Today’s article is a brief snippet of a report that Ardent Partners completed for Concur entitled –The SMB of the Future: Start Fast, Then Accelerate
For an entire generation, technology has had an extraordinary impact on the lives of countless millions in the home and office. At home, technology and access to the internet have completely changed the way that people communicate, learn, and share; while at work, enterprise software has helped drive efficiencies, foster innovation, and enable globalization. Needless to say, the total cost of these solutions placed them well beyond the reach of the typical small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) giving larger companies a competitive advantage. It was not until the introduction of cloud-based solutions that the playing field between large and small competitors would become more leveled. Most cloud solutions have four underlying principles that align with the needs and resources of an SMB – Accessibility, usability, affordability, and scalability
The way that these solutions are deployed, packaged, and priced makes them more accessible to companies of all sizes and can help an SMB to become as efficient, as innovative, and as effective in its daily operations as its much larger competitors. As more SMBs adopt robust cloud solutions, company size is no longer an acceptable excuse for below-average performance in any area of operation. The SMBs who fail to leverage these new solutions are at risk of being left behind by the next start-up that does.
For SMBs experiencing rapid growth, two key differences between long-term success and failure are (1) how well they manage cash flow and (2) the infrastructure they have in place to support their growth. SMBs that are fast growing need a robust operational infrastructure to help support and control that growth and ensure that their key business functions and processes are working and performing well.
One area that presents a significant opportunity for SMBs is the accounts payable process which manages how an invoice is received, processed, and paid. The AP function is also a key component of cash flow management which is a crucial part of running any business. An AP process that is efficient and can provide visibility into current and future liabilities can be a great asset to a cash-conscious SMB. Unfortunately, the AP process within most SMBs is largely manual and paper-based resulting in a general lack of visibility, gross inefficiency, and costly invoice/payment processing putting them at a disadvantage to those that have automated AP.
Introducing a cloud-based ePayables (or AP automation) solution will help SMBs automate the manually-intensive AP tasks such as entering invoice data into a system and enable the finance or AP staff to focus on more strategic areas like cash management and other key issues like when to hold a payment or take an early payment discount and how to avoid overpayments.
To download the complete report click here. The full report includes a discussion on how AP automation can help SMB’s improve the management of cash and it also provides some key tips for SMB’s to get started with automation.
