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5 Ways To Reduce Errors Using Business Process Automation Software
Are errors hurting your business?
It can be a hard question to answer. If you can identify the impact of errors, then you can take steps to correct them. But often, errors slip in that you don’t even know about and so it’s hard to track how much they might be damaging your company.
If your company relies on manual data entry, then you can guarantee there are errors in your spreadsheets. No matter how conscientious someone is, human error is unavoidable. Even a simple typo like a misplaced decimal or entering one wrong number can cost a company thousands of dollars and lots of time to correct. When I make a mistake in my personal budget, it can take hours to track down at the end of the month. It’s a lot bigger problem for a large company trying to finish month-end close when they’re dealing with errors!
Digital data entry with scanning technology like Optical Character Recognition and Data Indexing can go a long way toward reducing errors. And when you automate business processing using Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology, you’ll really start to see a big change toward correct, accurate financial processing.
1) Accurate, Automated Data Capture
Early document capture technology simply scanned an image of the document. In contrast, modern Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology generates a usable digital copy of the scanned document. If you start with a paper document, OCR ensures you’ll get an editable, searchable copy of that document. Then, Business Process Automation (BPA) software can accurately and automatically capture data from the scanned document.
When automating to reduce errors, you’ll want software that supports OCR at the very least. You’ll get even better performance, though, if your software also provides data indexing. This feature, which is included in NextProcess software, also captures metadata about every document that enters the system. That metadata includes facts like the date the document entered the system, the user ID that submitted the document, and details about the document processing. All this quick, accurate, digital data capture and indexing dramatically reduces the risk of human error in data collection.
2) No Conflicting Data Sets
When you automate with SaaS software, you’re giving your employees access to a centralized software system. Rather than everyone downloading their own copy of the software, they all log into the same system. The system also updates in real-time. At any given point, everyone will be working with the exact same information.
Assuming everyone uses the system, this eliminates the problem of conflicting data sets. Often, errors crop up because different people have different versions of a document, or they have different methods for updating files. With SaaS software, the data is stored on the cloud and updated in real-time as employees use the software. There won’t be conflicting versions of the data, and what’s available in the software is always the most accurate and up-to-date information possible.
3) Error-Checking Technology
BPA software is designed to make employees’ lives easier; not to replace them. The software is great at catching possible errors and flagging the issue if something seems out of place, but it needs someone to check and resolve the potential error.
For example, in accounts payable, the software can process many invoices and even pay them automatically if the invoice matches the associated purchase order and there isn’t anything out of the ordinary. The software flags exception invoices, though, for human follow-up. If the software notices an unusually high charge, data discrepancies between files, or possible duplicate charges, then it brings the potential error to your employees’ attention. This software feature helps your company catch any errors that do still slip into the system.
4) Reliable Audit Trails
A good BPA software system logs documents and transaction processing information automatically. This results in a strong audit trail providing provide detailed records of every transaction in a company. An audit trail includes documents for every step of the transaction process as well as comments and other details.
Complete audit trails make it easy to check if transactions proceeded as they should. By maintaining good records, your company will be able to better evaluate if it’s meeting key performance indicators (KPIs), identify issues in transactions, catch fraud or errors, and easily navigate internal or external audits.
5) Searchable Documents
As I mentioned earlier, OCR image capture technology and data indexing create a usable digital copy of a scanned document. One of the things that this technology enables is full-text keyword searches. You’ll be able to search for specific words, phrases, and numbers within a file. You’ll also be able to run searches on digital documents more easily. You can search for keywords within the files, or you can search the metadata to pull up documents related to specific types of transactions, date ranges, and other criteria.
When it’s easy to search files, it’s also easy to go back and check on transactions. It’s also much easier to generate reports and work with data. You’ll be better equipped to go back and check for errors and assess how well your company is doing at reducing errors in financial processing.
NextProcess End-to-End Solution
NextProcess software offers all the automation benefits we’ve already talked about in this article. In addition, we provide a true end-to-end software solution. You can use any of our software modules on their own, or you can implement them together to power and simplify your capital project management, procurement & purchase orders, accounts payable, travel & expense, and payment disbursements.
With an end-to-end solution like this, the software communicates across the whole procure-to-pay process. This makes it easier to catch errors or to reduce the number of errors in transactions. For example, automating both accounts payable and procurement software using NextProcess makes it very easy for the software to check if invoices match purchase orders.
If you’re ready to see how NextProcess can help your business reduce errors in financial processes, contact us today. We’ll answer any questions you have, and we can schedule a free demo so you can see how the software works first-hand.