Finance Issues Uncovered

Software companies: the symptoms of a restrictive and labour intensive finance system

You're a responsive, technology driven organisation, you develop your business model so the customer receives a fast and professional service, but when it comes to your finance operations, the reality can often fall somewhat short of your own expectations due to comparatively lumbering processes. By automating labour intensive processes, you can ensure better cash-flow, revenues are not lost due to poor administration and key business information is easily available for those that need it.

The following two areas highlight common symptoms of software companies operating restrictive and labour intensive finance software.

Invoicing and contract renewals

For software and technology companies, invoicing and contract renewals should be a largely straightforward and automated process. However, if you have outgrown your accounting system or it isn't integrated with the rest of your business systems, then there's a good chance you're being slowed down by manual processes.

Manual invoicing is both costly and time-consuming. If your finance team have to re-key or import data from another database or are managing the entire invoicing process through spreadsheets then errors, and consequently lost revenue, is inevitable.

With an integrated finance system, invoicing is automated. Similarly with ongoing contracts, renewal dates and details are held in the system meaning that invoices are dispatched automatically and on time. If your creditors are late with payment, then debt letters or emails can be automatically created based on your payment terms. Improving the invoicing process alone can make a big difference to an organisation's cash flow, whilst simultaneously aligning the finance function with the rest of the customer experience.

Consolidating group accounts

If your organisation has multiple offices in the UK or overseas, consolidating group accounts can often cause headaches if you are not operating a centralized finance system. A key symptom for this problem is if you are manually consolidating information for multiple entities outside the fi nance system. This can be a time-consuming process especially if you are dealing with foreign currencies. Invariably, you will need to do this more than once a year, and for an international business, having fast and easy access to your group's finance position is crucial.

Technology companies with disparate locations may also suffer if business managers do not have access to live finance and company information; making informed decisions to take the business forward requires up to the minute information. With a browser-based finance system, users can be granted self service to pertinent information regardless of which time zone they're in, allowing decisions to be based on current, rather than at best, yesterday's figures.

Whether you feel you are being held back by slow invoicing, poor consolidation processes or are having difficulty getting information out of your current system, efficiency savings and better business practices achieved through a new integrated, browser-based finance system are shown to give bountiful payback.

If you have other more pressing finance issues, search our online resource for the latest thinking, opinion pieces and white papers on all things finance.