How to Improve Efficiency in Your Enterprise

The Corona crisis has been a gruelling test for many businesses and entrepreneurs, who are now under even more pressure regarding costs and efficiency than they were beforehand. Cost reduction is the current watchword and, in view of the economic situation, essential for survival. Digitalisation, for example in preparatory accounting, is proving to be an important tool.

 

Great potential for efficiency in accounting

The approach here is the fact that traditional invoice management is, among other things, time-consuming and cost-intensive. Many businesses still spend their time on unproductive administrative chores. Capacities are often tied up – due to the manual tracking of unpaid invoices, invoice processing in general, or HR department procedures. But particularly in those areas, processes can be significantly “slimmed down” with the application of intelligent technologies and digital tools. This is where GetMyInvoices comes to your aid.

Our invoice management solution relieves bookkeeping staff of a lot of unproductive tasks by automating many processes. Specifically, GetMyInvoices automatically gathers invoices from the most diverse sources – from online portals over email postboxes to invoicing tools. Receipts accruing “on the go” can be easily digitalized with a scan app. All documents are collected and stored in one central location in the cloud. Using a web browser, those documents can be conveniently managed and researched, device- and location-independently. As well as that, it is possible to automatically transfer documents to other applications. Those include common accounting solutions, document management systems and solutions used by tax consultants. Access data has to be entered only once for each respective application, and transfer conditions can be defined; after that, invoices and receipts get to wherever they are needed without any manual effort. This means you can save up to 80 percent of work effort in your bookkeeping.

AI, the allrounder

This result also rests on the fact that relevant information, like invoice number or amount, can be read and further processed automatically, for instance to release payment or for automated evaluations. Another decisive factor is that new documents are recognized and processed almost in real-time. This means that business decisions can be based on highly accurate and current data. This has become apparent in most recent times in connection with applications for subsidies and development funds; thanks to GetMyInvoices, entrepreneurs were able to determine turnover figures for different periods with just a few clicks of the mouse. Deloitte confirms that those features are of great value: “AI-based analytics solutions aid in detecting and implementing saving potentials more efficiently and precisely”, say the experts. Of course, this is not only true for the accounting department.

According to recommendations made by Sage, HR processes can also be made more efficient, for example by using employee portals. “Vacation requests or sick certificates, which so far had to be handed into the personnel office for processing, can be concluded directly between the employee and their superior, reducing administrative expenses.” More again, virtual consultations and meetings substitute many time- and cost-intensive business trips with possible risk potential. The range of opportunities is tremendous.

Tasks remaining in your hands

It is important to note that digital processes work differently to analogue ones. An analogue process cannot be translated 1:1 into the digital world, as can be seen by the example of electronic invoices. Manual gathering of invoices and the recording of information becomes completely superfluous in a digital context, as the AI takes over such tasks, as described above. Instead, a verification step has to be established to check that the read information corresponds with the displayed original. Another example: In a digital context, different security factors have to be considered. Employees with access to those solutions have to be aware, for instance, of how they use passwords securely. It sounds trivial, but in practical application this often proves to be a crucial point. Non-encrypted passwords can be found on many computers, or are even printed out. And when access is required, passwords are searched for, devouring even more time. In short: processes have to be scrutinized in their entirety and adjusted accordingly. Regarding passwords, by the way, we recommend 1Password – a solution generally considered to be very secure that can be used within a team, and is currently even free of charge because of the Corona crisis.

Admittedly: it takes some effort to get informed about these aspects. But if you want to increase your efficiency, digitalisation is an exceedingly effective approach. You don’t just save expenses and effort: the newly acquired time can be used for your core business, which is certainly a lot more fun to you – and that is the “efficiency-cherry on top”.

Start your efficiency boost and try GetMyInvoices free of charge!