If the accountant is a data entry clerk, another accountant would have to be hired to do the accounting. But you won’t get a more efficient, high-quality service without moving from paper to digital, says Kaie Moisa, a former accountant who has moved into auditing.
Unfortunately, auditors still see how accountants continue to do a mindless and inefficient job of manual work, plus a number of false invoices that would not occur if e-invoices were used. As a result, the accountant is tired and buried in pointless work that could be done by machines and robots.
Here are six practical suggestions for accountants.
- Paper is a time- and money-saver
Moving, processing, archiving, storing, etc. paper documents is a waste of time and money, as information is delayed, papers get lost, sending information is tedious and inconvenient. All this together wastes time and nerves, and is also contrary to green thinking.
- Accept e-invoices, they’re secure and fast
By accepting e-invoices, you can be sure that your company’s accounts won’t end up with fraudulent invoices from “anglers” or documents from another company by mistake. An e-invoice moves fast when the approvers act quickly, and the accounting information is fresh as a result. It is the accountant’s job to assess the accuracy of the invoice that arrives in the accounting software and to accept it into the software; the information on the invoice arrives automatically.
- Use digitisation of invoices and cheques
Often, the first destination of the invoice is still your email inbox and from there you receive the invoice through Costpocket in your accounting software. Digitisation is a great convenience when the cost documents are mostly cheques. You can take a picture of the cheque with the app and send it straight to your accounting software.
- Link programmes together
The interfaces between the sales and warehouse programs move information automatically, it’s fast and error-free.
- Use direct bank connections in both directions
Your company’s banking transactions will move through the programme daily and automatically. Correct entries, where the amount, customer and invoice number match, are automatically confirmed. In the accounting program, generate payment orders and send to the bank. It’s fast, helps avoid errors and is free.
- Avoid repetitive activities
Set up important reports so that the software generates them automatically and at the time you need them, an important time-saver.
