In my last article I discussed the Accounts Payable process. You can read more about that here! from invoice management to the merits of automating the process.

I like to start with the END in mind which I guess is where Accounts Receivable fits into the accounting function because it is the process whereby a company allocates received payments to the relevant customer accounts hopefully with minimal manual interaction in effect it is the management of the Sales Ledger. It is also one of the more cumbersome accounting tasks that is often very manual intensive prone to errors resulting in the slow down of customer invoices being paid on time.

It is a key component to the effective running of any organisation or company ensuring that bills are paid on time. Traditional methods can be labour intensive, slow and prone to error.

How does automating the AR process work?

Capture

By caputuring information using an intelligent capture tool which can extract data automatically learning and storing information as it goes.

Managing the information

By managing the information in your system enabling faster retrieval for processing and eliminating the need for paper storage at the same time ensuring compliance.

Cash Allocation

Incoming payments can be allocated swiftly right down to the invoice level; this information is remembered by the system so that subsequent payments can be matched.

So what are the benefits of automating your accounts receivable process?

1. Real time view of your sales ledger
2. Clean sales ledger with no unallocated balances
3. Accurate management information and easier cash flow forecasting
4. Efficient credit management with accurate debtor days information available at all times
5. Increased credit control efficiency – no wasted time chasing invoices already paid
6. Reconciliation is done on a day to day basis making the month end process efficient
7. All banking and remittance documents are stored electronically making the audit process less arduous and reducing the amount of storage required

Finally automating the accounts receivable function will ultimately improve cash flow and reduced DSO, reduce printing, postage and paper storage handling costs enabling the company to adopt a Paperless electronic billing strategy! 

Are you struggling to manage your accounts processes? Are you deluged with paper? Do you wish you could get your invoices out faster? Do you wish there was more month at month end?

Get in touch with us and we will be more than happy to have an informal chat!

Follow us on twitter, facebook and Linkedin or hit the RSS button to subscribe to read the next instalment entitled:

How to adopt a paperless billing strategy for your company?

Many organisations are challenged by wanting to break free from slow and costly paper based systems. Accounts Payable departments are constantly being challenged to cut operating costs whilst ensuring invoices are paid promptly. Manual AP processes are costing companies on average £2-£4 per invoice; that’s a staggering on-going cost for a company who may be thinking they are managing the invoice paper flow!

A typical manual process includes:-

• Invoices come into the company from different suppliers or cost centres in different layouts and delivery formats – post, fax, email, EDI
• They are forwarded to the relevant person responsible for that invoice
• There is a longer lead time due to manual routing, processing and sign off procedures
• Inefficiencies due to time spent matching the invoice to the Purchase order, verifying, approving and signing off for payment
• Inability to maximise discount benefits associated with early payments
• If it exceeds the company’s limited amount it may well have to go to senior management for verification
• If approved the invoice is then input into the accounting system ready for payment
• Archive costs for compliance and accounts audits

Typically, there may well be invoice queries, is the vendor valid, is the invoice correct and does it match the PO or is it a duplicate invoice?

Why automate?

1. By automating the process you gain a complete overview of the AP function using an end-to-end invoice management system of all processes and, any financial implications.
2. Capturing the invoice information by using an intelligent capture tool to extract invoice data updating your ERP accounts system with no manual entry
3. Automatically consolidate and reconcile purchase orders, invoices, payments which helps manage allocations, cashflow and payments
4. Invoice processing automatically matches and verifies scanned invoices with PO’s
5. The process is centralised so up to date live information is made available to the accounts team at every stage of the AP process

How does adopting an AP strategy reduce my paper flow?

Its the start toward adopting an ebilling strategy for your organisation by automating the processing of invoices and choosing to integrate a straight-forward workflow and document management software with your existing systems to remove manual and repetitive workloads. Using a centralised accounts payable process integrated into your current systems provides:-

• Automatic allocation of the right invoice to the relevant transaction
• Automatically post invoices for payment
• Automatically queue exceptions for handling
• Deliver information on exceptions to the AP desktop
• Make payment status available to everyone instantly
• Adopt a push ebilling strategy where your customers don’t have to come to your Portal or website (Pull ebilling)

What are the major benefits?

