How A/R Collections Automation Boosts Business Productivity

September 17, 2020

Productivity is the name of the game for businesses big and small. Business suffers when productivity stagnates, so business leaders try to find workable solutions that increase productivity. Now more than ever, businesses are looking to accounts receivable (A/R) collections automation to minimize manual tasks, identify risks, and optimize reporting.

It’s easier to maximize collections on a day-to-day basis (and adjust to unforeseen challenges) when you focus on automating your A/R collections process. The first step is to identify accounting and collections issues that hinder productivity.

Overcoming Daily Accounts Receivable Collections Challenges

It’s okay if your current accounting practices aren’t perfect. This just means you have room to improve. You need to isolate your daily challenges if you want to turn them into A/R collections automation opportunities. This is true whether you have an internal or outsourced accounting team.

Unfortunately, the global pandemic exacerbates the challenges facing your A/R team. It’s nearly impossible to track receivables and manage collections without access to the office if you don’t have some kind of receivables collections automation software in place.

Improving A/R collections starts with identifying daily accounts receivable challenges:

Data Analysis Difficulty

An accounting team overburdened with manual tasks doesn’t have time to do regular deep dives into your receivables data. Quarterly and yearly reporting become a struggle when your team is just trying to keep up. Professional A/R collections automation software comes equipped with intuitive reporting and comparison analysis functionality.

Human Error

It’s easy to discount human error when you audit your business practices. The truth is, we all make mistakes. And mistakes cost money in the business world.

It’s the job of managers and supervisors to minimize human error wherever possible. Automation takes the human element out of the equation.

Manual Tasks

According to research from the data integration company SnapLogic, more than 90% of workers are burdened with boring, mundane manual tasks that could easily be automated. That’s an outrageous figure!

Your A/R collections team shouldn’t be spending hours of each day overburdened with data input tasks that could be handled more quickly and more efficiently through automation.

Outdated Data

Human error and manual data input can lead to faulty, inaccurate, and out-of-date information. This poses a problem for crucial accounting tasks like tracking delinquent payments or sending payment reminders. You need data to be available and accurate in real-time in order to streamline your A/R collections process.

Boost Productivity Through Automation

Even before the pandemic, many businesses were improving A/R collections using automation software. It’s an attractive solution for increasing cash flow, improving collection times, and reducing days sales outstanding (DSO).

The shift toward remote work—and a need to streamline and optimize accounting operations—provides an opportunity to rethink day-to-day tasks and automate your A/R processes.

Challenges facing accounting teams before the pandemic like human error and data inaccuracy are compounded when remote working environments aren’t optimized for out-of-office productivity.

Using A/R collections automation software you can:

Accelerate the collections process
Automate payment reminders
Generate valuable, real-time business insights
Increase data security
Reduce DSO by 30% or more
Spend less time on invoicing

Don’t think of A/R collections automation simply as a solution for collecting receivables faster. It will do that, but those benefits are only a small part of what makes automation so advantageous.

Instead, think of the right automation platform as the answer to all the daily speed bumps that prevent your accounting process from accelerating.

A/R Automation is the Future

Business leaders will never stop searching for ways to optimize, streamline, and improve day-to-day operations. As a result, more and more processes will be automated to boost productivity on a foundational level.

Accounts receivable collections automation is the future. You give your team more time and resources to identify risks and enhance the customer experience when you automate key A/R collections processes. Things like reducing manual tasks, minimizing human error, and improving data accuracy are all achievable through integrated A/R collections automation.