If your Accounts Receivable process remains mired in some manual tasks, you’re far from alone. New A/R benchmarks reveal they’re plaguing your peers … with costly consequences.
The yardsticks come from MSTS’s recent report, “Automation and Manual A/R Processes: Capital Considerations to Grow B2B Businesses in 2020 and Beyond.”
Take a look at what MSTS found to see what your peers’ A/R departments look like compare to yours:
- Manually inputting at least some invoice, bill or statement information into A/R systems (94%)
- Sending invoices through email (48%)
- Using an in-house credit assessment to screen for creditworthiness when extending terms to new customers (27%)
- Paper checks are the No. 1 invoice payment method used by customers (25%)
- Sending invoices through traditional mail (17%)
Technology limitations keeping A/R processes manual
So what’s standing in the way of a more efficient receivables process most often?
Current technological limitations say 37% of companies. And the effect on your team is palpable: More than a quarter (27%) say their A/R team is stretched too thin.
Setting 2021 goals for A/R
As you look to your departmental goals for 2021, chances are at least one of them appears on the list below. All three of them can be attained by stripping some of the manual processes out of A/R:
- Improved working capital. By eliminating chronic billing inaccuracies you’ll improve your company’s DSO.
- More maximized peoplepower. Get rid of inefficient administrative tasks and you’ll free up your people for more strategic initiatives.
- A better customer experience. With enough time and capital on your company’s hands, you’ll be able to give customers the experience they expect from you. And that will keep them with you.
Of course you’ll want to consult with those on the front lines in your A/R department to discuss where the biggest bottlenecks lie.
