Tag Archives: Accounts Automation

Accounts Automation, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Invoice Processing

Accounts Receivable Automation – How to automate your payment allocations.

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Accounts Receivable Automation.

How to automate your accounts receivable.

A fully automated accounts receivable solution for accurately allocating customer payments quickly and efficiently to the relevant customer accounts will save time and reduce manual intervention.

Automating your cash allocation to your customer accounts minimises manual intervention and saves time.

How is this achieved?

Capture

Most capture tools operate on a template basis which require structure and will not work with thousands of differently laid out remittances. By employing an intelligent capture tool which can extract the data automatically, learning and storing as it goes this in turn automates the collection of data and updates the accounts system seamlessly without the need for any manual intervention.

Managing the Accounts Receivable process enables quick allocation of incoming payments.

Manage

Holds all documents enabling quick retrieval for processing and audit which in turn negates the need for paper storage whilst fulfilling compliance requirements.

Allocate

Allocate incoming payments quickly right down to invoice level. The system remembers this information so that subsequent payments can be matched instantly. This can lead to an 80% reduction in manual allocation.

What are the benefits of automating your Accounts Receivable function?

  • Real time view of sales ledger values
  • Clean sales ledger with no unallocated balances
  • Accurate management information and clear cash flow forecasting
  • Efficient credit control as no time is wasted chasing up invoices that have already been paid.
  • Efficient credit management with accurate debtor days information available at all times
  • Reconciliation is done on a day to day basis resulting in quicker and smoother month end process.
  • All banking and remittance documents are electronically stored simplifying the audit process and reducing the amount of storage needed for archiving old invoices and remittances.

Next steps

Digital Print Management are a channel partner for ProcessFlows; world leaders in the capture, process, manage and delivery of documents, voice and data solutions.

For an overview of our Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable solutions and how our solutions can help your company, please call us on 01234-271156 or email us your details below and one of our expert advisors will be in touch.

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Related posts:

  1. E-Billing. A 10 point checklist to help you implement e-billing in your organisation!
  2. How to automate your AR Process?
  3. Accounts Payable Solutions. How to automate the process.
  4. Invoice Processing Automation. How to automate your invoice processing!
  5. Invoice Scanning Solutions – reduce costs and automate the workflow
Accounts Automation, Accounts Payable, Invoice Processing, Outsourcing

E-Billing. A 10 point checklist to help you implement e-billing in your organisation!

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This is the third article in our series that discusses how to reduce the paper flow through your office and speed up the Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable function!

With escalating postage and mailing costs any company that sends out bulk mail such as customer letters, invoices and statements requires the flexibility to adopt a combination of either electronic and paper or solely electronic mailings.

How do you implement e-billing?

Firstly it helps to understand what the definition of e-billing is.

e-billing, e-invoicing. Which is it?

e-billing, e-invoicing. Which is it?

E-billing is often referred  to as e-invoicing and customers often say “we are sending out invoices” so what is the difference?

The use of the two terms depends on your perspective as a buyer or a seller.

If you are buying in services managing incoming invoices within the accounts payable department the electronic invoicing process is part of the order to pay process and is e-invoicing.

E-invoicing is a buyer centric model where the buyer actively encourages its suppliers to send them electronic invoices.

If you are selling services and you are sending bills out to your customers via the accounts receivable department the electronic invoicing process is part of the order to cash process and is called e-billing.

E-billing is a supplier centric model where the supplier encourages its customers to receive electronic invoices instead of paper based ones and is less complex to implement than e-invoicing.

In both cases, invoices are processed but the difference is that those invoices that are inbound are referred to as e-invoices and those invoices that are outbound are e-bills. In each case invoices are processed but whether you are a seller or buyer determines whether the process is B2B e-invoicing or B2B e-billing.

Many companies and organisations alike will operate a combination of both the above processes but the functions may not be electronic or automated and likely to be manually intensive.

How do I get my customers to accept e-billing?

How do you adopt paperless billing?

How do you adopt paperless billing?

One of the first challenges presented by the customer is: ” it just won’t work our customers like paper too much!” to which my response “have you asked them?

If you want to achieve significant customer adoption then you don’t ask you have a strategic, planned, well thought out campaign to turn off paper and get your customers accepting e-bills.

For more information call us now

Here are 10 top tips to achieving ebilling uptake!

