Your finance department starts every day outnumbered by an overwhelming number of tasks to get done. They have some superhuman abilities to help them, but most of the time, they lack the technological tools to really give them the edge to success. Consequently, the organization devolves into confusion, delays, redundancies and inefficiencies that cost them dearly.
What is Financial Process Management?
Financial processes refer to the procedures and methods completed by the Office of Finance.
Financial process management is a way to get separate finance-related business functions to run in a smooth, coordinated way. It is the technique by which you streamline the various financial business processes in your organization, and get them to function as a single coherent, consistent unit.
Let’s look more deeply at the finance department, and what secret weapons it needs to handle the diverse finance processes list.
Frequently used finance business processes
Finance department of SMBs have multiple functions. Sometimes they are also categorized under varied titles depending on the finance policies and procedures of SMBs.
Here are some of the most frequently used finance business processes list:
- Treasury management
- Strategic planning and financial analysis
- Expense management
- Billing and credit
- Investment appraisal
- Compliance with regulations
- Capital expenditure
- Taxation
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- Preparation of financial statements
- Travel Management
- Safeguarding assets
- Inventory management
- Business advisory
- Payroll system
- Writing accounting policy and procedure manual
- Budgeting and budgetary control
- Procurement management
- Asset management
- Working capital management
- Employee reimbursements
- Cheque requests
When your processes that govern financial process management are loose, the whole system can fall down. Inefficiencies in key financial processes can cause operational chaos and significant setbacks to the business.
How to streamline a finance business process
As daunting as it may seem, there are ways to bring order to the chaotic finance process flow. Here are some ideas to increase efficiency in finance department processes.
1. Create Process Maps
Since each finance department function has a list of finance business processes involved, drawing up process maps can bring a clear understanding of the tasks and people involved.
2. Automate Workflows
While finance process mapping can enhance understanding, it can’t directly improve efficiency. The best way to achieve that is to create workflows and automate them from start to finish.
3. Monitor Processes
When you automate finance workflows, you’ll be able to monitor progress in real time. This means that you can make improvements to the process while it is running, thereby enhancing efficiency levels.
4. Analyze and Improve
A critical advantage to automated finance department processes is the ability to analyze performance. You can identify where lags are occurring, or inefficiencies are surfacing, and fix them for greater process efficiency. Sometimes, workflows may require additional tasks or the removal of irrelevant or redundant tasks. These can also be brought to light with analysis.
How automation works for common finance business processes
Consider the travel reimbursement process for example.
Problem: Your top salesperson has just completed a successful trip to Denver where she’s converted five leads for your ergonomic furniture company. She comes back to the office and submits all of her travel expenses and waits, and waits, and waits for her out-of-pocket expenses to be reimbursed.
Solution: Don’t punish your best performers with slow processes. Instead, reward her with an automated travel reimbursement app that makes sure the cash is in her account the next day.
The technological edge
If you want to power your finance operations with technology, Kissflow is a great option to consider. Kissflow equips your organization with financial process automation that effortlessly heightens productivity.
You can track automated finance processes through comprehensive dashboards and it features powerful analytics and reporting capabilities. Data security can be ensured at all times with role-based access.
Kissflow’s ease of use will guarantee that your finance team has a friction-free experience. A transparent, simple pricing model makes it easily accessible, no matter what the size of your organization. Get a free demo today.
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