Ways That Finance & Accounting Services Work Smarter, Not Harder
Managing finances shouldn't take away from an organisation's productivity. Unfortunately, for many organisations, finance is an area where organisations have poor productivity levels due to manual processes, disconnected systems and increasing compliance costs. This creates more rework for finance departments and less time on growing their business through technology. Therefore, by taking advantage of modern finance and accounting services to produce the information you need for decision making, finance becomes a business partner and not a bottleneck.
Today's view of Finance has changed as well, where the focus of finance was to simply close out the books and invoice process and now has expanded to creating better clarity of the financials, a stronger cash flow and enablement of greater confidence and timely informed decision making. Having Procure to Pay services , Record to Report Processes and Order to Cash processes working in sync with each other enables Finance to work as an enabler of the business rather than being a roadblock.
Changes To Finance And Accounting Services
Finance was once regarded as the department responsible for the day-to-day functions of an organisation by processing transactions, maintaining a complete accounting record and meeting a deadline. These basic functions of finance are still relevant but have expanded beyond simply maintaining records and deadlines; business leaders expect finance to provide strategic insight and forecasting.
Modernised Finance and Accounting Services allow organisations to make the shift away from a reactive finance department looking for a way to fix a problem causing a revenue loss toward a proactive finance department that assists an organisation in the development and implementation of a plan for business growth through the process of developing standard processes and the ability to automate those processes. By implementing standard procedures for record keeping and processes to support automation, organisations improve their ability to gain visibility into financial activities when reviewing operating results and reduce the strain on the day-to-day operations of the organisation in preparing financials.
Procurement and payment services: bring organization to a company's daily purchasing activity
Companies of all types make many types of purchases:
raw materials, software subscriptions and services. Procurement services manage every stage of the procurement process, from selecting vendors to paying their invoices.
Without an established process in place, invoices can become lost, approval processes may take too long and finance teams are forced to spend large amounts of time seeking answers. The procurement process will provide a more clear and consistent view into purchasing activities.
What does Procurement include?
Vendor onboarding and vendor master data management
Purchase orders and approvals
Completely validated invoices and the three way match.
Accounts Payable and Payment Processing
Reconciliations and Reporting
What will Procurement do for the company?
With properly managed Procurement services, companies gain enhanced visibility into purchasing and limit unnecessary costs. Suppliers get paid on time, suppliers are happy, and Corporate Governance risk is limited.
Most of all: finance teams do not need to put out daily procurement fires; instead, finance teams can concentrate on improving procurement processes and assisting in business operations.
The Significance of Accurate Financial Data and its Relationship with Record to Report Services
Accurate financial data is critical for managers to make decisions about future spending, current staffing levels, and other factors that may affect business operations; therefore, having the most up-to-date information about financial activity helps senior management determine if they have enough information to make informed decisions.
Record to Report Services connect the operational side of a business (i.e., daily transactions) to high-level reporting; therefore, they allow senior management to have complete visibility into the overall financial health of the business and to meet their regulatory obligations to provide an accurate account of the financial performance of the company.
Typical Record to Report Activities
Some activities included in this category include:
- Journal entries and general ledger accounting
- Account balance sheet and reconciliations
- Fixed asset and intercompany accounts
- Management Information Systems (MIS) Reports and Financial Statements
The Benefits of Effective Record to Report Processes:
The value of effective Record to Report Services is improved efficiency in the month-end/year-end close process, as well as accelerated reconciliation of financial reports. The result is accurate reporting; the audits are completed on time; the management teams have confidence in the financial data presented to them and are less likely to spend time verifying the numbers. Instead, the management team can spend their time analyzing what the numbers mean and determining how to respond appropriately to subsequent events.
Order To Cash Services – Helping Companies Receive Payment Quicker
Order to Cash Services is an integral part of the cash conversion cycle. Orders received from customers do not count as revenue until the money has been received into the company's bank account. Order To Cash Services cover the entire process of converting customer orders into actual cash, and therefore, are critical for ensuring businesses have sufficient cash flow to operate and for providing satisfactory service to their customers.
Inefficiencies in the Order To Cash process, such as delays in invoice issuance and making billing mistakes, can negatively impact a company's working capital position. A smooth Order To Cash cycle ensures companies bill customers accurately and collect payments in a timely manner.
