Why is it worth digitising accounting processes?

11 August 2020

In the era of new technologies, the business landscape is changing and adjusting to the requirements of the client who can perfectly navigate the virtual world of products and services. The need to quickly access information also becomes evident in the case of reports prepared by accounting departments.

Development is moving towards one dominant direction – digitisation, which affects all processes related to the company's operations. Digitisation of accounting processes is not only a technological challenge but first of all a huge opportunity for companies to improve and to constantly raise the level of effectiveness of performed actions. This process is particularly important today in the wake of changes sweeping across the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when remote work, remote data access and remote communication in the broader sense become a reality for many companies and their employees.

Processing of invoices

Traditional accounting, based on processing paper invoices, has several weaknesses. Firstly, the invoice must reach the recipient, which takes much more time than in the case of an electronic invoice. Secondly, it must be manually recorded in the system, which involves the risk of error on the part of employees, who could be dealing with more advanced processes in that time. Thirdly, the document must eventually be archived in an appropriate way, which is also time-consuming and requires the availability of sufficient space in archives and thus involves additional costs.

Digitisation of accounting processes – tools

Gradual transition to electronic documents not only requires the very decision and will of the process managers to implement such a change, but also appropriate software adapted to the needs of the specific company and its tasks. Modern tools used for digitising accounting processes include e.g.:

ERP systems for enterprise resource planning

Software enabling the integration of all departments and functions in the company within a single system, offering multiple functionalities, including accounting. Extended with functionalities beyond accounting. Often in practice, actions performed in logistics modules of a single ERP tool are directly reflected in accounting data.

Data interfaces

Digitisation of this area means downloading data from one system (e.g. sales, e-banking) and uploading them to the accounting system. Using dedicated files – data can be uploaded directly to the accounting system. This solution eliminates manual workload connected with entering repetitive information. Data interfaces in the accounting system can be programmed for all types of information and documents – provided that input data are stable and repeatable.

Workflow

An electronic document workflow system that allows sending and processing documents electronically.

Maximising employee efficiency

The introduction of new solutions has many positive effects on the company. First of all, by maximising employee efficiency, customer service is improved. This has a direct impact on increasing customer satisfaction with the provided services, but also on the employees, who no longer need to perform mundane tasks and can focus on managing a more complex digital process. An additional advantage is the elimination of the problem of losing documents, which directly reduces costs associated with the performance of individual tasks.

The positive effects of digitisation have a particularly positive impact on employees directly responsible for digitisation. Their work is facilitated by the versatile new systems which help avoid piles of paperwork and make it easy to find archived documents. This makes time and task management much more efficient.