  1. Have a clearly defined idea and strategy as to how you intend to implement e-billing
  2. Do not think that by having a customer portal on your website where customers login and download their bill will drive your customers in droves to click and register so they can collect their bill. It wont work! Its a bit like asking your customers to drive to your reception and collect their invoices. In reality, they’ll do nothing because a customer portal requires registration, password and a download
  3. Think PDF, not a PDF attachment to an email but a PDF that is emailed to your customer, think engaging, personalised and interactive information that incorporates facts, figures andpersonalised marketing messages, are secure and has embedded data which can be extracted out of the PDF
  4. Have a clear strategy for collecting email addresses
  5. Use your website to drive paperless billing and to advise customers how easy it will be for them to switch off paper
  6. Use messages on all your printed invoices, statements, remittances and envelopes to turn off paper
  7. Have a sign up process on your website, on your paper invoices and statements
  8. Use an email pre-registration campaign for opt in and opt out to encourage the take up of paperless bills
  9. Use any marketing collateral sent out to advise customers you are moving to paperless billing to drive the message home
  10. Use the process to demonstrate your company’s on-going commitment to being green
When all is said and done you can’t hold a gun to your customers head and make them adopt e-bills there will always be customers that, for whatever reason want/need a paper bill or, who simply don’t want to change.
You can educate them as to how the process can streamline the billing process to ensure they see also reap the benefits of going paperless.
If you want to reduce the paper flow call us for an independent and impartial chat.
Have you adopted a paperless strategy?

How successful was it?

Can e-billing work for the SME or is it the sole preserve of the bigger corporations and Utility companies?

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Related posts:

  1. How to make e-billing work for your business?
  2. How to automate your AR Process?
  3. 5 Reasons to outsource your e billing.
  4. Invoice Processing. 5 Great Ways to Reduce Your Paper-Flow
  5. Accounts Receivable Automation – How to automate your payment allocations.
Accounts Automation, Document Management, Invoice Processing, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing, Print Management

Invoice Processing. 5 Great Ways to Reduce Your Paper-Flow

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How to cut the cost of your invoice processing?

Many organisations are challenged by wanting to break free from invoice processing which can be a slow and costly paper based system.

Accounts Payable departments are constantly being challenged to cut operating costs whilst ensuring invoices are paid promptly. Manual AP processes are costing companies on average £2-£4 per invoice that’s a staggering on-going cost for a company who may be thinking they are managing the invoice paper flow!

A typical manual process includes:-

  • Invoices come into the company from different suppliers or cost centres in different layouts and delivery formats – post, fax, email, EDI
  • They are forwarded to the relevant person responsible for that invoice
  • There is a longer lead time due to manual routing, processing and sign off procedures
  • Inefficiencies due to time spent matching the invoice to the Purchase order, verifying, approving and signing off for payment
  • Inability to maximise discount benefits associated with early payments
  • If it exceeds the company’s limited amount it may well have to go to senior management for verification
  • If approved the invoice is then input into the accounting system ready for payment
  • Archive costs for compliance and accounts audits
Typically, there may well be invoice queries, is the vendor valid, is the invoice correct and does it match the PO or is it a duplicate invoice?

Why automate?

  1. By automating the process you gain a complete overview of the AP function using an end-to-end invoice management system of all processes and any financial implications.
  2. By capturing the invoice information using an intelligent capture tool allows extraction of invoice data whilst at the same time updating your ERP accounts system with no manual entry
  3. Consolidation and reconciliation of purchase orders, invoices and payments are automated which helps manage allocations, cashflow and payments
  4. Invoice processing automatically matches and verifies scanned invoices with PO’s
  5. The invoice process is improved because it is centralised so up to date live information is made available to the accounts team at every stage of the AP process

How does adopting an AP strategy reduce my paper flow?

It is the start toward adopting an ebilling strategy for your organisation.

Automating the processing of invoices and choosing to integrate a straight-forward workflow and document management software with your existing systems will remove manual and repetitive workloads.

Using a centralised accounts payable process integrated into your current systems provides:-

  • Automatic allocation of the right invoice to the relevant transaction
  • Automatically post invoices for payment
  • Automatically queue exceptions for handling
  • Deliver information on exceptions to the AP desktop
  • Make payment status available to everyone instantly
  • Adopt a push ebilling strategy where your customers don’t have to come to your Portal or website (Pull ebilling)

What are the major benefits?

  1. Reduce invoice processing costs
  2. Time savings
  3. Exceptions resolved quickly
  4. Supplier conflict resolution
  5. Early payment discounts
  6. Reduced supplier inquiries
  7. No double handling

Do you have a complete view of your AP process?

  • Do you wish your accounts payable function was a streamlined automated function giving you total control?
  • Do you know how many invoices you have outstanding?
  • Do you know how much money you owe?
  • Where in the system are the exceptions and and how many?
  • Who are the problematic suppliers?

Digital Print Management provide open solutions and our systems can be extended to include the automation of any business process.

If you want to discover how easy the transformation to an automated Accounts Payable system can be then get in touch.

COMING NEXT IN OUR SERIES OF ARTICLES FEATURING INVOICE PROCESSING WILL BE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES AND WE WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF ALLOCATING YOUR PAYMENTS.

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Related posts:

  1. E-Billing. A 10 point checklist to help you implement e-billing in your organisation!
  2. Invoice Processing Automation. How to automate your invoice processing!
  3. Accounts Payable Solutions. How to automate the process.
  4. What is Print Management?
  5. Automated Proof of Delivery – Systems Software