1. Reduce invoice processing costs
2. Time savings
3. Exceptions resolved quickly
4. Supplier conflict resolution
5. Early payment discounts
6. Reduced supplier inquiries
7. No double handling

Do you want a complete view of your AP process?

Do you wish your accounts payable function was a streamlined automated function giving you total control?

Do you know how many invoices you have outstanding?

Do you know how much money you owe?

Where in the system are the exceptions and and how many?

Who are the problematic suppliers?

If the answer is NO to the above, then get in touch.

Digital Print Management provide open solutions and our systems can be extended to include the automation of any business process. If you want to discover how easy the transformation to an automated Accounts Payable system can be then get in touch.

COMING NEXT IN OUR SERIES OF ARTICLES FEATURING INVOICE PROCESSING WILL BE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLES AND WE WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF ALLOCATING YOUR PAYMENTS.

If you want to receive updates then subscribe to Digital Print Management by using the RSS button or follow us on twitter and Facebook just hit the buttons to the right!

Traditionally when people think of outsourcing they associate it with big corporations who have the infrastructure and the resource to benefit from a large scale re-deployment of one of their business components.

But this is not the only way that outsourcing can be used effectively. Small to medium businesses can use outsourcing to their advantage. Sections 382 and 465 of the Companies Act 2006 define an SME that has a turnover of not more than £6.5 million, a balance sheet of not more than £3.26 million and 50 employees; a medium sized company with a turnover of not more than £25.9 million, a balance sheet of £12.9 million and 250 employees.

I’ve talked about the benefits of outsourcing in the past with particular reference to payroll and billing here!

The same principles can be levied for any business component you are considering.

Here are 6 things to consider:

1. Figure out what or where your company can outsource to make cost savings and streamline the organisation processes for example it might be marketing, web design, payroll or invoicing; all of which are important to a company but are time consuming and manually intensive.
2. Outsource as much as you can but not the core elements of your business after all that was the main reason the business was established unless it’s some manufacturing element that you are considering.
3. Dont be afraid to use the same company for many different things the more services that an outsource provider does for your business in relation to outsourcing the more you are likely to see volume savings; in the same way you see in the supermarket buy two; get the second for free. If you are looking to outsource your invoice processing/printing make sure they can manage the distribution element too for example you may print, mail and electronically send your invoices so make sure that the company you choose can manage this process for you and more importantly they know what they are talking about and can demonstrate success criteria.
4. Investigate the market place and evaluate who you think best accommodates your requirements; don’t think short term, think medium term at least otherwise if you get it wrong it might be painful to get of and, you may well end up by repeating the exercise again six months down the road.
5. Don’t be swayed by the cheapest option or choose on price alone if you do you will shoot yourself in the foot. There isn’t such a thing as a free lunch! When you see something cheap what’s the first thing that springs to mind “what’s wrong with it?” or; “that sounds cheap”! “What does everyone hope for but rarely gets; a great deal?” You get what you pay for and often a company that offers a service cheaply is trying to win your business with a view to a serious price hike three months later or; hasn’t understood your requirements. In which case you will find yourself in trouble and the cheaper service could have a detrimental effect on your business. Can you afford for that to happen?
6. Finally, know what area or business function of the business you want to outsource? Why do you want to outsource? Be realistic about your expectations for outsourcing. Set a time limit to achieve your objective and most importantly work with a company that has the expertise and knowledge and can offer sound, impartial advice!

]]> http://www.digitalprintmanagement.co.uk/6-great-tips-on-why-smes-should-outsource/feed/ 0 http://www.digitalprintmanagement.co.uk/6-great-tips-on-why-smes-should-outsource/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=6-great-tips-on-why-smes-should-outsource http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DigitalPrintManagement/~3/ILLYrWCPtZA/ http://www.digitalprintmanagement.co.uk/why-cutting-the-cost-of-office-printing-saves-time-money-is-greener/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:30:31 +0000 Caroline http://www.digitalprintmanagement.co.uk/?p=1260 By implementing a managed print service strategy.

I recently wrote about the differences between managing your print in-house V outsourcing/print management.

Here! Two similar sounding models yet distinctly different!

In the article, I refer to the management of print in-house; often referred to as MPS (Managed Print Services)

See how quickly the lines become blurred between print management and MPS?

