Improve Accounting & Billing Workflows with Document Management Services

Professional document management is the first step towards making any organization run better, faster, and smarter. This is especially true in accounting and billing departments, where automated processes give employees and executives real-time access to financial data.

Being able to close financial processes using streamlined processes is a powerful value differentiator in the world of finance. Document managed services for accounting and billing also make it possible for accounting professionals to adopt a linear approach to procurement and purchasing decisions.

For each of these individual financial processes, cutting-edge document management solutions offer secure, centralized storage and easy communication between knowledge workers and customer accounts. This reduces overall reliance on manual processes and eliminates paperwork from the equation.

Document Management Services Automate Accounts Payable

Implementing a cloud-based document management solution like DocuWare allows organizations increase the volume of invoices they can handle on a daily basis. It also allows for greater structural flexibility when handling complex processes.

Automating accounts payable processes and integrating the results with an organization-wide enterprise content management puts power in employees’ hands. At the same time, it improves visibility throughout the organization, allowing executives and stakeholders far-reaching oversight into financial processes.

Document management software improves efficiency for accounts payable processes that would otherwise require time-consuming manual work. Fully optimized systems do this in five ways:

• Minimizing the number of manual processes required per transaction
• Eliminating data entry whenever possible
• Offering instant access to receipts, packing slips, and related payment documents
• Making invoices accessible from mobile and desktop applications alike
• Speeding up employee training using standardized processes

Improve Accounts Receivable Processes with Document Management Services

One of the areas where document management services has the most to offer accounting and billing departments is in accounts receivable. Here, data capture technology combined with centralized content management can empower finance employees to review and process documents with greater speed and accuracy.

In most organizations, manual data entry is a time-consuming task that takes up the majority of accounts receivable process time. The ability to turn these tasks into automated data updates that occur in real-time frees up data entry talent for higher-impact tasks like customer service.

If data entry is the main obstacle to streamlining accounts receivable, finding documents scattered throughout various department systems is a close second. Centralized document management with automating keyword indexing eliminates the time employees spend searching for documents – more than 4 hours per week, on average.

The more cash cycle processes live in the document management software environment, the faster and smoother accounts receivable processes can go. A comprehensive document management solution can cover a great deal of ground:

• Contract Management. Creating contracts with variable data and specific terms is time-consuming work. Streamlining the creation of contracts and storing them in a centralized database can improve closing times.
• Sales Order Processing. Your document management service should be able to automatically identify order information and extract it without requiring manual data entry.
• Dispute Resolution. Centralized document management services for accounting and billing puts customer disputes front-and-center. All account-related documents are accessible from the same, central location.
• Payment Processing. Automated remittance and check validation can significantly improve cash flow for organizations that struggle with deposits. Document management services can streamline your ability to post payment data to accounting systems.

Improve the Accuracy and Timing of Financial Closes

For many accounting employees, the monthly close process is a rushed and panic-ridden process. Best-in-class document management can help you optimize financial closing processes at the end of every month while increasing visibility and reducing costs.

This is mostly due to the fact that neither employees nor executives have access to real-time financial data. As a result, accounting employees rush at the end of the month to manually pour over spreadsheets and track down missing information.

Automated document management services can improve this situation immensely by making real-time data available. Removing manual processes from the equation allows both employees and executives to make more informed decisions with the latest documents available.

Additionally, this approach empowers employees to continually improve. As opportunities for further automation come into view, accounting departments can streamline processes in small, manageable increments and maximize their use of employee time.

Gain Agility in Your Organization’s Finance Department

At its core, document management services aim to reduce reliance on manual processes and automate tasks that don’t absolutely require manual entry. When businesses start to use multiple spreadsheet-based checklists, emails, and other tools, their processes begin to break down.

This is where the services of a highly qualified document management software vendor come into play. Incorporating the right management platform can vastly improve the cost-effectiveness of otherwise time-consuming processes.

Kelley Create offers expert document management solutions, including consultation, integration, and maintenance. Talk to one of our specialists to find out more!