Three Steps To An Electronic World

As much as we try and escape the inevitable use of paper-based processes during business hours, it seems that sometimes there is just no escaping it. Organisations still have to produce physical documents for reporting and invoicing purposes. Or do they? 

The 21^st Century businessman or woman doesn’t want to carry around a heavy briefcase as they make their way from one meeting to the next. They want everything on their laptop, tablet or mobile device. They want to make every document available electronically. They want a fully integrated electronic system which automates the processes for them. 

They don’t want much then? 

But there is little difference from the 21^st Century needs and demands to those of the businessmen and woman towards the end of the previous century. Over the last 25 years businesses have been through this very process – setting out with the best will in the world to go straight to the utopia of a seamless and automated data system. Price and the evolution of their current IT Systems no doubt play a major part in stalling this process, so they take a step back. 

This is where they realise that an intuitive document management and workflow system can be an extremely large step from their current position and in fact can provide a great ROI. An example is EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) in Accounts Payable.  Many FD’s drive hard towards this apparently desirable end game of complete data automation only to find the hurdles too high:  A lack of supplier cooperation, high costs and effort of implementation and over-formalisation of their business make the goal dissatisfying or unachievable.  However, if they simply automate their process using document management and workflow, they can realise 80% of the business benefit for 20% of the cost – all in a matter of weeks. 

There will never be any escaping that businesses will use the odd sheet of paper to get things done, but critically there is a new, electronic way to do it. Sure, it would be great to leap to the utopia of data systems – but evolution takes time and the world of business needs to evolve at a pace where it can continue to function successfully. 

To find out more about the how your business can evolve see which of our products suits your requirements by clicking here

Be SMART with your Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation processes

The Know Your Customer (KYC) processes which came into force at the turn of the year have no doubt provided many a headache for stock brokers, depository participants, portfolio managers and venture capitalists alike as they grappled with increased compliance regulations. However, the regulations came easier to some than others. Whilst stock brokers insisted on only completing the KYC process for new customers, treating all of their existing clients as KYC compliant[1], many other organisations faced the laborious task of sifting through an abundance of paperwork  to remain compliant to the new rulings.

So what about those who did not apply the KYC due diligence processes to new customers and instead had to ensure that existing customer data was correct and up to date in their current IT system? For these poor souls it most likely resulted in a lot of manual data entry, which is very possibly still on-going with only a glimmer of an end in sight.

There is no arguing with the benefits of the new KYC system which if adhered to correctly, should have the details stored in a centralised database, making it simpler, quicker and easier for KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) to verify a customer’s identity and satisfy the know your customer requirements.

Let’s face it traditional identity checks are no longer adequate. We live in a complicated and faceless world – these days paper ID documents can easily be forged, storage of paper documents and producing them for audit is expensive and it is often just simply not practical, even more so when it is now so critical for two sources to be checked against one another.

Having a secure centralised KYC document store minimises the chance of error and therefore risk. It enables organisations to identify information specific to individual clients and their preference for risk and make a quick, but informed decision about an investment opportunity – essentially coming up with a risk based approach for their clients by clean up business processes.

There is a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound) solution, in both senses, that will ensure important customer data is correctly documented and available for inspection by regulators. If a manual approach proves too slow use advanced data capture technology to input the data into a document management system.

Sophisticated data capture technology can accurately extract data from a multitude of documents, whether they are fixed forms, semi-structured documents or unstructured documents. This can significantly reduce the time it takes to input data manually, freeing up time and resource. If you are faced with a mountain of documents to input manually, then this is the sensible solution.

This in turn provides a centralised system where customer information can be securely stored, analysed and accessed from multiple locations. Having the data stored electronically enables organisations to have greater insight, making the data work for them through effective data analytic techniques. If you have questions about your customer base, then you can mine the data captured from KYC documents to provide you with the answers.

For information on how Invu uses advanced data capture technology, please click here.

---

 [1] http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-12-24/news/35991613_1_kyc-registration-cdsl-ventures-kyc-form

Document Destruction Aids in Efficiency

Document management within any firm is a never ending quest for efficiency. Documents which can easily be accessed and shared with all levels of management is not only expected, it is a requirement for all firms who are trying to take the next step and be considered a global elite. This is much easier said than done. The firms which take document management seriously and not just place it on the to do list are the ones which we will be reading and hearing about in tomorrow’s headlines. These types of firms not only create a process, but manage that process and execute a monthly battle plan to ensure the efficiency of the document management plan. These firms also have a document shredding plan integrated into the larger plan which ensures destruction of documents which might pose a threat if they fell into the wrong hands. This scheme is known as a Document Destruction Plan.

Everyday documents which are constantly viewed can typically be placed in a short list of classifications. There are urgent documents and non-urgent documents. Urgent documents are viewed by a select group of employees which spend time focused on them and then destroy them. Whereas non-urgent documents have a much longer shelf life and hang around for months or even years, because they need to hang around as reference material, but don’t need to be destroyed immediately. What about urgent documents being destroyed? Can they just be thrown into a waste basket and then turned into public property once they hit the corner garbage can? The answer to that question is an undeniable, NO. Documents of an urgent nature can bring down entire firms. If they fall into vengeful hands, the firms themselves not only get brought down, but their entire list of clients as well. Bottom line, take care of documents as if your life depended on it, because your professional life might just really depend on it.

A document destruction plan not only provides a means of safely destroying documents which need to be protected, but it also provides a firm with other benefits as well. The first real benefit of activating a document destruction plan is the ability to comply with the law. Becoming compliant with legislation does more than just protect the firm which is going through the process of carefully ridding itself of urgent documents. It also protects that firm by destroying documents which are vulnerable to security breaches. Not only is information about the firm urgent and important, but who the firm does business with and how it does business with other firms is private information. This type of material could not only ruin a firm, but could send it into the nearest court room for months at a time.

