Streamline Your Finances: How Automation Revolutionises Accounting and Expense Management

Accounting, expense management, and financial administration can be incredibly time-consuming. Ideally, you'd spend that time strategising and improving your products or processes, but instead, for hours on end, you track every penny that comes in and out to keep your business afloat. We get the frustration.

What if you could free yourself from these tasks? Recent research shows that accounting tasks are one of the most automatable processes in the company. Imagine simply uploading any financial document and having all the data automatically extracted, organised, approved, and ready for your accounting system in minutes. This isn't just a dream. It's possible.

Keep reading to discover how smart automation solutions can transform your financial workflows, saving you both time and resources in the process!

What Are the Key Automation Solutions in Finance?

Automation solutions for financial processes fall into two main categories: software for automating accounts payable and receivable, and software for managing expenses. Typically, they make use of AI, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), machine learning, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to handle tasks that usually take a lot of time and effort when done by hand.

To give you an example, think of such software as a personal invisible financial team that never sleeps and can process an unlimited amount of documents in real time. Let’s explore each of the solutions in detail! 

Enhance Cash Flow Management with AP&AR Automation

Automating accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) enables you to effectively manage your cash flow with minimal manual intervention. Just think of it: invoices from suppliers are processed and paid, while sales deposits are logged and matched to corresponding issued invoices, all done automatically. It’s life-changing.

Accounts Payable Automation Software

Let’s say you receive dozens of invoices weekly from various suppliers and vendors. Instead of typing the data from each of them by yourself, AP automation software scans, reads, and processes these invoices for you. With in-built approval options, your only task is to click on a few buttons while the software does the rest.
Even though it sounds amazing as it is, there are some extra benefits that are making the switch to cloud-based AP automation even more enticing: 

• Eliminate the chance of manual data entry errors to avoid any time-consuming reconciliations. Keep your records accurate at all times.  
• Significantly reduce processing costs by up to 80%. Instead of monthly wages, your only payment would be a software subscription. 
• Drastically reduce invoice processing time, transforming the week-long ordeal into a matter of hours, thus enhancing your overall efficiency.
• Improve vendor relationships by paying on time and avoiding any supply disruptions due to payment issues.

Accounts Receivable Automation Software

Similar to its payable counterpart, AR automation software streamlines the invoicing and collection processes. This software uses AI to predict the best times to send invoices to improve the chances of receiving payments on time and can automatically send reminders to clients about upcoming or past-due invoices.

And in the meantime, you’re going to experience such advantages as: 

• Increasing cash flow and reducing days sales outstanding (DSO), offering you greater financial stability.
• Enhancing customer satisfaction with professional and consistent communication.
• Providing detailed forecasts and reports that help track receivables more effectively.

These solutions are all about streamlining your invoice-related financial processes and making sure that everything stays in balance. In the next section, we'll look at solutions for managing your own and your team's expenses. 

Master Your Expense Tracking with the Right Tools

Expense automation simplifies the way you track, approve, and reconcile expenses. This not only reduces the workload but also provides you with a better option for monitoring and controlling spending. There are a couple of tools that contribute to it, such as expense management software and expense cards. Let’s go!

Expense management software automates the submission, approval, and reimbursement of team expenses. How? Well, such software:

• Extracts data automatically from receipts and invoices. Just snap a picture, and you're done.
• Goes wherever you go: Mobile apps enable on-the-fly submissions, anywhere, anytime.
• Plays nice with others: Seamlessly integrates with your existing accounting software for smooth expense categorisation and reconciliation.

To make this process even simpler, you can go for virtual or physical business expense cards, also known as corporate cards. After all, they are a significant component of modern expense management strategies. 

Imagine how much simpler the process would be with such cards! Some key benefits include:

• Pre-set limits. You can allocate specific budgets to keep spending in check without micromanaging.
• Direct card usage eliminates the need for reimbursement applications and benefits your time management.
• Real-time insights into team spending, integrated directly with your expense management software.

The trick is to, of course, go for an expense management solution that has accompanying expense cards. With these solutions, your expense-related financial processes will become an effortless and even fun process. No more manual paperwork, only digital workflows!

Key Takeaway 

In the business world, where time is money, automation allows you to reclaim both. It empowers you and your team to focus on the strategically important improvements rather than getting bogged down by the how of debits and credits. Imagine the creative projects and innovations you can pursue with all the time you'll save.

And that’s not the end of it. Accounting and expense automation solutions provide you with powerful insights and analytics that allow you to predict future trends and better manage your resources. To stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market, embracing automation is the logical step forward. Do your research, weigh the pros and cons of various solutions available, and embark on your automation journey!