Many businesses don’t really understand or know the true cost of printing and often there is no method employed to manage and control print spend.

How can you take control of this seemingly mundane yet essential everyday business function?

Take Control of your print NOW!!

Why implement an in-house print management  system?

Simple!

1. To manage and recover costs
2. Be able to print anywhere but with the right control mechanisms in place
3. Reduce paper waste
4. Increase productivity
5. Reduce adminstrative costs
6. Improve profitability by removing the hidden cost of printing and making it visible

How does it work?

Take control of your printed output!

But fear not because help is at hand!

P60s don’t have to be a cumbersome task that has to be managed internally.

Outsourcing this onerous task can free up the Pay Team department’s valuable time. 

How?

Simply outsourcing the process to an experienced outsource provider!

By taking your P60 datafile we remove the pressure to generate and distribute p60′s ahead of the annual deadline.

Once printed, we collate the p60s using our verification mailcare system ensuring that individual forms are checked and inserted accurately prior to despatch.

Outsourcing P60s; P45s; P11d’s can all be outsourced whilst you continue to manage and maintain the payroll printing internally.

Managing the processing and printing of P60s takes the responsibility away from you and places it firmly and squarely on the shoulders of the company fulfilling your P60s.

How does the process work then?

From the outset, we discuss with you your requirements, the layout and specific timescales and agree a time and date for you to send us a datafile.

In the first instance we receive a test file from you for us to evaluate. Upon agreed specification; proofs are created for you to sign off and approve. When you are ready and on the prescribed day, you forward a P60 datafile; which is proofed, signed off by you the customer and then the P60s are printed and despatched following our pre-agreed timescales.

I’ve never done this before, who will help me and what about security?

No need to be concerned! Our expert specialists will guide and keep you informed every step of the way. All data files are managed in a secure ISO27001 accredited facility with C&CCC (Cheque & Credit CCClearing Company) compliance.

Using a secure method of transmission (SFTP) a full audit trail is generated for each file and all the relevant and important steps are put in place to ensure compliance and data integrity.

I have data from different systems, how will you manage it?

We regularly receive data files from different I.T. systems or software even data files sent from multiple locations. As long as we are aware of this at the start of the project this can be integrated into the implementation process and managed appropriately.

How will you get the P60′s out to our employees?

You tell us what you want. We can either post them out or have the documents boxed and securely returned to a Head Office address. Or, we can post out and optimise the best postage discounts available; post to multi-branch locations for internal distribution.

But we print our payslips pressure seal?

Again no problem you can have either format. If your employees are use to receiving pressure seal type payslips then we can send the same format for your P60s. Alternatively, if you prefer your P60s to be A4 and then inserted into envelopes we can manage that as well.

How do I know I can rely on Digital Print Management’s expertise?

Quite frankly you don’t and we can quite understand that you might be taking a big step into the unknown.

We understand the concerns and issues associated with outsourcing any project that is why we specialise in solely OUTSOURCING.

We are committed to ensuring that our customers get the right solutions; you might say that it is a passion of ours making sure the customer gets what they want!

To make it easier; we’ve written a few articles for you to browse which should help make outsourcing and selecting the right print partner easier!

There’s a selection on our blog, but we think these two will help! Why Outsource?  Top Tips to Consider before you Outsource?

Whatever your reasons for outsourcing; Digital Print Management will take away the hassle! So call us now for an impartial discussion.

We focus on payroll so you can focus on business!

For regular news and updates follow us on Twitter, Like us on facebook or please feel free to sign up for regular updates via RSS

When two seemingly similar sounding service offerings actually mean completely different business models?

Although they sound the same and are often used in the same context; they are in fact very different from each other!

Here’s how?

Print Management Services

Let me start by describing what print management is! Back in June 2011, I wrote about print management services and the benefits it can bestow on an enterprise or company; a more detailed understanding of it is here!

Optimising print management enables a business or enterprise to “control” costs through an external service provider for all their document and print needs; this can be anything from a business card, USB stick, offset printing, wide format, apparel and promotional gifts to printed leaflets and magazines.

