'Purchase to Payment' - Process Efficiencies for SMEs

In these unrelenting times of austerity, it is SMEs who continue to suffer and have to make further cuts. However, savings can be made through improving efficiency of business processes in order to maximise budgets. One area which presents an opportunity to fine tune such processes is within the finance department itself.

While the majority of businesses have invested in implementing Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) over the years, this technology fails to virtualise and automate all processes – leaving finance departments with manual paperwork to be completed, often during the “purchase to payment” process.

Nearly 80% of all invoices are still delivered to a business on paper. And where an electronic method of delivery is implemented, invoices are still delivered as PDF files, presenting an unstructured document for the individual that cannot be read by the ERP program.

Few SMEs have the luxury of moving to a full Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) approach, which is often taken by many enterprises to standardise documents sent between recipients. In addition to this, with paper based files and PDFs likely to be maintained for years to come, SMEs need to consider solutions that will combat these issues and embrace unstructured documents.

 

SMEs opting for an invoice process solution that automates the accounts payable process will eliminate clerical tasks associated with filing and processing invoices through automation thus, reducing cost and resource spent. Furthermore, the system increases control and visibility across the company, and allows immediate and secure access to the data.

A business automation approach based on document capture, management and workflow can enhance existing business processes and compliment the investment in existing ERP systems. With costs of new generation document management and workflow systems, SMEs now have a viable option to transform their purchase processes that offers a compelling ROI. 

Click here to discover how Invu’s Invoice processing solution can benefit your business. 

Obama improves his Customer Service

In the directive issued by Barack Obama in May, a strategy has been set out to make services available via mobile devices in an effort to keep pace with the increase in smart phone use and improve the availability of government information via mobile to the American people.

Obama explains that until now, accessing government information has been a complex and painstakingly time consuming task, which has forced Americans to collate information from across government programs in order to identify exactly which services they require.  

The Obama administration is right to drive an improvement in its record keeping and consolidate information to enhance the accessibility with which individuals can navigate through government information. According to the Institute of Customer Service -  Good customer service is a critical component of business success and there is a direct link between high quality customer service and customer retention, business performance and – of most significance in this case – reputation.

Customers are increasingly demanding instant access to information and through enabling access through mobile devices is a sure-fire way to bring the knowledge and information as and when it is required.  Good customer service is not just applicable to Government, retail and other customer facing sectors, by focusing on customer needs and by creating efficiencies when managing problems, issues can be remedied quickly and efficiently.

The implementation of a mobile Government service is one means by which to increasing efficiencies and maintain a positive reputation – surely it is only a matter of time before other businesses adopt a similar approach.

Government Data Sharing

Cabinet Minister Francis Maude has recently unveiled his initiative to increase the ability for Government departments to share public data.

The plans, if passed, will make it easier for government and public sector organisations to share confidential public information. The plans will also make it possible to license the sharing of data where it is currently prohibited, subject to privacy safe guards.

According to the ICO, data sharing is currently seen as the disclosure of data from one or more organisations to a third party organisation or organisations, or the sharing of data between different parts of a single organisation, which can take many forms.

The initiative proposes to put in place  fixed guidelines which look set to aide good practice – enabling organisations to collect and share personal data in a way that is fair, transparent and in-line with the expectations of those whose information they are sharing.

Data sharing has been discussed in detail since 2007, with Tony Blair proposing amendments to the Data Protection Act to allow greater data sharing between departments within the government – but this was met by opposition from those who stated that this would affect data privacy.

Government departments, if they choose to data share, need to have a secure and reliable system in place with which to store sensitive information. Through removing the manual files and replacing the process with a secure, electronic system data protection is adhered to, and only those who are privy to reviewing certain information have access to it securely. This reduces the likelihood of sensitive information being lost, stolen or falling into the hands of those who should not have access to it.

We would be naive to believe that data sharing currently does not exist – what should be concerning is the way in which this sharing may occur. With many files being paper, surely the manual processes associated with sharing the information should be cause for alarm?

NHS Trust fined £90,000 for serious data breach

A recent news story has highlighted how a Central London Community Healthcare (CLCH) NHS Trust has been fined £90,000 after a serious breach of the Data Protection Act.

The breach occurred in March 2011, following on from patient lists being faxed to the wrong recipient, around 45 faxes over a three month period. The lists had contained sensitive personal data relating to 59 individuals.

An investigation from the ICO into the data breach found that neither member of staff involved with the breach had received data protection training and that the organisation did not have adequate checks in place when sending information.

The handling of public data has been a popular news topic recently with various government officials being penalised for not providing the necessary care in handling such information. But surely all organisations handling such data should be putting vigorous processes and robust systems in place to manage all corporate information, especially that of a sensitive nature, if not because of the media furore that ensues after a breach is found then certainly for operational reasons?

