Finance teams of any organization shoulder massive responsibilities. In addition to monitoring the organization’s overall fiscal health, they also deal with day-to-day operations while coordinating with other teams for their finance-related requirements.
Executing financial operations without robust processes in place is pretty much like parenting without any systems. Before you know it, everything devolves into utter chaos.
With process mapping, finance teams can function efficiently with heightened levels of accuracy, transparency, and accountability.
What Is Finance Process Mapping?
Finance process mapping is the act of visually describing the sequence of work in a particular financial process such as check requests, budget approvals, or travel reimbursements. A process map should clearly describe each task when it happens sequentially, who is responsible, if any conditions should be met, and what happens next.
Where Can Finance Process Mapping Be Used?
Finance process mapping can be used to clarify any set of tasks that need to be repeated periodically by the finance team.
Some of the typical responsibilities of finance teams across industries include:
- Bookkeeping
- Financial reporting
- Tax functions
- Financial planning and analysis
- Budgeting
- Risk management
- Managing working capital
Each of these functions plays a role in larger finance processes that can be broken down into smaller tasks for and mapped out for clarity.
Benefits of Finance Process Mapping
1. End-to-end Clarity
One of the foremost advantages of finance process mapping is the absolute clarity it provides regarding the process. From start to finish, the process is clearly laid out without ambiguity. If completion of certain tasks is dependent on conditions, details of the same are also provided.
2. Transparency
A process map not only represents various stages of a process but also names employees responsible for completion of each task. This means that glancing through the process map can immediately provide complete transparency and accountability.
3. Higher Productivity and Efficiency
Process maps are the foundation of workflow automation. When you invest in finance process mapping, you set up the entire system for greater productivity levels and improved efficiency. There is no room for chaos or misunderstanding. Tasks and activities begin to function like clockwork, which in turn reflects in the performance of the organization as a whole.
4. Fewer Delays
When there are so many moving parts to attend to simultaneously, it can become very easy to lose track. Workflows effectively address this using process maps. With improved clarity, on-time completion of tasks is facilitated. Whether it is making payments, following up on outstanding invoices, or ensuring consistent cash flow, process maps minimize delays and ensure no details slip through gaps.
5. Greater compliance
Process maps can be very useful during audits. They can demonstrate compliance with the standards required by the industry such as SOX, ISO, and others. Information regarding compliance can be recorded against relevant tasks. You can also record continuing improvements to the process to demonstrate a history of growth.
6. Risk identification
Since process maps provide details of tasks and different stages, it becomes easier to identify potential areas of risk. Once the team is informed about these possible risks, they can develop ways to proactively reduce the chances of loss thereby improving efficiency.
7. Effective training resource
An understated benefit of creating process maps is that they can be repurposed to meet many other requirements. Training is one such instance. Process maps can be very effective training resources when you’re onboarding new employees. There’s nothing like starting off with crystal clear understanding of processes.
Taking It to the Next Level with Kissflow
While process maps are a great place to start increasing operational efficiency, workflow automation can take your finance department processes to the next level. Kissflow brings clarity and accountability to financial process automation through efficient automated workflows. You can design crystal clear process maps and workflows and make your processes a breeze.
Data confidentiality can be preserved using role-based access. Powerful reporting and analytics features allow you to zero in on inefficiencies so you can eliminate them. Customizable notifications enable employees to complete tasks on time and minimize delays. Get a free demo today.
