Jun 8 2012

Invoice processing for a conscientious workforce

Businesses are like machines: they have mechanisms, input and output, and a function. Certain businesses might also be compared with domestic appliances: as long as they operate we are happy, looking to improve them only when we notice something wrong. But the forward-thinking entrepreneur will act before problems occur or the system begins to break down, because there is far more at stake when a business stops working than when your hoover gives up. A malfunctioning business cannot simply be disposed of and replaced. It is advisable then to increase the capabilities of an existing system before what works at an acceptable rate starts to fail. It always pays to be one step ahead of the game when you’re in business, and this includes looking after your document management, document processing and invoice processing.

The latter is especially important if your business outsources much of its work. A freelance team of employees will be loyal to a client that respects its worth but as soon as things look shaky they may seek employment elsewhere. This is because freelance work is unpredictable and the self-employed need a constant flow of tasks. One obvious way to keep your mobile employees happy consists of paying them in a timely manner. Once they have billed you, invoice processing should be quick and certainly within the time frame you promised. Allowing your freelancers to email their invoices and paying them by direct online transfer will save time, money and a whole host of complications.

Similar principles can be applied to the work that your team submits: rather than allowing a messy flow of print-outs and scribbled material to come in, you should consider the benefits of electronic document processing. Deadlines are often adhered to much more strictly when document management occurs on a multi-user network or online: everyone knows that their progress is easily traced and that things rarely get lost if they’ve been properly backed up.

Altogether, your business will work like a well-oiled machine if you pay attention to your staff, their payments and the overall workflow affecting the company’s profits. Efficient invoice processing solutions not only increase employee satisfaction, they also guard against fraud. Streamlined document processing can entail working together; relieving pressure on the individual faced with an otherwise insurmountable number of tasks. Indeed, document management should not be top-down in this day and age but rather networked, creative and conducive to business growth.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

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Jul 23 2011

Document management systems lead to environmental bonuses

document management is now a coming-of-age technology that can have widespread benefits on your business’s bottom line as well as on the environment. Like many green technologies, document processing has financial benefits as well, since it reduces the consumption of resources that threaten both the planet’s sustainability and your profit margin – cutting down on waste is win/win. Invoice processing is another side of this, and this can have further benefits. Taken together, these technologies bring efficiencies to your business, streamlining the way your offices are run without entailing the major upheaval that converting to a paperless system would if carried out in one fell swoop.

These document processing systems, described at their simplest, convert physical documents such as letter, memos, invoices and reports, into electronic versions that can be stored on your computer network and accessed like any other file. This means that no one has to spend time looking for a lost piece of paper ever again; so long as things are filed in the right place (the document management system is the virtual filing cabinet), you don’t need to photocopy sheets of paper to make them available to more than one person. Neither do things get forgotten merely because they have been placed at the bottom of a stack of paperwork. This is particularly important with invoices, since if you have a two-tier system where electronically-sent invoices are paid first and fastest using BACS, and physical ones are paid more slowly (and possibly irregularly, since they are becoming less common and more problematic), you risk upsetting clients or suppliers.

All of this means that document processing ticks all three boxes for the so-called triple bottom line. Running an effective document management system brings economic, environmental and relational advantages through increased efficiencies, lower waste, faster payments and happier, less stressed staff. One aspect of this your business may not have considered in the past is invoice processing, which avoids the problems of sending pdf invoices with its own fully-compliant system that enables e-invoices to be sent instantly and directly to clients and suppliers. Incidentally, it also removes most of the errors associated with fraud and invoices that have been sent accidentally, including duplicates – something you should certainly bear in mind since the cost savings alone can be substantial, before you even start to weigh up the other advantages.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

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Oct 17 2010

Document management makes life less stressful

Sometimes in business it can feel like you are swamped with document management paperwork. It can get to the point where it seems as though paperwork is the main activity of the company, rather than playing a secondary role to the business’s main lines of operation. Of course, many people have got so accustomed to this that they maybe do not even see the need to revolutionise their document processing. This can be the result of having fallen into a comfort zone, or, perhaps, having a tendency to wish to oversee everything; essentially a tendency to micro manage, which can end up holding your company back and result in a reduced level of competiveness. However, invoice processing and similar operations can be revolutionised, making your company more dynamic, efficient and competitive.

With automated document managing, costs are reduced in the first place by the basic matter of reduced stationary costs. And this type of outgoing, in companies beyond a certain size, can add up considerably over the course of, say, a year. But this is only the beginning of the implications that revolutionised document processing can have for the efficiency of your company.

Reduced paperwork means not only less paper related costs, but lower costs in terms of the working hours of your staff. After all, if there is paper to be filled in, someone obviously has to fill it in, and this takes time. As the well-known saying goes, time is money. It is true, too, in the sense that the time your staff spend on processing this paperwork could be spent on more productive activities, therefore increasing the productivity of your company. But, as we all know, the paperwork needs to be done come what may, so until your company adopts an automated system for invoice processing, the time of your employees will always be eaten up by these demands.

Another way in which automated document management can benefit your business is by improving your relations with both clients and suppliers, and eventually boosting you company’s image as an efficient and dynamic force. It may be difficult to see how automated document processing can achieve this. Human paperwork, let’s be frank, is slow when compared to that of a computer. When computer software is assigned to, say, invoice processing, invoices are then processed in an instant, and this, from the point of view of a client or of a supplier, is impressive.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.bottomline.co.uk/

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