Most businesses are now back up to full capacity amongst their personnel following the end of furlough, but this doesn’t mean those teams are back to their productivity levels pre-pandemic. This can be down to a range of issues as we recently discussed in our blog Automating the Mundane; this means that whilst those teams such as finance and accounting are back in the business, they may not have the capacity to be able to deal with their normal workload as well as those future-thinking strategic projects as they are having to process the day-to-day jobs to ensure the business functions as normal.
Because of this business leaders are starting to think of new ways they can help take care of those mundane tasks, and allow their teams to tackle those forward-thinking projects that can benefit a team and the wider business in the long run. In our blog article, we discussed how a recent study by Automation Anywhere, found employees spend on average three hours a day on repetitive and mundane tasks which aren’t part of their primary role; within the finance and accounting world this could be conducting tasks such as checking for duplicate invoice payments or conducting supplier statement reconciliations. If your team could look at offloading those tasks it could then empower them to focus on the more challenging projects or tasks ahead.
Duplicate Payments
Unnecessary payments made due to duplicated invoices, data processing errors or human error are a bigger problem than most organisations realise, and something business leaders may feel their teams have in hand. But the Accounts Payable Association found nearly two-thirds of UK finance professionals have received duplicate invoices, with a third ending up paying them, while other studies suggest duplicate payments make up approximately 0.5% of all invoices paid. Historically a number like 0.5% wouldn’t even register on a business leader’s radar but imagine if just one of those invoices were a six-figure sum, that could substantially impact a business’s bottom line in a time where every penny counts.
Whilst accidentally paying the same invoice twice may not be a huge issue if it is an isolated event, if it is a common occurrence over several years then it could cost organisations hundreds of thousands of pounds. The good news is usually such payments are still recoverable and can be added back to the bottom line.
Supplier Statement Reconciliation
Most accountants are aware that supplier statement reconciliations are good practice and have real value, but there are many challenges with the process.
It’s a time-consuming exercise to undertake, and, for a busy Accounts Payable team, it’s one of the first activities to be dropped, so it’s easy to build up a backlog. Some companies choose not to do supplier statement reconciliations at all, or only for a small number of suppliers.
More often than not it’s a manual exercise, using spreadsheets, and prone to error, leading to duplicate payments or missed credits. This manual work also makes it difficult to keep an audit trail of queries and issues and offers no management information to get to the root cause of issues.
It can get to a point where the ledger position is challenged by management or an auditor and a full reconciliation is required to restore confidence.
We’re Here to Help With Cutting Edge Technology
Our Duplicate Payment Recovery Service utilises a standard workflow with appropriate checks and balances to ensure that each potential duplication is validated, recorded, and actioned appropriately.
As well as recovering funds you did not know were lost, you will gain valuable insight into how your processes and policies can be improved moving forwards.
Organisations can undertake the review on a completely risk-free basis: should no duplicate payments be identified there is no payment required for the service.
Our Supplier Statement Reconciliation Service provides a comprehensive managed service to complete the reconciliations for you. Our specialist team of professionals is supported by our proprietary technology to identify errors and omissions. We’ll improve your cashflow and productivity by finding credits, discounts or adjustments you weren’t aware of, by identifying duplicate payments and by cleansing your GRNI accounts.
We will fully reconcile the ledgers with all supplier statements so you will have full confidence in the accuracy of your ledgers. We will proactively identify and resolve any discrepancies and, at the same time, significantly reduce queries from suppliers. Where there are any issues with missing Prompt Payment targets we will aid you to make payments on time.
You’ll have access to insightful reports from us to identify where your systems, procedures and policies can be improved going forwards, and you will increase the morale of your team by removing a tedious and manual activity.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help your business explore our duplicate payment recovery service or supplier statement reconciliation service then please contact us here.
