Top 4 Accounting Processes to Automate in 2022
Accounting has traditionally relied heavily on manual processes, but there has been a spike in automated alternatives in recent years. To save money and time, businesses have been implementing technologies to scale operations and optimize workflow. To make the greatest use of their resources, essential accounting departments such as AP/AR, tax, and payroll are replacing their time-consuming processes with automated solutions.
Here are the four accounting processes we believe your business should automate in 2022:
1. Audit
Due to the large volume of complicated data, auditors are turning to automation technology. The advantages are numerous: data integration, analytics programs, improved risk assessment, and improved process reporting. Auditing software generates reports that are very user-friendly, making it easier for auditors to make data-driven judgments. Real-time transaction analysis, risk appraisal, data validation, and different audit processes that can be automated will all be part of the future of auditing. The key advantage is that it automates tedious manual operations, allowing your team to focus on higher-value activities. More benefits include:
Improves Data Accuracy:
When it comes to manual entry, there is a major lack of transparency and processes, and systems are very susceptible to human mistakes and bias. Finance teams can track evidence in real-time with an automated audit solution to solve these issues.
Better Use of Resources and Risk Management:
Transparency in your company's finances ensures that audit management is predictable and that your team can work on audit findings to reduce risk.
Reduced Costs & Increased Output:
By lowering time spent on manual activities, teams can operate and perform audit duties at a faster pace, resulting in significant cost savings. Furthermore, automation increases the traceability and auditability of results and data.
2. Accounts Payable
Because of the heavy reliance on manual operations, the accounts payable department is frequently overloaded and prone to errors. Your AP staff can route invoice approvals, make payments online, speed up invoice coding, and remove 83 percent of manual data entry using AP automation. Beanworks, for example, is an AP automation system that not only cuts expenses but also puts your entire AP process to the cloud, allowing remote or geographically dispersed personnel to access AP. More benefits include:
Financial System Integration:
Automation solutions such as Beanworks integrate with your existing accounting software enabling you to enhance your core financial systems.
Eliminates Manual Data Entry and Lowers Costs:
Automation solutions take care of the data entry and help eliminate errors, providing accounting teams the ability to eliminate high-cost, repetitive activities.
Management Control:
Auditors can benefit from real-time monitoring, and following electronic trails to diagnose inconsistency and establish accountability.
3. Accounts Receivable
Preparing and mailing invoices, depositing checks and waiting for funds to clear, poor visibility into payment status, and a lag of mundane operations resulting in staff tiredness are all results of manual AR systems. R automation takes human error out of the loop. When core functionalities are manually segmented, it becomes a major challenge for the finance team to focus on improvements and scaling opportunities. More benefits include:
Reduce Cost and Increase Accuracy:
AR teams will be able to focus their time and resources on value-based projects by shifting their focus from mundane, time-consuming work to profitable activity.
Faster Payments:
Automation allows you to create bills at lightning speed and send them to clients on a custom schedule.
Improve DSO:
An automated measuring system will allow you to monitor how your AR is performing on DSO and whether it is approaching or edging away from the company's financial objectives.
4. Payroll
The more repetitive your accounting process is, the more valuable an automated solution may be for your company. Discrepancies and errors in a payroll system can have far-reaching effects, leading to a loss of trust in the organization. Without the correct combination of automated tools and features, payroll may become a difficult task. The quantity of data processing that goes into payroll can be intimidating, from computation accuracy to technical activities like tax law compliance. Automation helps eliminate a lot of these payroll issues making your organization run smoother. More benefits include:
Reduced Compliance Risk:
Automated payroll ensures that both the employee and the employer are paying the correct amount of tax. Businesses can automate tax filing to minimize government penalties for non-compliance.
Scalability:
You can scale your workload to manage several locations by automating payroll data. You can save time entering data and prevent workflow issues by eliminating the procedures involved with importing and exporting. This will increase operational efficiencies.
Fast and Simple Wage Calculation:
Payroll automation eliminates the need for manual paycheck preparation, saving you time and money. Stubs and paychecks are generated via the system, which also allows for direct deposit.
Sage AP Automation
Sage AP Automation, which is powered by Beanworks, provides real-time information on bills as they proceed from purchase order through coding, approval, and payment. Sage AP Automation works in tandem with Sage 100, Sage 300, and Sage Intacct to relieve teams of time-consuming and error-prone activities while giving users total control over the whole AP process. Check out some resources below to learn more:
Sage AP Automation Webinar
Join us Thursday, February 17th for Eliminate Friction in Your Accounts Payable Workflow. This webinar is going to pinpoint common practices that often disrupt the flow of what could be a smooth and hassle-free AP process. It unpacks each AP workflow (purchase orders, invoices, payments, expenses) to provide a preview of areas for improvement, and offers insights on how automated and non-automated solutions can deliver productivity and growth in 2022.
