A potentially looming recession puts heavy pressure on finance leaders to prepare and protect their organizations. While economic uncertainty may compel some to take a wait-and-see approach, they would be missing a valuable opportunity to help strengthen their business.
Now is the time to help clients reevaluate business costs and priorities and shift focus to sustain growth, create efficiency and retain talent, providing game-changing advantages to their businesses.
However, tackling these challenges may be easier said than done. Nearly half of finance leaders say they are continuing to invest in technology and 40% will spend more on tech to help navigate a possible recession, relying on innovation to increase efficiencies, cut costs, enable growth and aid with retention efforts.
Help clients prepare for a possible recession by offering these tips and looking at how artificial intelligence (AI)-driven automation in the back office can be a powerful investment choice.
Seek More Efficient Ways to Do Business
Creating efficiencies is an effective way for accounting professionals to ensure business continuity and enable growth between economic upheaval and they have a powerful opportunity right at their doorstep—the finance department.
Back-office work is often reliant on manual invoice and bill pay processes that are ripe with inefficiencies. Manually entering data, searching for lost invoices and fielding inquiry calls from suppliers monopolizes professionals' time and keeps them from adding more strategic value to their organizations.
Automation frees their time for better use. In fact, Goldman Sachs estimates AP automation can drive a 70-80% time-savings for AP staff.
Closely Manage Costs to Protect the Bottom Line
Paper-based back-office processes are not just time-intensive. They are also costly, requiring supplies, postage and overhead, in addition to employee time. It is estimated that slow moving paper checks, still heavily relied upon, cost between $3-$7 each to process and often lead to late payments and fees that put additional strain on the bottom line.
Automating back-office tasks can eliminate paper costs by digitizing invoices and storing them in easy-to-access cloud-based solutions, and offer more affordable, faster and secure e-payment options.
Leverage Your Data to Steer Through Cautionary Times
The finance department is home to an increasingly valuable asset—a wealth of data that can be used to assess and manage an organization’s financial well-being and guide its future. However, massive amounts of customer, historical, credit and payment information can be easily overlooked.
Cloud-based automated back-office solutions provide greater visibility and 24/7 access to data and empower finance teams to spot trends, pinpoint areas of concern and opportunities for improvements and enable their organization to make swift changes as greater economic factors play out.
Tackle Retention and Hiring Challenges
Korn Ferry estimates that a global talent shortage could reach 85.2 million people by 2030 and result in the loss of trillions of dollars for companies with finance teams being the most impacted.
The shortage puts retention high on the list of corporate priorities and recent data from Deloitte proves it is not an easy task for finance teams. The research shows that 82% of hiring managers at public companies feel that seeking accounting and financial talent is a significant challenge.
Creating efficiencies is an effective way for accounting professionals to ensure business continuity and enable growth between economic upheaval and they have a powerful opportunity right at their doorstep—the finance department.
Automation promises relief by reducing workloads and the need for additional headcount while increasing job satisfaction and helping to attract new talent by freeing professionals from cumbersome tasks.
Automated, cloud-based solutions also strengthen retention and hiring efforts by providing flexibility, including the possibility of remote work. With real-time access to data and processes from anywhere at any time, finance staff is no longer tethered to offices, printers and mail rooms. The option of remote and hybrid work is proven to be an effective tool for earning employee loyalty and attracting new hires.
Relying on AI-Driven Automation to Prepare for an Uncertain Future
While it’s impossible to predict how the economy will shake out, organizations are increasingly looking to powerful technology like AI to help them manage their bottom line, find and increase their resilience.
A PWC study shows that 52% of companies have accelerated their AI adoption plans since the Covid crisis and 86% of them say the technology has now become mainstream to their business, as they recognize the benefits it provides.
Accounting professionals can help their clients more efficiently operate in this recessionary environment by sharing the benefits of a modernized finance department and providing these helpful tips to help them transform their processes with automation. The right technology partner can provide the expertise needed for a smooth, seamless transition so they can reap immediate benefits, bolstering their business, increasing their agility and ensuring a more profitable future.
Dan Drees is Chief Growth Officer at AvidXchange.
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