Most technologies are designed to improve segments of the business, providing a specific support role. Others are designed to touch on individual tasks within departments and teams. Few technologies are built to support the entire enterprise, front to back. Even custom legacy systems have their limitations as companies grow.
The good news is that process automation bridges the gaps by supporting all teams and departments across the organization and connecting people, bots, and the technologies they both use in a way that is simple and effective.
As businesses work through quarterly planning and annual budgets, process automation technology provides a way to improve how work gets done systematically—and how fast and how efficiently. Here are a few ways process automation drives big efficiencies for the back office when it comes to planning and other forecasting.
Process Automation for Account Management
Many elements of account management happen in back-office activities—and much of it can be automated. While marketing and customer service teams are running campaigns, there is a whole lot happening behind the scenes. During the early part of the year, especially, Q1 marketing campaigns bring in new customers, requiring new account setup and opening procedures. Customer retention strategies might also be at play, which will affect company revenue and budgets. Additionally, changing regulations may also require attention.
Regardless of what your planning cycle demands, process automation helps it run like a well-oiled machine. Bots can automatically capture and transfer data to internal systems when opening new accounts. They can also trigger alerts and prompt nurture campaigns, exchange critical data between reporting systems, review accounts for compliance, and more.
Eliminating this time-consuming work from the daily workloads of employees saves thousands of hours a year. It also allows more capacity for human account management, business growth, and creative solutions for the year ahead.
A Platform You Have a Future With
We built our EZFlow platform on a cloud-native tech stack from the ground up. That means it’s adaptable, making EZFlow a scalable solution long after implementation, growing right alongside you and your organization. Designed for flexibility and adaptability, EZFlow heads into the future with you, ready for whatever comes next.
Process Automation for Approvals
Budgets, financial planning, quarterly forecasting and analysis typically require a series of sign-offs and approvals. The approval itself is a critical aspect of quality assurance but the process of getting approvals can be painful. If there are any breakdowns in communication along the way, weeks of work can face weeks of delays. Luckily process automation can help.
With the EZFlow platform, for example, you can design optimal workflows using real-time data from your existing systems. Not only will the system show you exactly what to change in your workflow to eliminate bottlenecks and facilitate the best flow possible, but it will also show you the anticipated financial impact of your decisions.
While automating the workflow around your approval process, you can also build contingencies, ensuring the work keeps flowing even if the designated approver is unavailable.
Transparency
Budgeting, financial planning and other back-office tasks require access, analysis and management of high volumes of data. Process automation helps budget managers and owners better manage the flow of work between people, departments and systems—and in the process, it drives transparency.
With process automation, workflows are built for optimal efficiency. But more than this, everyone at every stage of the process is working through the same workflow. Their work, tasks, and objectives are all different, but they’re working toward the same outcomes. Along the way, the platform automates specific segments of the work and illuminates the path ahead.
With platforms like EZFlow, transparency helps in several ways. For example, a bot can automatically call out discrepancies in reporting thanks to visibility across departments. With access to multiple data and reporting systems, bots can also highlight unallocated budget, allowing managers to make better use of revenue. These platforms can also gain insights into real-time activity, issuing warnings in advance of overspending.
Finding the Best Use for Automation in the Back Office
Need help deciding the best applications for automation in your back office? Have automation underway and need help scaling it? The team at EPSoft has your back (office). Get in touch today to learn more!