Secondly, a document destruction plan protects the assets of a firm. Assets of a firm are typically the backbone figures on any firm’s balance sheet. What better way of protecting the assets of a firm than by making sure all document information regarding assets and clients which affect those assets be destroyed? Don’t take chances with documents regarding assets, client lists, sales figures or anything which could negatively affect the financial landscape of a firm.

Finally, document destruction is much more than a way to clear out old papers. It is a way to maintain efficiency and ensure the tightest security is being upheld for the firm’s most important documents.

Cost of Poor Document Management System within a Firm

Time is money. The immediate question posed after this question is how much? What does it cost a firm to attempt to locate a series of important documents nested in some server which has not been accessed for months. How much money does that cost? Better yet, how much does it cost a firm facing a possible mountain of litigation fees when a simple e-mail from the past could exonerate that firm? Questions such as these should never have to be entertained based on the resources available. The only question any firm should face today is, how much will it cost this company NOT to have quality document management?

Document management, workflow, integration of documents and efficiency are all terms companies talk about on a normal basis, but do firms really understand the cost behind embracing poor processes behind these terms? Typically, the answer to that question is no, they do not. Spend an afternoon or two with any law firm or accountancy practice. Ask those companies how quickly one of their clients sought out a competent firm to take over document management after a seemingly minor misstep cost them thousands, if not millions of pounds. It is certainly nothing to scoff at or spend another day risking. Taking a virtual trip back in time quickly gives us great illustrations of how costly poor document management can be.

Great companies embrace great practices. This is no different when the issue of document management arises. In order to grace the list of the Fortune 500 in these times, firms must not only exercise vigilance upon the global stage, but also must remain efficient in every sector of their business, especially documents.

In order to seize every opportunity which presents itself, firms must enable access to documents of all types to all levels of management within that firm. At any moment, documents must be able to be accessible to those who are able to take advantage of that opportunity. This is known as preparing for success. Firms which have chosen to allow documents to remain in the traditional file cabinet set-up are not thinking in today’s realm of what is timely and professional. Only those firms which have embraced the new speed of business can respond to any and all opportunities. These are the firms which will be successful today and in the years ahead.

Document management is not just some convenient, high tech system of being able to recall last month’s sales reports or e-mails. It is a system which defines quality organizations. It is a process which will assist in the involvement from all levels of management, regardless of the urgency of the documents. It is what separates firms which could have, would have, taken advantage of an opportunity if only…

Firms choosing to integrate a quality document management plan into their business are not just getting through the day, they are preparing for success now, and into the future. One more time, ask yourself, how much will it cost this firm NOT to embrace a document management solution?

‘Purchase to Payment’ – Process Efficiencies for SMEs

In these unrelenting times of austerity, it is SMEs who continue to suffer and have to make further cuts. However, savings can be made through improving efficiency of business processes in order to maximise budgets. One area which presents an opportunity to fine tune such processes is within the finance department itself. 

While the majority of businesses have invested in implementing Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) over the years, this technology fails to virtualise and automate all processes – leaving finance departments with manual paperwork to be completed, often during the “purchase to payment” process.

 Nearly 80% of all invoices are still delivered to a business on paper. And where an electronic method of delivery is implemented, invoices are still delivered as PDF files, presenting an unstructured document for the individual that cannot be read by the ERP program.

 Few SMEs have the luxury of moving to a full Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) approach, which is often taken by many enterprises to standardise documents sent between recipients. In addition to this, with paper based files and PDFs likely to be maintained for years to come, SMEs need to consider solutions that will combat these issues and embrace unstructured documents.

SMEs opting for an invoice process solution that automates the accounts payable process will eliminate clerical tasks associated with filing and processing invoices through automation thus, reducing cost and resource spent. Furthermore, the system increases control and visibility across the company, and allows immediate and secure access to the data.

A business automation approach based on document capture, management and workflow can enhance existing business processes and compliment the investment in existing ERP systems. With costs of new generation document management and workflow systems, SMEs now have a viable option to transform their purchase processes that offers a compelling ROI. 

Click here to discover how Invu’s Invoice processing solution can benefit your business. 

Obama improves his Customer Service

In the directive issued by Barack Obama in May, a strategy has been set out to make services available via mobile devices in an effort to keep pace with the increase in smart phone use and improve the availability of government information via mobile to the American people.

Obama explains that until now, accessing government information has been a complex and painstakingly time consuming task, which has forced Americans to collate information from across government programs in order to identify exactly which services they require.

The Obama administration is right to drive an improvement in its record keeping and consolidate information to enhance the accessibility with which individuals can navigate through government information. According to the Institute of Customer Service -  Good customer service is a critical component of business success and there is a direct link between high quality customer service and customer retention, business performance and – of most significance in this case – reputation.

Customers are increasingly demanding instant access to information and through enabling access through mobile devices is a sure-fire way to bring the knowledge and information as and when it is required.  Good customer service is not just applicable to Government, retail and other customer facing sectors, by focusing on customer needs and by creating efficiencies when managing problems, issues can be remedied quickly and efficiently.

The implementation of a mobile Government service is one means by which to increasing efficiencies and maintain a positive reputation – surely it is only a matter of time before other businesses adopt a similar approach.

It’s been a while, but our latest blog

It’s been a while, but our latest blog focusing on Government Data Sharing is now available to read and download here: http://ow.ly/bZgvY