The benefits of working with a print management partner enables you to make gains financially as your print spend is centralised with one main supplier and their ability to locate and provide the print resources you lack in house such as buying power, print expertise, skill and cost budgeting.

Most businesses have no idea what they are spending on print; in fact many businesses view print as a necessary evil rather than an essential tool in their business kit and certainly one that can benefit from being outsourced to an external party!

Print management is about managing the purchasing; it really is a mixed print bag of stock control, logistics, distribution, storage, procurement of printed matter designed to deliver cost savings, time savings and controlled spending whilst providing a managed print solution.

Managed Print Services

Often abbreviated to MPS; also known as Enterprise Printing Services; Managed Document Services; MPS refers to the active deployment of a centralised management of a fleet or group of hard copy output devices such as photocopiers, digital devices, laser printers, scanners etc. In effect it enables the Company, School, University to take control of their printed output from any or all of these devices.

Thus controlling what gets printed on what device; MPS affords the ability to manage and control the cost of the output by providing secure, restrictive, re-directional access to printing devices by setting up company wide rules for output consistently, automatically resulting in responsible printing and minimising waste paper and ink toner. In other words, it is a simple solution designed to keep track of all output from connected printers and copiers; by accounting for and recovering costs, ensuring convenience but without sacrificing security.

So what are the benefits of both?

This can be difficult to quantify.

For example a University would make substantial savings having a managed print service and a print management service provider.

With many staff and students accessing potentially thousands of devices on a network tight control of what gets printed and where is warranted. Equally a print management service takes away the headache of how to go about printing the Student HandBook or Prospectus as the PM company will have the knowledge and access to the best trade supplier thus ensuring the University gets the job done at the best price.

Both services are in effect managed centrally; with MPS enabling an organisation to control their print budget and PMS (no pun intended) although externalised; also managed centrally albeit printing is off sited but with control over monetary spend provided by the PM company who as part of the service provision will seek to manage your print costs.

Which service is better for me?

No hard and fast rule really. A School, University and a Law Practice could benefit from a combination of both services. A business who has a spend of say £50k p.a. on print might well benefit from a PM service as they lack the time and skill to source printed items and may well be running a number of desktop printers and maybe 1-2 copiers.

Compare this say to a University or a big city based Law Firm where personnel print either from a desk top or remotely; where there is no real control over what gets printed and where it gets printed i.e. a document printed in colour when black and white will suffice. Then a MPS will give them better control over costs.

Where print is ordered on a “when we need it basis” and is managed by different personnel then its highly likely a PM service will save the firm time and money!

Both services can work in tandem or independently of each other! Both services have the potential to drive a business’ print costs down substantially making the management of print less fraught and time consuming!

By requesting a print audit we will be able to establish what service will benefit your organisation.

So call us now for a free impartial discussion and we will show you how to save money on your print!

Follow us on twitter and facebook to keep up to date with our news and reviews!

In August I wrote about How’s Business for you?

As if we needed reminding!

We’re constantly fed how bad the current climate is; that’s economic too you and me!

The BBC news earlier this week reported on how 2012 is going to be an even tougher year with a projected rise in unemployment!

For goodness sakes… when is the media going to let up and start talking business, the economy, up a little bit and how about reporting good news just for once!

This will be my last blog for 2011 and I’d like to share how good this year has been for me personally, warts an’ all!!

Believe you me I had quite a few of those days like my lady opposite when I thought the best thing I could do would be to jack it all in and walk away. Like the day on holiday in August when our lovely, precious 8 year old was almost stolen from us. The response we got was overwhelming; people do care.

This time of the year one can be reflective; I for one never believe anyone who says they don’t look back.

The pain of the learning and growing process is to LEARN from what has gone before so we might take with us in to the future!

But like Hilary Devey aka Dragons Den said in her biographical documentary last night on BBC2 “I am tough and resilient and I am not going let anything beat me” Umm…

I was ill recently leading up to Christmas nothing like a mega dose of woman flu to make you shut down totally. A colleague of mine visited me at home (bless); our usual pre-christmas analysis of all that was good and bad this year.

Here’s a quick precis of that conversation:

Steve:- “I’ll be so glad when this year is over”

Me:- “Steve you say that every year”

Steve:- “Yea, I know”

Me:- “What was bad about it?”

