In the modern business world, we use technology daily to elevate efficiency in the workplace, boost the productivity and satisfaction of our employees, and help take our organisation forward as a whole. Automation is a big part of business success nowadays and a key component of business technology, allowing us to automate menial and some complex processes in various departments.
While most conversations revolve around IT, marketing, robotics, or chatbot automation, it’s important to give payment automation the attention it deserves. Payment automation means automating your accounts receivables and payables to create a well-rounded, efficient accounting system that’ll help you take your business forward, while minimising risks and possible threats.
Today, we’ll put all of that into perspective as we take a look at how payment automation drives business growth, and why you’ll need it in 2023.
Saving time and money
The first and most obvious benefit of payment automation is that it allows business leaders to better allocate crucial resources. This allocation starts with human resources, of course, as automating your payment processes allows personnel in the financial department to direct their attention and skills towards other important tasks.
In a practical sense, this doesn’t mean that people get to work less, it means their attention and talent can be better utilised to take the company forward through innovation and ideation. Freeing up peoples’ mental space is crucial when building and nurturing a culture of innovation in your company; and this mental space allows employees to think of new processes, tools, and methods to achieve company goals faster.
This freedom is achieved through account receivable automation as well as account payable automation so that money comes and goes automatically. All the information is automatically checked, verified, and stored, and that your books are kept organised.
Ensuring billing and customer information accuracy
Manual data entry into invoices or payment forms is prone to human error, setbacks, and various unforeseen problems. Having to rectify a payment mistake when the money is already out of your account is a time-consuming challenge, and we could say the same thing for mistakes made when billing your customers or clients.
Making mistakes is not only bad for business, it’s bad for your brand’s reputation; you want the payment process to be as smooth and straightforward for the customer as possible. That’s why connecting your CRM software with your payment automation tool is a great way to automatically get payment data into the invoicing system, which will then populate with the right information about the recipient.
This automatic process reduces the risk of human error and improves the accuracy of your invoicing statements and reports. The invoices will go to the right customers at the right time, and the customer will have all the information necessary to make a successful payment quickly.
A step towards automated reporting and bookkeeping
Automation tools will never be able to completely automate entire financial departments or accounting teams, but they usefully automate key processes to reduce manual labour and the need for human oversight. An automated payment platform can automatically collect and collate all the data passing through the system.
A good accounting tool will keep your company’s books and accounting reports clean and organised, which has numerous benefits on its own. Whether it’s for tax purposes or to get approved for a business loan without running into any issues during the screening process, having all your financial reports in check and populated with accurate data is crucial.
This example is just one benefit of an automated system; however, it’s always important to double-check the data to ensure the system hasn’t encountered any errors.
Reducing the risk of payment fraud
Ensuring payment security is, without a doubt, one of the most important prerequisites for running a successful business, whether money is coming in or going out of your account. By automating your payments, you reduce the risk of human error and get a bird’s eye view of your financial situation, which allows you to spot any irregularities faster than if you were to handle everything manually.
Having enough visibility over your financial transactions is key to long-term success, whether you are paying for work or receiving money for goods and services. When you’re the one who’s paying, you want to automate recurring payments to trusted partners, freelancers, and debtors.
Freelancers will often send an invoice template to their clients, for example, so you can accept that template into your automated system and set the payment to go out exactly on the due date. Do this for all the accounts you trust, and you will have no problem keeping your system organised and your finances safe from fraudulent activity. If something is off, the system will warn you about a possible error or threat.
Improving the overall customer experience
There’s no denying that an automated payment method is simply convenient both for your company and your customers. Reducing customer effort is one of the best ways to improve customer satisfaction, incentivize people to pay early, and inspire customers to keep coming back to your business.
With payment automation, you can improve your relationships with suppliers, make invoice processing and workflows more efficient, and use data monitoring and analysis to keep customers, partners, and your financial staff happy with comprehensive reporting.
Wrapping up
Implementing payment automation in your business can help you create a more robust, efficient, and secure accounting process that also automates data analysis and reporting, making it a well-rounded system for a growing business. In 2023 and beyond, automation will continue to support business growth across the board, and payment automation will be a key piece of that puzzle.
Consider implementing payment automation early next year to keep your finances in check as you continue along the path to long-term success.
About the author:
Nikola Sekulic is a seasoned brand developer, writer, and storyteller. Over the last decade, he’s worked on various marketing, branding, and copywriting projects – crafting plans and strategies, writing creative online and offline content, and making ideas happen. When he is not working for clients around the world, he is exploring new topics and developing fresh ideas to turn into engaging stories for the online community.
