Happy International Accounting Day to you and yours! You know, the folks who operate without any fanfare and in the background—and sometimes with a bit of suspicion and indifference from the rest of the organization.
But, let’s not dwell on the negative because this is YOUR DAY—to be acknowledged, lauded, and celebrated. After all, you are the folks who:
- Monitor business performance
- Spearhead financial planning, decision making, and compliance
- Ensure effective cash flow management
- Support fraud detection and prevention
You could say that Accounting is the engine and the rest of the business is the fuel. But, you could also say that Accounting is both the engine and the fuel of any healthy business. The function is just that important. Which is why you deserve this day!
You deserve a break today
But, the profession is also at a tipping point. The 2024 Finance & Accounting Talent Market Outlook reports that 83% of senior leaders admit to an Accounting talent shortage, which is up from an already abysmal 70% in 2022. As The CFO web site points out, that means that existing staff are experiencing increased burnout and decreased job satisfaction as they shoulder heavier workloads and longer hours. And while a Gallup study found that disengaged employees cost the U.S. as much as $550B annually in lost productivity, a recent survey of finance professionals determined that 77% believed they were more productive when working from home. Respondents said that fewer interruptions and less time spent commuting give them more time to focus and reported lower stress levels compared to working in an office environment.
Any way you slice it, we need to find ways to recruit, support, and sustain Accounting pros. So, what's standing in the way? In a word, "automation." Or really 3 words because it's the lack of automation that’s hurting companies the most.
Flexible working has become 1 of the top 3 most important issues for job seekers, but that's easier said than done for AP. Paper-based accounts payable processes mean many accountants remain stuck in the office surrounded by piles of physical invoices and receipts that should have been filed in previous quarters and a growing storage cabinet farm that is boxing them out. Meanwhile, there's never any shortage of people who need a copy of something or other for their files. And, they usually show up at the worst time.
This continued reliance on paper and complex processes slows payments and introduces errors at every turn. It also wreaks havoc on job satisfaction. Because nothing kills the employee spirit quite like endless manual inputs and corrections. But, the typical AP department spends at least 3 hours per day on data entry and 20% of that manual data will require revisions to some extent at some point. At least 3 hours per day? That means the best-case scenario is nearly 40% of the work week is spent keying, rekeying, and hoping and praying. It also means some AP shops are spending far more time on these tasks.
Your team is clamoring for a new normal, but your processes and workflow are kicking it old school. Let's consider each for a moment.
Processes stand in the way of employee satisfaction
AP cannot simply "decide" to go remote. There are too many tasks and realities that need to be addressed first. Physical invoices, receipts, and purchase orders literally run the business—and have to go somewhere. It makes sense that it's the office. And you can sure bet that someone will be required to be present to receive and deposit paper-based checks. Approvals are complex even when the approvers are down the hall, but different time zones and work hours mean further complications and more protracted timelines. Finally, visibility into data and financial information across a decentralized workforce requires technology. There's no way around that.
Your workflow holds the key
Your AP workflow starts with creating a PO, the formal request to a supplier for goods or services, then goes to delivery of goods and services, and culminates in transaction reviews and audit support. That's certainly a lot on the face of it, but we didn't even hit all the individual milestones, including business-critical 3-way matching. That’s where you verify the purchase order, delivery receipt, and invoice to ensure they all correspond and that you're only paying for what you received. Each milestone within the end-to-end workflow represents its own set of challenges, plus an opportunity for optimization and best practices. And, you need to fully understand your way of working before you can improve or change it.
Our gift to you: deconstruction for change
And, that's why our gift to you on this International Accounting Day is so exciting. We've got the tools and knowledge you need to build a more robust, effective, and profitable accounts payable operation—starting with uncovering opportunities for efficiency. And, we'll help you deconstruct your processes to create a pathway to end-to-end automation that supports work-from-home flexibility.
Register for our webinar, Deconstructing your AP workflow to support long-term hybrid and remote work, on 11/21 at 11am PT.
