Process Optimization & Automation

The first thing we do is tidy up. This involves removing duplicate steps and unclear handoffs. We want a clear line of sight for clean workflows. This stops work from bouncing between inboxes. But tidying up does much more.

It reduces manual input in finance and HR. This eliminates (human) errors. It improves efficiency and productivity because capacity is returned to the team. Staff can focus on core activities that drive your business forward.

We also unblock payroll, bookkeeping, and approvals so you can control how money moves throughout your system. It saves time because you don’t have to hunt figures.

By putting a visible task list and cadence in place, we enable leaders to see progress and risk in real-time. Accelerating their response time can be the difference between a good quarter and one with too many sleepless nights.

Finally, tools are aligned to the processes that actually exist. The result? Change is maintained post go-live.

There are several tasks we can automate to deliver some nice and exciting results in the first month. For instance, automating procure to pay from intake to payment makes sure invoices flow smoothly (no stalling) and policy is enforced from the beginning.

More tasks that benefit from immediate automation include:

• Order to cash from quote to collection ensures invoices are accurate and cash is posted quickly.
• Payroll to general ledger with dimensions. Labor-cost analysis is simpler because you aren’t reliant on side files anymore.
• Fixed asset flows from purchase to disposal, increasing accuracy so registers and books agree.
• KPI feeds to dashboards, which enables leaders to read from live systems and not stale extracts.

Automation is a fabulous tool that improves your business processes from the beginning. When used in conjunction with integration, the benefits are compounded.

Automation is obviously important if you want immediate results that will stick over the long-term. But, you’re probably a tad worried that all these changes will disrupt your business’s operations. Set your worries aside because we’ve got this.

We begin by investigating your existing system, mapping the current path and removing inefficient loops. When all the kinks have been ironed out we automate the newly clean version.

We also include a small integration layer with monitoring, which increases the visibility of changes and makes them recoverable.

Every flow carries its own evidence and timestamps, so information for audits is readily available from the system of record.

Controlled retries and dead letter queues are added, so bad data doesn’t become lost data.

Before we launch, we set acceptance tests with a clear cutover. It’s like having a backup or a do-over so you can rest easy during the first month and appreciate the intrinsic value of your new system.

You know what’s nice about our process optimization? The short space of time between go-live and results. Here are just a few of the positive changes you’ll see in the first quarter.

This is one of those occasions when you want a hands-off approach, not hands-on because the fewer touches per task, the better. Your optimized system certainly reduces the number of people involved in tasks, freeing staff for productive analysis and planning.

Shorter close = current context for reviews to take place. It also relieves staff from the burden of weekend work.

Clear workflows produce clean audit trails. Questions are answered quickly with source records as evidence.

All of this new efficiency eats into your backlog and enables teams to tackle new ideas, rather than running around trying to extinguish the same old fires.

Best of all? We deliver a roadmap for subsequent improvements, which maintains momentum with measured wins.