many are competent at texting, using apps and sending emails but engaging in a telephone conversation that’s another matter.

To illustrate, earlier this year we were invited to provide a proposal for the outsourcing of payslip printing for a large Plc.

The initial contact was made by telephone and the gentleman who was heading up the project gave me the details of what the organisation was intending.

Shortly after the call, I immediately established he was on linkedin and was able to ascertain he was in his mid twenties.

Following submission of our proposal we followed up with a call, more friendly and professional wouldn’t you think?

Sadly no, instead we got his voice mail, left messages, voice mail, left messages.

Of course we followed up with an email “bingo” we got a response and the rest is history.

What’s in a relationship?

You trust your Doctor to make the right diagnosis don’t you? You rely on the integrity of your Dentist to extract the right tooth or repair it don’t you?

So why is it that business relationships appear to be so “transient” in this modern day and age?

As purveyors of solutions, systems, products and services you’d think that the customer would really go out of their way to ensure that they as well as the service provider work hard to make the “marriage work”.

Customers want and expect different things from their relationships with different organisations in much the same way as they have different needs and wants from their personal relationships.

There are two types of relationships:

the type of relationship that join parties together i.e. what ties us together?
the nature of the benefits they offer each party i.e. what’s in it for me?

What ties us together?

Business relationships can be defined in terms of levels of emotional attachment and choice for example a customers relationship with their favourite brand of chocolate, food product or perfume would represent a high emotional attachment or a committed partnership similarly to a marriage.

A business relationship with a service provider or utility company is likely to be one of a low emotional commitment because there is little emotional engagement and the relationship is borne out of convenience and necessity rather than a genuine partnership.

The relationship between the customer and supplier has changed and the balance of power arguably has shifted in favour of the customer. Customers have access to more information, greater choices and with social media are able to voice their dissatisfaction in no uncertain terms.

Customers’ expectations have shifted and companies are expected to pay attention to customer service and caring for customers. In turn, customers are placing greater emphasis on honesty, integrity and transparency.

How solid are your business relationships?

What’s in it for me?

Companies need to understand the customers perspective as this will consolidate the relationship between customer and supplier and increase loyalty. The balance has also changed too with customers expecting a better experience than just simply “using a supplier”.

What are the dynamics of customer relationships?

These relationships change and evolve over time. Whether in response to the supplier’s or customer’s action, the circumstances changing and competitor activity at some point test the validity of the relationship.

When a problem occurs the strength of the relationship before the problem and the way it is then managed tests the validity of the relationship. In other words, if the relationship is solid the customer will be empathetic to why it happened and the supplier will be sympathetic in wanting to resolve it quickly and efficiently.

A successful resolution will greatly enhance the business relationship which is why human interaction and talking on the phone or meeting with the client is crucial to making the customer feel valued and to maintaining the longevity of the relationship. Business relationships change and evolve over time. Whether in response to the supplier’s or customer’s action, the circumstances changing and competitor activity at some point test the validity of the relationship.

Ultimately the relationships we have with our customers have different meanings to that of our personal relationships of family and friends.

But the same principles we expect in our personal relationships are no different to those in which we transact in business – honesty, integrity, being treated as a human being and keeping promises and commitments.

Relationships change and evolve over time. Whether in response to the supplier’s or customer’s action, the circumstances changing and competitor activity at some point test the validity of the relationship.

Furthermore, good business relationships require understanding and effort from BOTH PARTIES not just one!

The key point of this article is communication. The art of communication has been replaced by email and social media. It’s quick and easy to transact business this way than it is to pick up the phone and talk.

What do you think? Are business relationships a thing of the past?

Has communication become a dying art?

Let us know what you think!

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Accounts Automation, Automated Proof of Delivery, Document Management, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing, Print Management

Automated Proof of Delivery – Systems Software

October 29, 2012 Caroline Leave a comment

This week I am focussing on the benefits that can be derived from having an automated Proof Of Delivery process.

Doing so will lower your costs, increase efficiency, and improve customer service.

Is this your business?

Still, relying on paper documents coming back to your depot to validate delivery of your goods?
Orders taken at your customers’ premises are they being fed back to the customer service team as fast as you’d like?

Automated proof of delivery - software and systems

Does this represent your proof of delivery process?

Automating the Proof of Delivery process removes the risks associated with manual paper handling of delivery notes through to the invoicing.

Manual processing is expensive, tedious, and slow, and of course susceptible to human error.
Staff costs are increased as the time spent resolving customer queries reduces the team’s time spent servicing your customers.
P.O.D.’s are easily lost leading to a delay in payment or claims against you for lost goods and the potential loss of a valued customer.
There is no functionality in place to provide live financial management reporting.

What happens when you automate the Proof of Delivery Process?

Proof of Delivery Solutions and Systems scalable, modular, and affordable.

Any automation should in theory improve the speed of a business process. Automating your proof of delivery removes the following manual tasks:-

By removing the printing and scanning of the delivery notes
Manually capturing data from the document and keying into the finance system for invoicing
Physical distribution of documentation across the organisation
Storage, archiving and retrieval costs are reduced
Query management and resolution substantially reduced

What are the benefits of automating the Proof Of Delivery Process?

Improved efficiency and compliance
Improved customer service with the team focused on the customers rather than “fire-fighting” queries
Provides full tracking and auditing at each stage
Consistent cash flow as the time taken to capture and integrate data into the finance system is reduced minimising customer queries and time wasted on disputes.
Cost savings by reducing expenditure on staff needed to manually process delivery notes. Staff no longer have to be engaged in repetitive tasks and can be re-deployed into other areas of the business
Confirmation that the products have been delivered assists with any disputes or queries that might arise
Job sheet files are centralised and structured and are easily retrievable from any computer on the network
Management reporting provides an accurate measurement of the automated POD process within the organisation

Case Study

4 full-time administration staff @ £15,000 per annum were spending 100% of their time keying data from delivery notes into the finance system this equated to £60,000 total cost to the business per annum.

20 depot staff totaling £15,000 per annum spent 5% of their time every day either scanning, faxing, or posting delivery notes to head office for input into the finance system which was costing the business £15,000 per annum.

The Financial Controller @ £55,000 per annum was spending 25% of his time collating data for management reporting and accounts at a total cost of £13,750 per annum.

Automation reduced the staffing level to one person overseeing the process and delivered a total saving of £88,750 per annum for the business.

How does it work?

By capturing and allocating the data contained within the delivery notes that arrive from the depots and drivers. Data uploading is automatic and is deposited in the relevant business system. The documents are then digitised for storage and can then be retrieved if required at a later date.

The integrity of the data that is added to the system is validated and identifies any exceptions this then provides detailed reporting for KPI’s and SLA’s.

Ultimately automation reduces the time to manually keying data from proof of delivery notes, reduces customer queries and disputes, and gives your organisation a tangible and measurable ROI.

Document Management Solutions.

For more information on how to improve your Proof of Delivery process drop your details in the form below and one of our advisors will call you for an informal chat.

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To find out more about outsourced data cleansing and how it can help your business then please call us on: 01234-271156 or contact us here.

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What’s in a relationship?

What ties us together?

What’s in it for me?

What are the dynamics of customer relationships?

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Is this your business?

Automating the Proof of Delivery process removes the risks associated with manual paper handling of delivery notes through to the invoicing.

What happens when you automate the Proof of Delivery Process?

What are the benefits of automating the Proof Of Delivery Process?

Case Study

Automation reduced the staffing level to one person overseeing the process and delivered a total saving of £88,750 per annum for the business.

How does it work?

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