Saving 'mega time' is a pretty big promise - and is certainly something that grabbed your attention if you’re reading this post. Continue on though dear reader - you will not be disappointed.

Automation really can save you mega time.

In fact, we've been able to help a customer of ours reduce their receipt allocation times from 48+ hours per month to a little over 4 hours through auto-allocation.

'Automation' however doesn’t always have to be a software package or custom development work. To be effective, all you need to do is alter your processes to remove manual bottlenecks and voila! Time savings. Even if you're saving 2 mins here and 5 mins there - those all add up and before you know it you’ve got some mega time on your hands to focus on other aspects of your business. Who knows, you might even be able to implement something you'd never even thought was possible.

But where to start? The same way you eat an elephant, one bite at a time (not that we're condoning elephant eating).

Our latest eBook details 18 typical business processes that can be automated to save you 'mega time'. To help you on your way to gathering some 'mega time' for your business - we have pulled an excerpt from that ebook to bring you 4 key financial time-saving processes.

1. Invoicing Customers

Hands up if you run your business off of a spreadsheet... *waits for hands to sheepishly go up*.

Don't worry - it's far more common than you think. Automating your invoicing process is a #1 timesaver. You'll probably need some software to help you with this one, but it is always a worthwhile investment.

Removing the manual work from this process:

• Saves mega time
• Reduces errors
• Reduces duplications
• Saves money (fewer upset customers demanding refunds)

2. Payment Reminders

Put the baseball bat away and give your Collections Team team a bit of a break. It is very possible to quickly and easily make this process much more efficient. Especially if your current collection's process involves a series of time-consuming phone calls by exasperated collections agents.

Payment reminders can be sent via voice, text, email or web messaging - all of which can be scheduled to automatically send at a specified date/time. There are a number of suppliers out there who specialise in this field.

Having your system automatically send out reminders also takes the pressure off you - you no longer need to remember exactly when to follow-up with which customers. 

GREAT TIP:

Don't wait until after your customer has missed a payment to remind them to pay. The best way to avoid bad debt is to to adhere to a simple, fundamental collection practice - keep the account good.

3. Collections

In order to collect from customers that have selected to pay via debit order and credit card, you would usually have to manually create a spreadsheet of all the relevant customers, their banking details and billed amounts. The details would then be uploaded onto your Company’s banking interface and the bank will then manage the clearing process.

When it's automated - that list is automatically created by the software and the file can be sent to your bank at a click of a button. This saves mega time and significantly reduces errors.

4. Bank Reconciliations

Bank recons are traditionally a very time-consuming, but essential financial task. Depending on your policies this is a process that’s repeated monthly, weekly or even daily.

The good news is that this is a very easy-to-automate process. It works by automatically matching your bank statement line items to your cash book entries.

Conclusion

Don't be afraid. Just take a deep breath and pick a place to start - then roll with it. You're bound to see benefits even when automating even just a small part of a bigger process. Remember the elephant quote? 'One little piece at a time'.

Download our latest ebook to see a full list of 18 typical business process that can be automated to save you some more ‘mega time’. Areas covered include: Customer Service, Marketing and HR.

Good luck and please do let us know if you have any other suggestions in the comments below. Also - keep an eye out for our upcoming posts, they will dive into some practical tips and how-to's in loads more detail.