How purchasing processes are making life difficult for businesses

Finance is still one of the areas where there is room for improvement when it comes to the automation of processes.

Top finance professionals realise that outdated processes in areas such as purchasing can make life very difficult for a business.

Evidence of this can be seen in a report which Invu published on its website. According to the company, 17% of responding finance professionals said that the purchasing process in their business needed to be fixed urgently. The fact is that many businesses deal with hundreds of purchase documents each. Doing this manually creates a set of very costly issues.

Processes that are not joined together

A lack of cohesion between different processes makes it more likely that mistakes will be made. This could lead to missed payments and could seriously damage the reputation of a business.

Top finance professionals understand the damage that can be caused. They lead the implementation of automated processes that can be fully integrated. This helps to ensure seamless and secure purchasing.

Angry and disenchanted customers and suppliers

When payment processes are not as efficient as they should be, customers and suppliers can be adversely affected.

Outdated and archaic systems make it a lot easier for orders and payments to be missed. This leads to anger and a loss of trust. Businesses need to implement modern and efficient processes in order to protect the reputation of their brand.

The cost of human error

No-one is perfect, so human error can always happen. Therefore, if a purchase process is heavily reliant on human activity it is more open to issues. This can be costly to a business, in terms of finances and reputation.

For this reason, the best finance professionals lead a change away from traditional paper-based systems. They promote the implementation of modern automated systems that help to reduce the risk of human error.

The opportunity to defraud

Senior management members want to think that their employees are honest. This is the case most of the time. However, history has shown that not every employee has the best interests of the business at heart.

So, it makes sense for a business to do everything possible to protect itself against insider fraud. High performing finance directors often lead the way in helping the business to identify areas where financial irregularities could take place. This includes where purchasing processes are outdated and insecure.

Implementing modern secure processes makes it more difficult for fraud to take place. This protects the business against the heavy costs that insider fraud can bring.

In summary

Some businesses are wary of changing the purchasing processes that they have always used. However, the most efficient finance professionals advise and support the business, in order to introduce an updated system.

Doing this makes the process more secure and efficient. It also reduces the chance of human error occurring. Making these improvements helps to maintain the reputation of the business, reduces costs and helps to increase profits.

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