According to McKinsey & Company, at least 2 in every 3 businesses are testing at least one automation solution for launching. Currently, 31% of all businesses have at least one process full automated in their workflow. Business process automation could refer to simple repetitive tasks being taken over by simple technology. It can also involve using AI to complete complex tasks that previously involved hiring skilled labor.
Businesses have realized the value automation creates by allowing humans to concentrate on non-repetitive tasks that affect the bottom line. As time goes on, we are likely to see more complex automation solutions powered by big data, machine learning, and development in robotics technologies. No matter the revenue constraints, there is always an area of business workflow that can be automated for efficiency or security. Here are seven business processes worth automating.
Revenue Recognition Process Automation
Revenue recognition is a fundamental principle in accounting, which touches on when a business should include transactions as revenue in its financial statements. It’s a complex matter that depends on the time a deal was signed, money was paid, or liability accepted. Practices differ depending on whether an entity is a private organization, government institution, or a non-profit. The complexity sometimes creates opportunities for fraud where people overstate revenues to display a favorable position or escape tax liability by understating the same.
However, automation could minimize errors and the risk of fraud. For instance, sales data and expenses data can help automatically track the revenue position of the company at any point in the financial year.
Social Media Automation
There are numerous tools that a business could use to improve its use of social media channels. These tools can help to curate and schedule posts. This way, a brand can plan for its content will in advance to ensure consistency. There are also social media listening tools that can be used to track what is being said about a brand online from one place. It is also possible to track conversations using keywords and hashtags. This is important so that the content a brand creates is not out of tone.
Automation in customer engagement is also possible through chatbots. Through the power of AI, these chatbots can serve customers around the clock, answer common questions, and book tickets from customers so that agents can get back to them later. It helps the brand serve customers better by avoiding long hours on-call or having to wait for business hours to get assistance.
Automating engagements with customers also offers a chance to get insights on how to improve such communication. For instance, analytics tools can show you what time of day customers interact with the brand, most asked questions or complaints, the engagement rates, as well as the reach of your posts. Based on this, future content can be better curated.
Cybersecurity Threat Detection and Combat
Cybersecurity threats have become heavily automated and deploying manual methods to detect and repel them is a losing proposition. Therefore, automated cybersecurity protection strategies are the best options for fighting threats targeting a company’s data and IT infrastructure. For instance, it is possible to deploy a feature that constantly monitors that existing security systems are available and functional. In addition, it is possible to monitor and disconnect unauthorized devices from the company’s network. The company can also have the automated cybersecurity infrastructure to generate routine reports of users or those who have access to the network. It can also send reminders to users to change their passwords every few days to minimize risk. All these things are virtually impossible to do manually but an automated system ensures consistency.
Employee Onboarding Automation
Automating your company’s process of onboarding new employees means they can start being productive more quickly. In addition, it standardizes the process and ensures that no fine details are missed. 58% of the onboarding process involves filling paperwork, which can be quite exhausting. However, creating a portal where new employees can go about the process in their own pace means the HR department can focus on other tasks.
Once they complete the process, it is even possible to collect feedback on their experience of the onboarding process. You can also send them important communication electronically which makes it even easier to retrieve for future reference. Another great benefit of automating the process is that documents are only accessible to authorized parties, which minimizes the information security risk.
Remote Working Automation
Businesses that allow their employees to work from home need to create structures that ensure continuity and consistency. Technology can make this possible by having virtual workspaces where people can assign tasks, share documents, meet, collaborate on projects, make presentations and so forth. Things such as setting up meetings and sending reminders can ensure that people do not miss deadlines or meetings even if they are away from the office.
In addition, you can abstract away easily automatable back-office processes such as invoicing. This reduces the need to have people come in physically to the office. Automation can also ensure that people working from home do not put company data at risk especially when online. Measures such as converting documents to a safe format before being accessed by remote employees can improve security.
Automating the Invoicing Process
Automation of the invoicing process can greatly improve an organization’s workflow. A company can eliminate paperwork by sending a link where suppliers can fill out invoices. An ERP system automatically gathers data from such invoices and populates payables accounts. Once verified against purchase orders and other source documents, the system can schedule invoices for payment. It’s a much more efficient way to prevent fraud because checks in are inbuilt into the ERP system as opposed to relying on human checks. It also reduces costs for the company by minimizing reliance on human resources while also eliminating postage costs. Error rates in automated invoicing are naturally lower than in manual environments.
Conclusion
If your business needs assistance with business process automation, please check out Transcendent Software. We are an IT solutions company with more than twenty years of experiencing helping businesses get the best out of their IT infrastructure.