Limited resources, unlimited wants. It is a basic principle of economics. Every business must embrace it, whether they like it or not.
But, why then do businesses choose to spend thousands of dollars paying employees to do work that can be done faster and more accurately by machines alone?
The Accountant’s Nightmare
A classic example of such blind decision-making is having the accounting department spend hundreds of hours every year manually processing invoice data in Microsoft Excel to calculate sales commissions to pay their sales team.
But, they argue, “Isn’t the data in my system already? All I am doing is bringing it together, and processing it using templates I already have in place?”
But, consider how many hours it takes them to do it, not to mention the possibility of mistakes, and then resolving complaints from salespeople whose paychecks were incorrect.
Technology to the Rescue
Now, consider how things can change if the process were automated. A software program retrieves all invoice data from your accounting system and processes it immediately. The result? All calculations are completed within a few minutes, and your accountants are freed up to focus on tasks that justify their high salaries.
Dispute Resolution
What about disputes after the salesperson has been paid? Consider that the invoice data used for calculations as well as the calculations themselves end up becoming part of a commission database that is searchable and can be analyzed in myriads of ways, including the ability to export the data to Microsoft Excel and use the full range of analytical tools available in Excel to nail the exact problem.
Survive or Dive
Think again. Can a business seriously afford losing the opportunity to use employee time productively? Consider that every company today faces tough competition from other companies offering similar products and services. Creating more value for less is the mantra of survival in today’s marketplace. If a company is unwilling to invest in technology to take advantage of cost efficiencies, it won’t be long before it has been outrun by its competitors.