How to Get the Most Out of 2021
Resolutions and goals echo through every hallway, post-it-note, calendar, and conversation at the start of the new year, and yet most of these goals and resolutions have faded away or been broken by the end of January. Are they bad goals? Do people not care? What do you have to do to meet your goals and get the most out of 2021?
While we can’t speak much to your personal goals, we have more expertise when it comes to company goals, especially surrounding the accounts payable department. Each company and AP department is in a different boat when it comes to where they may be looking to improve, so we’ve come up with a list of general tips that should help you get the most out of 2021.
1. Improve relationships with others
This could include suppliers, coworkers, people from other departments, and others you may come into contact with at work. Having a good relationship with those you work with can make any job easier, but especially accounts payable. Whether it’s needing a signature, a question about how much you were charged for a product compared to what you received, and showing your superiors that you’re doing what’s best for the company, having a relationship with the people you work with makes the process smoother.
2. Don’t put off updating your system so that you can be fully compliant with any regulations you may have
Different industries and companies have different regulations that govern how they should process, track, and store invoices. Unfortunate news flash: paper rarely meets compliance standards. Whatever regulations your department needs to follow, it’s important that you effectuate the necessary changes to always be as up to date as possible to make times like audits as smooth and painless as possible.
3. Be willing to change and update your workflow and processes
More than just being compliant, updating your workflow and processes to be more automated simplifies the work you have to do. Approvals that use to take days take moments and rather than taking weeks and invoice can be processed and paid in a couple days. Plus, the right e-invoicing keeps the control with your department, so you still know where every invoice is and what it needs to finish processing.
4. Don’t sacrifice accuracy for speed and vice versa
Wanting to be able to process invoices quickly is natural, but that shouldn’t be done at the cost of invoice, and payment, accuracy. Likewise, it shouldn’t take so long to ensure an invoice’s accuracy that you can’t keep up with the volume coming in. Accounts payable automation, especially through supplier portals and digitization, ensures that your suppliers can’t even submit an invoice until the information is accurate which allows you to do the bare minimum and have an invoice approved and paid in no time.
5. Know your department well enough so you can get the best technology available
Whether your department is big small, part of a large organization working with some of the biggest names, or partnering mostly with small, local places, it matters. How many invoices you receive, how long you have to pay them, and what that process looks like can all help you determine what type of solution will best serve your department.
There are plenty of ways you can improve your life in 2021 and we wish you the best of luck in those endeavors. More than just wishing you luck, we hope these tips can help improve your work life, which will extend to less stress and more time in life outside of work.