Steve:- ” The usual crap but worse because of the euro crisis”

Me:- “What do you mean by the usual crap Steve… Like  Customers changing their minds; reneging on promised orders; people forgetting to do things; stress and palpitations; wondering if all our hard work is in vain?” But that is life Steve pure and simple. I’ve met so many people this year who’ve bigged it up and said how fab this year has been for them when you know damn well it’s the opposite.”

So here’s why I think 2011 has been a good year!

1. My family, my husband and my precious boys are alive and kicking
2. Digital Print Management has been in business for 10 years; financially sound and with a strong balance sheet! Phew
3. New clients picked up this year! May not have been the budgeted number we had hoped but 2012 looks good for development (one turned out to be a time waster and has been monumentally struck off Digital Print Management’s list forever)
4. My 12 year old winning the 4 x 100m at the Alexander Stadium on the 4th July; a day never to be forgotten
5. My then 7 year old starting big School in September
6. Embracing social media head on and learning so much from my followers and the people I follow which proves you are never too old to learn
7. Really getting deep into networking and meeting some incredible people
8. Fortunate enough to meet gifted and talented people who influence my life daily I am confident you know who you are!
9. Still loving what I do after twenty years even though the last three have been tough physically, emotionally and mentally
10. Fortunate and privileged to still be in a position where I control what I do, when I do it and for whom!

So in my book that’s a pretty damn good year!

(F.Nietzche- German Philosopher)

Wishing You all a Very Happy 2012!! Here’s to bigger and better things and to being Happy!!

What successes have you had in 2011?

What’s kept you positive when all around us seems to be doom and gloom?

Do tell!!

Most companies have the option to insource or outsource their document printing and manage document flow thereby managing print costs.

Print management software helps companies gain control and management of their printing to reduce costs, increase document security and enable sustainability programs. By automatically enforcing printing rules, authenticating users and identifying and allocating document costs.

I’ve preached the benefits that can be had by outsourcing documents and demonstrated effective ways where organisations can save money. But, what if an organisation can’t or simply wont outsource these business processes due to system limitations or compliance to a specific process and or system?

Like every story there are always two sides.

What can a company do to ensure its paper flow is…

kept flowing?

Implementing a strategic print management software application can ensure you automatically control and manage how print flows through your organisation satisfying three primary objectives:

• improve productivity
• maximise time
• reduce paper

Using a print management application with effective print controls automates and optimises the way print moves around a building. Setting specific print controls and denying users printing from certain open applications such as email and automatically re-routing that task to the most cost effective printer such as a mono printer rather than an ink guzzling colour cartridge printer can help drive down the print costs for a company.

Industry analysts estimate that over 44% of printing is unncessary. We print things more than once, instead of selecting the pages we print which might only be one page we end up hitting the “print all” button.

Wasted paper, consumables, escalating electricity bills are the hidden costs behind unnecessary printing therefore opting for print management software helps companies regain control and management of their printing to reduce costs and increase productivity. 

By measuring, monitoring and managing print activity, print management software provides a way for companies to gain a clearer picture of a company’s printing needs and then enables the effective deployment of equipment to meet those needs without spending capital on printing technologies that are either inappropriate for the tasks required or are so costly that the ROI will take years.

The deployment of print management software tools within an organisation helps employees become more aware of their printing habits, provides tools to enforce print policies by re-routing print jobs to cheaper printers, reduce print/copy costs, improve document security on the network and eliminate waste and inefficiencies within an enterprise.

So what exactly does a Managed Print Service provide?

• A MPS (Managed Print service) tracks print, copy and scan activity company wide
• Allocate document costs to a department or office
• Set and enforce print/copy quotas to prevent paper waste
• Makes printing easy and convenient and more secure
• Re-direct print jobs to more cost effective devices
• Reporting functionality which enables a company to keep print costs down

Deploying a cost effective print managed service can save a company money if implemented in the right way.

Is your Company slowly being deluged by paper then call us to discuss your requirements.

In the first instance we will do a print audit of your organisation free of charge.

If you are here subscribe to our updates by hitting the RSS button.

You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin!

If this has been useful drop a comment into the box below we’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading.

