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Cut Costs And Save Money By Improving Business Processes

  • Cut Costs And Save Money By Improving Business Processes

    Cut Costs And Save Money By Improving Business Processes

    When businesses are looking for ways to save money, the focus is often on cutting back. How can we cut back on supplies used, on employee hours, on how much money we’re spending to run each department? But sometimes, cutting back isn’t the best answer.

    Take the accounts payable department as an example. If you’re cutting back the number of employees and limiting their resources, it’s much harder for AP to keep up with invoice processing. What starts out looking like cost-cutting turns into spreadsheet errors, late payment fees, and costly audits. It would be a much better idea to improve AP processes so the department is running as smoothly as possible. And that, in turn, leads to saving money.

    save-money-by-improving-business-processes

    Drop Costs Organically

    Shift the focus from “cutting costs” to “improving efficiency.” Make sure the money being put into a department is being used wisely and that the budget covers essential business operations. Even though you want to save money, you still need each department to have the resources to do their jobs well.

    Spending time and money on improving business processes might not immediately look like a path to cutting costs. But the more you can optimize your business processes, the more costs will drop. Employees won’t have to spend as much of the time you’re paying them for on busy work or working overtime. Customers and clients will have fewer complaints. And you’ll start to notice savings in other areas as well.

    Find Unexpected Savings

    Automation is one of the best ways to improve business operations. Investing in automation typically requires a small set-up cost and a regular fee that’s based on your contract with a provider. While that initially looks like just another expense, the return on investment can be significant.

    For example, a survey by APQC shows businesses who don’t use automation spend an average of $12.44 to process each invoice. Companies where AP employees get to use automation spend an average of $4.98. So automation drops the processing cost per invoice as soon as you start using it. On top of that, AP automation lets you avoid late fees, take advantage of early payment discounts, and prevent costly errors.

    Use Automation Wisely

    AP isn’t the only department where automation saves money. Automation gives you more control over capital projects and helps track cash flow. It can help your company improve the purchasing system so it’s easier to stay on budget. T&E automation speeds up expense claims processing and helps keep employees satisfied. In all these departments, business process automation shows immediate, tangible savings as well as long-term improvements in cash management.

    If you’d like to see first-hand how automation can help your company improve business processes, get in touch with us. We’ll set up a free demonstration so you can check it out for yourself before you make the decision to invest in automation.