Technological innovation impacts economic and social relationships, altering communication and interpersonal connections. As globalization advances, it’s crucial for companies to seek competitive advantages and to align their actions with new market contexts. Considering the speed of information and the need to anticipate consumer trends, making quick decisions is a fundamental part of any business’ expanding efforts. In response to the organization’s need for rapid access to information, the concept of Business Process Management (BPM) comes into play, enabling a comprehensive visualization of activities across various departments and business branches.
BPM and Process Mapping
BPM and Process Mapping Business Process Management (BPM) encompasses the entire workflow carried out to deliver a product or service within an organization’s internal process. Its goal is to standardize those processes, and involves understanding routines, goals, tasks, and the whole business model. BPM aids in mapping and establishing a logical procedure flow, identifying bottlenecks, minimizing operational errors, and optimizing time, eliminating redundant work and unnecessary expenses.
The use of this concept allows for a clearer view of each detail in the operation. Process optimization provides greater administrative control to managers, as information becomes organized, facilitating a better understanding of the business’s gears and consequently more strategic decision-making. Process management also aids information to flow within the team, allowing employees to monitor processes they are involved in and evoluate each activity’s progress.
The Importance of Information Organization in the Finances Department
One of the most critical departments in any enterprise is Finances. Poor management here can compromise cash flow, distort the actual business revenue view, lead to missed payments of tax obligations, strain relationships with clients and suppliers, and even affect credit approval with external financial institutions. Lack of finances control results in numerous negative consequences, from obligations and rights to relevant documents for each financial transaction.
With process and document management, multiple users can interact with the process socially and collaboratively. For instance, accessing payments made due to purchase requests, viewing payroll, managing reimbursement requests for travel, or even checking monthly sales commissions. Processes can be created and linked to various areas within the finances sector, limiting access to information only to what is relevant and to selected employees.
Since the finances department cares deeply about anything involving financial resources, we have developed a Return on Investment (ROI) calculator to demonstrate how automating processes can also be financially beneficial.
Benefits of Using BPM in the Financial Sector
In the decision-making process, a small choice can result in significant losses. In the face of such risk, the database of analyses must align with the business’s reality. Centralization of information increases speed and security, leading to cost reduction and optimizing payment and receivable management.
To reduce process bottlenecks, the procedure needs to be systematic and integrated, allowing more effective internal communication between departments, creating an internal history where stored data can be organized in various ways. Automation reduces errors, reallocates professionals to strategic activities, and optimizes time for tasks that can be done more quickly and securely.
Financial Processes at Neomind: How We Do It
For financial process management, we use the BPM module of the Fusion Platform. We automate processes for contract requests, commission requests, purchase requests, travel or reimbursement requests, and our invoicing request flow. Consider the last one:
In this flow, the process starts with an invoicing request from the requester. The process then moves on to financial analysis. If approved, the process remains with finances for invoicing. If not, the activity goes back to the requester for a data reassessment. Upon reassessment and continuation, the activity returns to the department.
When invoicing is completed, a notification for acknowledgment is sent to the requester. If the invoicing flow has multiple installments, a message will also be sent to the requester during the penultimate installment invoicing.
With the simplicity of activity visualization, all involved professionals know which stage the process is in. Thanks to the BPM module’s integration with Document Management (GED), all documentation is stored on the platform.
Conclusion
With a reliable source of valuable data generating solid managerial reports, and skilled professionals making optmized use of that information, we gain time for informed decision-making. In such a competitive scenario where time is money, BPM gives us the power to anticipate and predict behaviors with our great ally, technology.
Improving the connection between people, tools, and tasks leads to greater operational efficiency, cost reduction, data accuracy, error reduction, and communication failure reduction. Simultaneously, there is an increase in outsourcing and the realignment of professional profiles.
Investing in management software that meets your business’s characteristics is necessary to ensure information quality and pave the way for the organization’s success. Want all these benefits in your finances department? Try Fusion Platform for free for 15 days and make your processes much faster and more agile.