The holidays are here. It’s the perfect time to relax, reset, and spend quality time with friends and family before revving back up for the new year.
That’s not always possible if you own or operate a B2B company, especially since Clutch reported that B2B holiday spending increased last year by 15%. You want to revel in some well-deserved downtime but not at the expense of turning away customers.
Using accounting automation software to streamline your AR (accounts receivable) process allows you to enjoy the holidays without damaging your bottom line.
This blog explains how.
1. Do More with Less
Your employees probably represent the approximately 90% who receive PTO on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. However, you may also have approved vacation time for the days leading up to or following these holidays — when most travel occurs — leaving you short-staffed during a busy period.
Accounting automation will never replace an AR staff. Rather, it enables you and your team to manage a heavy workload despite being short-handed. Time-consuming tasks like reconciling payments to invoices and sending out payment reminders are done automatically, saving you time and expediting the payment process while ensuring you still have the bandwidth required to serve and satisfy customers.
The right AR automation platform provides multiple payment options like ACH (Automated Clearing House) and credit cards and enables customers to pay balances by simply clicking a button, saving you and your team the chore of manually depositing and reconciling paper checks. Some accounting automation features include self-service portals where you and your customers can chat in real time. This helps bring a quick resolution to any issue or discrepancy even while the customer’s usual point-of-contact is celebrating Christmas on a tropical island and not answering their phone or checking email.
2. Reduce Stress
It’s hard to completely unplug from work no matter how many miles away you are or what you’re doing. This is especially true if you work from home.
Accounting automation not only takes care of your AR process but also eliminates human error. You don’t need to worry about invoices being sent or reconciled incorrectly, even though you’re not there to double- and triple-check everything, and can instead focus on trimming the tree or putting together a grocery list for Thanksgiving dinner.
AR automation scales easily and can adapt to any additional workload. That way, you can take a vacation with the peace of mind knowing that a sudden surge of business won’t overwhelm or burn out a team that’s not at full strength. With mundane accounting chores taken care of, your staff can provide customers with the level of service they’re used to even while some of your team is miles away from the office.
3. Effectively Manage and Forecast Cash Flow
Late-season spending may be on the rise but some of your customers may be outliers, and you still need to cover expenses even if your business tails off a bit.
An optimal AR automation platform won’t just increase your cash flow, but it will make it easier than ever to accurately manage it through a clean dashboard that’s simple to navigate. This dashboard should feature real-time updates on crucial metrics while enabling you to see which invoices are still outstanding and alerting you instantly when one is paid. That way, you can proactively spot a decrease in revenue and budget accordingly.
The information on the dashboard also makes it simple for you to budget for next year, eliminating the need for you to work on your vacation or rush through it when you return. You can get it done fast, enjoy the holidays, and hit the ground running in January.
You work hard all year and deserve a break. That’s why we created Bill360, one of the only accounting automation platforms built specifically to help B2B companies like yours. Our innovative software solutions, easy-to-read dashboard, and self-service customer portals save you the time associated with labor-intensive accounting chores and chasing down late payments, leading to a peaceful and stress-free holiday season.
Give yourself the gift of AR automation. Contact Bill360 today.
