January is a perfect time to evaluate your present accounting processes and tools and devise a strategy for increasing efficiency.
We accounting professionals are rolling up our sleeves and getting ready to begin the new accounting period with a clean slate. This year, I’m sure, will require a lot more strategic planning than usual, knowing that we must be prepared to monitor changes in business performance and make decisions rapidly.
But we must not forget that this is also a time for reflection, for assessing how well we executed last year, for balancing our obligations, and for appreciating the tremendous effort our staff put in.
The beginning of each year is a great opportunity to evaluate the company’s accounting procedures and workflows, identify improvement targets, and develop plans for improved internal performance. We need our accounting systems to run smoothly, to balance required output with limits, and we only have a few moments of quiet to plan, repair our mistakes from the previous year, and get things back on track.
Accounting experts have always documented, summarized, analyzed, and reported financial data, but we know that the function has become more sophisticated in practice. Customer and receivables tracking might take an entire department, encompassing several individuals, occupations, and workflows that support the broader operation. Then there are vendors, accounts payable, cash management, financial analysis, forecasting and planning, inventory, revenue recognition, payroll, and sales taxes – and as the company expands, these processes become more complex.
We rarely take the time to sit down and plan improvements when we’re in the middle of things.
Past Processes
Established processes such as accounts receivable, and payment are showing their age in many businesses. There is a gap between contemporary accounting department tasks and those that the processes were designed to handle in the past. Monitoring customer balances, tracking KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), issuing balance reminders, and timing vendor payments were among the tasks that need integrated solutions.
As a result, new staff was brought on board to help fill gaps and provide results. However, this resulted in Frankenstein-like branches and tangents on process maps, wasting a lot of time and money on duplication and human labor. Processes were rarely designed and planned for maximum efficiency.
In contrast, today’s lean accounting teams carefully select solutions and update processes regularly to ensure optimal performance and create value for the firm.
Today’s Tech: Smarter, Not Harder
Accounting experts understand that there are better ways to deal with outmoded systems than simply adding another warm body to the mix and hoping for the best. The first step is to conduct critical analyses of procedures that have suffered in previous years. The next stage is to clearly define desired performance and set goals. The difference between the two can then be recognized and bridged. Better tools and accounting software, such as NetSuite, may then take procedures to the next level and produce desired results, such as speeding up delayed approval processes, measuring KPIs, and properly and in real-time monitoring client balances.
NetSuite cloud accounting software is designed to help businesses accomplish more with less by providing a complete accounting solution for a fully linked and automated platform that centralizes accounting data and operations and increases accounting process speed and efficiency. NetSuite’s automated solutions connect accounting operations back to a single database, providing superior data quality and integrity.
NetSuite is always delivering solutions to improve prior-year procedures and increase accounting capabilities. Simplified workflows, greater financial visibility, and timely monitoring allow you to function more efficiently, meet deadlines calmly, and devote more time to relevant tasks that support better decision-making in the future year.
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