Through the use – and regular review – of such processes and systems, fines such as those imposed by the ICO can be avoided.

This case has highlighted that organisations are not only failing to protect their clients’ or patients’ data, but are also failing to protect themselves when it comes to the data which they handle and the systems which support them.

By not having a reliable system in place – both in terms of IT infrastructure and internal practises – organisations are letting down their clients, customers and indeed anyone whose information that they hold, and ultimately undermining their own long-term stability. 

Business Process Management – Not just for the enterprise

A recent study has been carried out by IBM on attitudes to business process management (BPM). The survey, conducted by YouGov, spoke to 650 senior business decision makers from small, medium and large UK firms. One of the most significant findings was the difference in attitudes to BPM between small and large firms. The survey found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the larger the business, the more likely they were to have plans in place to update their business processes in the next two to three years – demonstrated by 70% of those businesses with 250+ employees having BPM plans in place, compared with only 31% of those with less than 50 employees.

BPM is centred on making processes efficient and flexible in response to the company’s expansion. The implementation of faster and more effective business processes aligns all aspects of the company and, as such, usually results in improved client services. 85% of the senior business decision makers identified ‘line of sight’, ‘visibility into work occurring across your organisation’ and ‘clear understanding into how your business is performing’ as key to a business’s success. However, despite the majority believing this, very few SMEs practise what they preach as they are under the impression that they cannot afford to implement systems that aid in BPM.

Document management systems however are one means by which to create a transparent, streamlined business – a major pre-requisite for effective BPM. By consolidating all documents electronically into one central system, employees are able to access client information that would otherwise be difficult to lay hands on, and therefore deal with any queries directly. Time spent on manual processes is dramatically reduced with companies often seeing a return on their investment after the first year – challenging the wide belief that BPM solutions are only affordable to the enterprise and demonstrating real value for companies of all sizes. 

The impact of the proposed EU data reforms

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a UK business lobbying organisation, has shared its concerns over the proposed changes to the EU data protection regulations; specifically, the potential financial impact on businesses as well as the risk of data compliance restrictions stifling innovation.

The CBI argues that many innovative business models, citing advertising and the music industry as examples, rely on data-sharing to generate revenue and ensure they are providing a tailored user experience and suggests that proposed reforms would restrict businesses’ ability to do this.

In addition to implementing data-sharing restrictions, the CBI highlights the financial consequence of complying with the reforms. The European Commission claims that its proposals will save businesses €2.3 billion a year, across all EU countries, by creating a coherent and streamlined approval process for organisations working across EU states. However, the CBI believes that this is an overestimation of the business benefits and overlooks compliance costs such as changing IT systems, re-training staff, implementing call centres to handle data compliance issues and, in some cases, appointing a Data Protection Officer. While costs are likely to be incurred in order to comply, businesses need to carefully consider the potential cost should they suffer a data breach.

Businesses could potentially face fines of up to two percent of their revenues should they fail to report a breach in the 24 hour time period and the cost to brand reputation should not be overlooked either, as recently demonstrated in the news reports surrounding Global Payments’ data breach.

Those that choose to implement a document management system mitigate the risk of suffering a data breach and incurring huge fines as their documents containing sensitive data are stored in a central, secure system. Other cost burdens that the CBI highlight, such as re-training and IT refresh, would also be significantly reduced, if not eliminated, as the document system is integrated with existing IT infrastructure, improving ease of use.

Click here to find out more about how a document management system could help improve your data protection processes. 

Housing Associations open spending data

Housing Minister, Grant Shapps seems to be making progress with his campaign to push for Housing Associations to make spending data public knowledge – with at least two housing associations, Hertfordshire Housing and Viridian Housing agreeing to open up spending data from next month.

Hertfordshire Housing and Viridian Housing are responsible for around 5,300 and 16,000 properties respectively, with the associations expected to publish the details of all spending which is above £500, and of any salaries which are over £50,000.

The call for greater visibility of spending data follows pressure to expose how public monies are being spent – organisations which receive money from the tax payer should now expect to come under greater scrutiny and be willing to explain financial decisions openly and honestly.

The ability to be able to share this data however will require housing associations to have in place a system which will ensure that all monies spent are being accounted for and accessible – with information being able to be readily accessed.

Although not public bodies, the housing sector in particular takes in money from taxpayers – the majority of which is invested in social housing, with this in mind surely it is only reasonable to share how this investment is being spent? Other public sector areas should beware, with the growing trend of openness and honesty with public spending it is only a matter of time before they too will have to review the systems which they have in place.