Beyond Automation: How to Redeploy Employee Hours for Maximum Impact

Introduction

In the fast-paced world of finance, companies need to stay on top of their game to remain competitive. Many businesses often take more than 10 days to close their books, much of which is spent on data management and matching. CratoMatch’s automated bookkeeping features help clients save an accounting team's time and streamline financial workflow processes. But it's not just about saving time. Companies need to identify how they can allocate those time savings to more impactful tasks.

• Better strategize how to make accounts profitable: Automated systems help you identify which accounts are profitable and which are costing you money, and they can probably identify key areas, but they aren’t necessarily the best at identifying how to remedy the situation. By removing human work from the tabulation phase, it frees them up to focus more on problem-solving. In addition, automated systems like Cratoflow can display the data in visually simple ways, like charts and graphs, so accountants can truly process the data instead of hunting and pecking their way through spreadsheets. Also, think about how much time teams usually take creating dashboards or presentations to walk the executive leadership through the state of play. Our system makes it simple for everyone to understand the financial health of the organization, eliminating unnecessary PowerPoint work. 

• Identify smart ways to replace costly activities: Automated systems tend to do a good job of categorizing transactions, removing duplicates, and identifying potential mistaken expenditures and fraud. But they cannot understand which costs are mandatory, which can be avoided, and which providers may do a better job at a lower cost. In this scenario, the system gives you the facts, and you decide what to do with them. It also presents them in a way more easily interpreted by the human mind, e.g., visual charts that provide an easier way to visually forecast your future cash projections.

• Forecast future spending: Having your recent and historic accounts payable and receivable data is crucial to forecasting future profitability or deficits. Watching your spending patterns is like monitoring your heartbeat. It helps you take your pulse of the money you put in and out of your bank. Cratoflow eliminates the need for employees to root around documents, instead giving them the specific information in an easy-to-digest form. 

• ‍Contribute to other aspects of the business: Companies are increasingly looking to break down silos and foster greater collaboration between employees. In addition, studies have shown that one of the most common reasons employees leave during the Great Resignation is that they do not see a path for advancement or don’t learn new skills. Eliminating unnecessary tasks from the accounting teams’ daily routine opens up the opportunity for them to do more training or attend brainstorms, or otherwise contribute to the overall company strategy. 

• Assess vendors: The Fintech industry continues to produce new banks, sales systems, and order management providers. Accounting teams rarely have enough time to research and/or meet with the new companies on the block to assess whether they would provide better services. Automating many processes provides those individuals with a great opportunity to keep on top of the new players and negotiate rates for a new relationship.

These are just five examples of tasks that humans excel at but rarely have the time to devote to them. The accountant team can often feel like hamsters on a running wheel, struggling to get beyond the end-of-month reconciliation to make a meaningful impact on the bottom line. 

Conclusion

By turning to automated accounting platforms  like Cratoflow, you not only save money but also improve your company’s financial health and provide meaningful work to your important accountant team. Cratoflow is a true partner every step of the way, helping you set up your systems to take advantage of automation and collaborate on other ways you can save money and empower your employees.