7 HACKS FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

1. 7 HACKS FOR BUSINESS GROWTH A JOURNEY TO FINANCIAL PROCESS AUTOMATION 1

2. YOUR COMPANY’S FUTURE IS BRIGHT You have a great product or service, a strong team, and you’re well positioned for continued growth. As an owner or senior finance professional, your number-one focus is on increasing the bottom line. 2

3. BUT IF YOU’RE LIKE MOST COMPANIES Sooner or later you’ll face the typical business challenges that need to be overcome to enable the next level of business growth. As your business grows, so does the number of suppliers, purchases, invoices and other types of transactions. If you’re like the majority of growth companies in the USA and Europe, you’re still receiving paper invoices, and using manual processes. As the paper within your organization increases, so do errors. Employees spend more time inputting data, tracking down information and correcting errors. 3

4. YOU’RE SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON MANUAL PROCESSES An average employee spends two working days a month on financial processes (ranging from raising POs, responding to supplier inquiries, and reviewing and chasing down invoices). Multiply that by the number of employees you have, and you’ll see all the time that is wasted. And, it’s not only time that’s wasted. Slow processing leads to late payments, and late payments mean penalty fees. It’s time to ask yourself: Are your financial processes really serving you or are you too busy servicing them? 4

5. SEVEN HACKS FOR BUSINESS GROWTH This e-book introduces the tools and strategies to help you maintain control over your financial processes as your business grows. By implementing the right processes, strategies and tools, your company will be poised to stay on its growth trajectory. You’ll be able to save time, money and rein in time-consuming, error-prone manual tasks. You’ll gain control over cash and expenses. You’ll know where your money is and where it’s going - and you’ll keep your suppliers happy. And, best of all, these solutions are simple, fast and cost effective. So, what are you waiting for? 5

6. #1. AUTOMATE YOUR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE PROCESS Improve cash flows with an electronic invoice handling process. You’ll know where each invoice is, who handled it and when, and what the payment dates are. You’ll know which invoices are outstanding and what your current liabilities are. You’ll be able to effectively manage your cash flow and know where your money needs to be at all times. Accounts Payable automation reduces the drain on time and resources. By implementing an automated process with built-in best practices and timely email alerts, you’ll gain efficiencies, and free up valuable time to focus on other key functions. 6

7. #2. MOVE TO 100% PAPERLESS INVOICE HANDLING PROCESS By making paper invoices disappear, you can significantly decrease costs and errors, while increasing efficiencies. And the good news doesn’t stop there. It’s very easy and cost-effective to send, receive and process true e-invoices. World-class scan and capture services can turn all your paper invoices into electronic ones before they even hit your desk. And it’s beneficial to your business partners as well. Over 40% of growth companies want to be able to send electronic invoices to meet customer demands. 7

8. #3. SPEED UP PROCESSES WITH MOBILE ACCESS E-invoicing and Accounts Payable automation are the keys to efficient invoice processing. But, there will always be invoices that cannot be fully automated, and need a human to review them. Choosing an automation solution with mobile capabilities means your employees can review, reject, forward or approve invoices from wherever they are. 8

9. #4. HANDLE PAYMENTS STRATEGICALL Y Automation gives you complete visibility into payment terms and details - so you can pay the right amount at the right time. You’ll be able to see what payments are coming due so you can take action to avoid late payment penalties. And, when your supplier calls to ask about the status of an invoice, that information will be available at your fingertips. In fact, with faster invoice processing you may even be able to take advantage of early payment discounts: a win-win for you and your supplier. 9

10. #5. LEVERAGE THE CLOUD By accessing Accounts Payable automation solutions and services through the cloud, you’ll cut costs and increase your flexibility to rapidly adapt to changing business requirements. You can avoid draining IT resources with software and hardware updates. With cloud, you can scale your services up or down, and pay as you go. Even the largest companies are turning to the cloud to gain the benefits that cloud services offer. 10

11. #6. BUY SMARTER AND CONTROL COSTS By documenting and approving purchases before they happen, you know what bills are coming in the future. E-procurement also enables you to take advantage of invoice automation, or to simply verify that incoming invoices are correct: that they are in line with the order placed, and that you are not billed twice. An e-procurement solution increases productivity, speeds up purchasing and invoice payment, ensures a reliable audit trail between a purchase and an invoice, and lets you see where your money is going. 11

12. #7 . ARCHIVE ELECTRONICALL Y FOR SEARCH AND SECURITY The majority of growth companies in the USA and Europe prefer purchase invoices to be stored electronically so that they have a full and easily captured paper trail of approvals and payment dates. It makes compliance, search and retrieval a touch button experience. Create a full electronic archive for all invoices and associated documents such as contracts, orders and goods received. This way, searching for important information becomes effortless. 12

13. GET THE ANSWER Basware offers solutions for growth companies. These are the fastest way to sort out your accounts payable, start you e-invoicing, control your spend and, thereby, secure your growth. To find out more, visit us at www.basware.com/growth Basware is the global leader in providing networked purchase-to-pay solutions, e-invoicing and innovative financing services. Basware’s commerce and financing network connects businesses. As the largest open business network in the world, Basware provides scale and reach for organizations of all sizes, enabling them to grow their business and unlock value across their operations by simplifying and streamlining financial processes. Small and large companies around the world achieve significant cost savings, more flexible payment terms, greater efficiencies and closer relationships with their suppliers. Find out more at www.basware.com Follow Basware on Twitter: @Basware, join the discussion on the Basware LinkedIn, Basware Facebook and Basware Blog and subscribe for the latest news. © Copyright 2016 Basware Corporation 13