Services Under The Order To Cash Process
Services under the Order To Cash process include the following:
1. Validating Orders and Performing Customer Credit Checks
2. Creating Invoices and Sending Them Out
3. Managing Accounts Receivable
4. Collecting Payments and Resolving Disputes
5. Applying Cash to Accounts Receivable and Reconciliation of Accounts
Optimizing Order To Cash Services will provide:
1. Timely Issuance of Invoices to Customers
2. Reduced Disputes Regarding Invoices Sent Out
3. Improved Collections on Customer Accounts
As a result, companies will have lower Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and will be able to more accurately forecast their cash flow.
Finally, creating a better customer experience begins with clear and accurate invoices and effective communication with customers regarding their invoices and orders. When customers receive their invoices in a timely manner, they are building trust with the company and strengthening their long-term relationship with the company.
The Benefits of Integrated Finance and Accounting Services
Integrated finance and accounting services enable a more comprehensive view of the entire financial process and significantly improve accuracy and timeliness when it comes to reporting, forecasting or forecasting with respect to estimated revenue arising from future orders. Therefore, when procure-to-pay, record-to-report and order-to-cash operate independently, there is a significant amount of duplication of effort associated with gathering data as well as providing financial reporting. Consequently, this creates uncertainty within an organisation about what financial information is accurate. When all financial processes are connected together as one cohesive unit, the result is that all of the various financial processes are integrated together so that they provide end-to-end visibility across all finance-related processes; they produce consistently accurate (and therefore reliable) data; and they can create faster turnarounds on delivering reports and forecasts.
A primary reason to adopt integrated finance and accounting services is to enhance the confidence of employees because when finance leaders have certainty that they are working with real-time (i.e., real and accurate) information, it enhances their ability to make sound business decisions based on this information.
Automation is changing the way finance teams perform their duties. In the past, the accounting department performed all of the functions of the finance department by hand-done. Today, there are numerous ways that technology can streamline operations from invoice processing through to reporting.
As such, the goal of using technology in accounting is not to eliminate human interaction but rather to remove the redundancy of repetitive manual tasks performed by finance employees so they can focus their talents and efforts towards helping the organisation grow, innovate, and improve its performance. Therefore, as a result of automating most of the finance department's functions, finance teams now have more time to provide value-added services to customers and to invest in the long-term future of the organisation.
Why Businesses Choose Outsourced Finance and Accounting Services
Organizations are increasingly taking advantage of outsourced finance and accounting services by sourcing their finance needs from service providers. Businesses receive expert advice and best practice methods from providers that allow them to develop scalable solutions on an as-needed basis. The main advantages of engaging a third party to handle finance functions include:
Expertise: Businesses can tap into a depth of experience that may be difficult to find or retain using internal resources.
Flexibility: Businesses can easily expand their finance services as needed as the business grows. As a result, businesses will save money by reducing staffing and operational expenses.
Consistent Service Delivery: Providers maintain consistent service and a single point of contact for businesses.
Core Focus: Businesses will have more time to spend on their primary objectives because their core business will be less affected by day-to-day financial operations.
Outsourcing enables businesses to maintain their standards of service while also remaining nimble in a rapidly changing marketplace.
At Corient, we believe finance should be transparent, simple, and foster growth for our clients. We offer complete end-to-end finance and accounting services in three distinct areas: Procure To Pay Services, Record To Report Services, and Order To Cash Services. Each service area supports all aspects of a company's financial workflow.
Through Intelligent Automation coupled with best practices, we assist businesses in increasing their productivity by decreasing the amount of time spent performing tasks that are presently done manually, while increasing both cash flow and profitability by improving transparency and control over their finances. We also ensure our clients are compliant with applicable laws and regulations while providing them with the resources necessary to expand their operations into new markets.
Confidence in Moving Ahead
Financial and Accounting Services will continue to focus on providing organizations with an understanding of their finances; without having accurate financials and being able to control that information, organizations will not be able to achieve sustainable growth. When organizations implement a process that integrates the Procure to Pay, Record to Report and Order to Cash functionality, it allows them to build a base for establishing a solid foundation for future growth.
When working with the right financial partner, finance can change from a source of stress to a source of strategic planning.
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