Order To Cash Solution: An Executive-Centric Guide To Invoicing Efficiencies
E-INVOICING MAKE SURE THIS COVERS EINVOICING AS WELL)
The e-invoicing landscape has transformed drastically in recent years, and rapidly-evolving technology has enabled companies to streamline the order to cash process. But for executives responsible for the accounts receivable departments, the task of researching, evaluating, and implementing an e-invoicing solution can be overwhelming. The following step-by-step guide is designed to provide an executive-centric process for selecting and deploying the right order to cash solution to help streamline e-invoicing and transform the accounts receivable process.
Step 1: Research and Understand Your companies Invoicing Needs
The first step in researching, evaluating, and ultimately selecting an order to cash solution is to identity and analyze your companies current invoicing needs. This process should commence with thorough assessment of current invoicing policies, procedures, and processes. Through this assessment, executives can identify weak areas and ineffective or antiquated practices, and then pinpoint specific areas for improvement. Executives should also review and consider workflow-related issues, such as organizational silos and the impact of manual processes on the entire accounts receivable process.
Step 2: Understand the Available Solutions
Once current invoicing needs and areas for improvement have been identified and analyzed, executives must understand what solutions are available to meet their companies invoicing needs. This means researching the wide array of solutions to identify the best fit for their organization. Executives should examine each of the various software solutions and their features, such as multi-platform capabilities, automated and mobile invoice processing, and customization to address specific needs, while keeping the companies goals, budget, and workflow in mind.
Step 3: Assess Compatibility With Existing Platforms
Executives must not only evaluate the features of the order to cash solution, but also determine compatibility with existing platforms and how it will fit into the organizations overall technological landscape. Since most organizations place great emphasis on system integration and total cost of ownership, executives must consider how the product fits into both their existing processes and planned IT architecture.
Step 4: Pilot Test
It is recommended that executives pilot chosen order to cash solution to ensure it fits the companies needs and to accurately measure the expected value and time savings over the traditional manual invoicing process. This step also allows the accounts receivable team to become familiar with the platform by implementing the solution in test environment first. Pilot tests should also feature multiple users to ensure scalability and to gain feedback on the user experience.
Step 5: Rollout the Solution
Once solution has passed the pilot test and executives are confident in the solution’s ability to meet their companies invoicing needs, it is time to begin the rollout process. This step involves training employees on the use of the solution, integrating existing processes with the new solution, and adjusting the accounts receivable system to optimize processes within the entire organization. Lastly, as part of the rollout process, executives should establish parameters for measuring success, such as customer satisfaction scores, customer response times, and total cost savings.
Conclusion
Selecting and implementing the right order to cash solution is critical decision for executives responsible for accounts receivable departments. Through this step-by-step guide, executives can approach the task of researching, evaluating, and deploying solution in an informed manner to ensure they find the best fit for their needs. By identifying and analyzing their current needs, understanding the available solutions, assessing compatibility with existing systems, piloting test run, and rolling out the solution, executives can take the necessary steps to streamline their companies invoicing process and improve their accounts receivable system.
