Our calendars are filled with so-called ‘Hallmark Holidays’. Did you know, for example, that the first Sunday after Labor Day is ‘National Grandparents’ Day’? That ‘Sweetest Day’ is observed across the Great Lakes region? Or that ‘National Boss’ Day’ is celebrated on October 16th? You’ll excuse us if we don’t go all-out on a gift for that one…
Most of these holidays serve little purpose other than to sell greetings cards and boxes of candy. But on August 14th, you can add National Financial Awareness Day to your calendar — and that’s an occasion absolutely worth celebrating.
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What is Financial Awareness Day?
Financial Awareness Day is an occasion to mark financial independence, and to encourage people to make small changes to improve their financial health and literacy. It’s been celebrated every August 14th since 2019, and many organizations take it as an opportunity to share financial information and help clients or customers achieve their financial goals.
Businesses, too, can benefit from the message of Financial Awareness Day. A recent Forbes survey revealed that 57% of small businesses have cut spending over the past year, in response to rising inflation and the threat of a coming recession.
“Businesses sought a number of ways to cut costs and reduce overheads. For example, while some went fully remote (cutting costly office space and common in-office perks like free snacks and drinks) others sought more affordable manufacturing contracts or suppliers, while others employed artificial intelligence to decrease downtime and increase productivity.”
- Forbes
The same survey found that running out of capital is the second most common reason that businesses fail, accounting for 38% of failures overall. So, businesses, too, can benefit from keeping a tighter rein on their finances — and Financial Awareness Day is the perfect opportunity to examine whether your processes are up to scratch.
Financial Awareness Day for finance teams
If you’re reading this blog, then you probably work in a finance department already. It’s fair to assume, then, that you’re already financially ‘aware’. So why should Financial Awareness Day matter to you?
Well, it’s important to remember that the finance department is changing. Many finance teams are undergoing a process of digital transformation, and for some this process is moving faster than others. According to an EXL report from 2022, a whopping 89% of finance accounting executives believe that data-driven finance is the future, with 87% recognizing the need to invest in technology to support this transition. However, just 23% of respondents said that they had mature, data-driven finance functions in place. It’s clear there’s a gap between expectations and reality.
And whether you’re on top of it or not, this digital transformation has a purpose: to help position the finance department as a strategic value-creation partner to the business. The role of the finance department has moved away from a purely back-office function to something of far greater strategic importance: according to the Harvard Business Review, 76% of survey respondents say the finance department now plays an important role in supporting their organizations’ business objectives.
So, for finance teams, Financial Awareness Day is less about improving financial literacy, and more about increasing awareness of their changing role and responsibilities.
Digital transformation: AP automation for finance teams
If finance teams are to embrace their new roles as value-creation partners to the organization, then they need to be expending far less energy on time-consuming manual tasks. Legacy, paper-based processes like coding invoices and chasing approvals pull AP accountants away from high-value strategic tasks, but more than that, they expose the organization to potentially costly errors. Incredibly, 88% of finance professionals say the majority of payment errors are caused by manual data entry.
AP automation software can free finance teams from the tyranny of time-consuming manual processes — reducing the time spent on manual data entry by as much as 83%, processing invoices up to 9x faster, and capturing invoice header data with 99% accuracy.
By embracing AP automation, you can ensure that Financial Awareness Day becomes far more than just a Hallmark Holiday for your finance department.
Here’s an idea: why not celebrate Financial Awareness Day this year by taking our AP automation ROI calculator, and finding out how much value AP automation can deliver for your organization?
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