DM1701

Dm OPINION: ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
"Your business can't run effectively if you don't have clear, trustworthy visibility into
your cash position. In fact, if a company doesn't know where it stands financially,
it becomes impossible to make sound decisions that drive growth. Document
traceability eliminates the unpleasant element of surprise in the AR process. It
accelerates payments by clarifying when each payment will be made, providing
a clear view into the status of critical cash."
Receivable (AR) processes and results,
according to Aite Group research.
Meanwhile, our own evidence
indicates that whilst 80% of credit
notes delivered will be opened and
read, 33% of invoices aren't acted on.
When the value of the latter is high or
inertia extensive, the impact to the
supplier can be significant.
While arguably not as fun as the
games console you've gifted your
young relative for Christmas, you still
need to have full traceability of each
document to ensure processes inside
and outside of your organisation to
continue running smoothly.
Now, imagine if you were able to find
out not only when it was delivered, but
the exact moment it was opened.
Document traceability is the next
logical step in the evolution from paper
to an automated payment system. It
solves the top 3 AR challenges virtually
every organisation today faces:
1. Lack of visibility into the status of
receivables
Without document traceability,
organisations don't know the live
status of any of the communication
they have sent. So when 11% of
vendors say an invoice wasn't paid
because it was never received
(according to figures from TermSync),
then there's no recourse but to resend
the invoice. But this triggers the billing
process to start all over again - and
your payment collection rates suffer as
a result.
Document traceability makes it
possible to have up-to-the-minute
status of receivables, so you can avoid
the payment delays, vendor
relationship issues, manual intervention
and significantly increased costs
inherent in traditional models.
2. Inability to prioritise receivables
Not knowing if an invoice was acted
on or received is bad enough. Not
being able to identify the most
pressing unpaid invoices is a critical
error that impacts the productivity and
effectiveness of your entire team. A
robust document traceability solution
would make it possible to immediately
prioritise all exception handling, so
your team can pursue the highest
value invoices first, thus becoming
more efficient.
3. Unclear cash position
Your business can't run effectively if you
don't have clear, trustworthy visibility
into your cash position. In fact, if a
company doesn't know where it stands
financially, it becomes impossible to
make sound decisions that drive
growth. Document traceability
eliminates the unpleasant element of
surprise in the AR process. It
accelerates payments by clarifying
when each payment will be made,
providing a clear view into the status of
critical cash.
Document traceability technology
goes beyond just making it possible for
you to ensure that your documents
make it to their intended destination. It
helps you understand where your
financial documents are at every stage
of the process, which is critical to the
success of your organisation.
So the next time you send a present
to a loved one, do take a moment to
think about the processes that have
been put in place to ensure it arrives
safely, and opened by the right person
- and how this can be replicated within
your organisation.
More info: www.bottomline.co.uk
14 @DMMagAndAwards January/February 2016 www.document-manager.com