Back in June I wrote about the cessation of the cheque guarantee scheme and the U-turn the Payments Council had taken in relation to cheques. It was genuinely feared that cheques would be phased out by 2018 and be replaced with??

That was the biggest connundrum with what exactly?

Last week I was delighted to hear and read that the Payments Council is now reviewing the re-introduction of the cheque guarantee scheme this is where cheques to the value of £50.00 and £100.00 were honoured by the Bank.

Although chip and pin is very much part and parcel of our everyday lives we still have the problem of writing personal cheques for things like school trips, book clubs, subscriptions or how we pay the plumber who’s come to change a tap fitting.

Cheques are an integral part of our businesses?

OK, We pay our suppliers via BACs but for a company that specialises in assisting companies and educational institutions by outsourcing cheques and payments; not suprisingly, cheques are still a large factor in their payment stream.

But what if making payments by cheque and electronic means is becoming… well a bit of pain..

Using an electronic & Cheque payment solution/Payments Bureau will save you time and money. A service that prints and personalises cheques including the signatory all in one pass to APACS and C&CCC (Cheque & Credit Clearing Company)

Printing and personalising cheques can be a costly exercise but also a security issue!

Using an end to end service affords flexible credit and cheque outsourcing and fulfilment that satisfies the following:-

• outsourced cheque printing & mailing
• outsourced credit printing & mailing
• no minimum or maximum data quantity
• no specific file format required

With variable or personalised printing why not use the white space to drop a personalised message to the recipient?

You see, gone are the days when the invoice was simply a vehicle for chasing payment for goods and services sold.

But before I go into my rhetoric of how to make your invoices work better for you here are 10 things that should be on your invoice from fellow colleague and F.D Garry Mumford.

Surprisingly; we still see invoices that are missing this fundamental information!

Assuming you’ve ticked all the boxes:-

Here are some ways you can really make your invoices sing:

Are your logo and address details prominent? Why not jazz up your invoices so they stand out from the crowd after all if the credit team are chasing for payment one sure way to find your invoice in the pile is to use colour. Not black and white its a misnomer if you think it costs a lot more to have a colour logo it does not!

Marketing is no longer the sole preserve of the Marketing Department if you are sending an invoice for specific services or goods then hi-light what other products and services you provide; this can be done by adding a strategic personalised message so the recipient is made aware of your other services and if you target a specific product or service you could tie this in with a sales push to promote that given product.

You see gone are the days that an invoice is purely a vehicle used just for collecting money it is so much more than that!

I go into more detail here on ways to make your invoices rock more!

White space management – I am sighing here now because I see 3 lines of transactions and then a big white space – use it, say something even if it’s just to say A big Thank You for the business but mean it and don’t leave it on every invoice run because it then becomes valueless!

I just sent my first invoice to a new client of ours and made a point of asking our accounts team to drop in a”Thank You for choosing Digital Print Management as your payroll provider on your next copier paper order we will give you 5 reams free”; guess what, we took a call from the customer to say how much they appreciated us doing that, we got an order for copier paper. So, it does work!

Judicious use of colour – OK so I’ve covered this earlier BUT I’m also talking about hi-lighting areas of personalised text in colour to draw attention to this relevant bit of information. Research has shown that colour has tremendous power to add impact to communications boosting recall and influence. Pantone® and the the internationally recognised Pantone Color Institute® indicate that consumers are up to 78% more likely to remember a word, phrase printed in colour than in black and white!

When colour is combined with the written word it impacts readers with greater recall, recognition and attention – full colour variable/personalised documents enhanced customer loyalty and retention generating 34% faster response rates; a 48% increase in repeat orders and 32% increase in overall revenues!

Who said invoicing wasn’t a science?

Reverse of invoice – Not just for Terms and Conditions as these should have already been stated prior to the supply of goods and services. This part of the invoice is a great way to show how your customer can get in contact with you; or how to pay you by showing the methods of payment you accept as an organisation.

Of course you can optimise the benefits of multi-channel distribution by combining the benefits of e-billing and paper based solutions.

If you want to stop feeling like this:-

Then why not give Digital Print Management a call we provide free no obligation print audits which include looking at your document flow and invoice processes.

You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook too just hit the buttons to the right of this blog or keep up to date via your inbox and hit the RSS button.