Budget Like a Boss: How to Take Charge of Finances with Automation and Reporting

Budgeting and managing cash flow aren't for the faint of heart, but that doesn’t mean you need to be a CPA to manage your finances. Having clear visibility into your expenses and being able to easily pull reports is key, giving you the data you need to make those important business decisions. Getting access to this data is much easier than you think thanks to automated technology solutions.

Not sure if automation is for you? Below are a few common business challenges you may face on a daily basis, along with how automation can help you get the visibility you need.

Eliminating surprise employee expenses

Scenario: It’s been a beyond stellar month, and you are looking forward to finally being able to put a little extra money back into your business. That was until you finally finish entering all those employee expense reports and find a few surprises. Say goodbye to that extra cash.

Take comfort in knowing you are not alone. According to Catherine A. Wood, founder of Unbounded Potential:

One of the biggest struggles that small business owners face is learning how to project expenses—what is important, what is not, what the immediate needs of the company are, and so on.

Solution: Expense report automation is your friend in this situation. Not only does an automated solution eliminate all that data entry you’ve been doing each month, but it puts all the much needed financial information in one, easy-to-access location. Pull reports, create personalized dashboards, and reduce your chances of getting blind-sided.

Kissing late payments goodbye

Scenario: You’ve finally got a handle on this whole inventory thing. Shelves are stocked and you have just the right amount of merchandise in your backroom. Then the phone rings, and a vendor is on the other line asking for the status of their invoice. Another late payment, another late fee.

This is a bad situation on a number of fronts. Not only do those late fees add up after a while, but your payment history determines 35% of your FICO Score. This could negatively impact your ability to get a loan.

Solution: It’s time to take your invoice process up a notch. Moving away from a paper invoice system to an automated solution not only keeps you organized, it gives you more control over cash flow and helps to ensure invoices are paid on time. Thanks to easy-to-access information, you can quickly pull the necessary reports to show outstanding invoices and which ones are lingering too close to their due date.

Managing employee travel and controlling spend

Scenario: Your company is growing. You now have not only local, but regional and national clients. While this is exciting and an important step in your growth plan, it also means you suddenly have employees leaving the home office and booking flights and hotels. How do you maintain control?

Business travel is heating-up. According to Statista, 43% of US business travel managers are expecting an increase in business travel this year.

Solution: Thanks to automated travel solutions, you can select preferred air and hotel vendors for your employees. These systems often feed into your expense report processes, automatically give you a full view of employee expenses. Not to mention, with an automated system, you can easily access the data you need to do things such as negotiate lower fees with most used vendors, or manage duty of care.

Ramp up your reporting and get the data you need

The scenarios outline above are just a few of the situations you face as a business owner. You can imagine how having access to the right data and reports can positively impact your organization and your bottom line.

Join us for our on-demand, joint webinar with Ziff Davis, 5 Secrets Hiding in Your AP Data, and learn how reporting can positively change the way you manage your finances.