If you are spending all of your time actioning a lot of financial tasks manually, then it’s time to consider implementing elements of financial automation within your not-for-profit (NFP).
Automation is essential to help you save time and money; for most NFP organisations, that would be highly beneficial. Instead of your finance team spending valuable time completing transactional accounting tasks, you want them to be able to focus on strategic or proactive work that will help you grow and achieve your organisational mission.
So you find yourself asking, “what is financial automation?”.
Finance automation involves using technology to complete tasks with little or no human input. This isn’t to say that it replaces people but simply means using automation to handle repetitive, time-consuming manual tasks.
It is essential to determine what automation your organisation needs. In this stage, it is key to step back and look at your internal processes with fresh eyes. One of the best ways to put pen to paper and ask yourself questions like: How does the income come into your organisation? Are grants deposited into your organisation’s bank account? Are donations made via credit card from your website? Start to think about sales receipts and the types of transactions, and then consider the flow of activity that follows.
In this process, just take the time to carefully consider all aspects and note down each step or component. This will help you identify things that go in circles and also spot straight lines where only one person is doing all the tasks. Wherever you identify straight lines, there is an element of risk which is involved, as there is no segregation of duties. It can be hard to achieve if there is only a small finance team, but it is still important to identify and recognise.
Moving forward from here, you can discern areas where automation tools could save you time by reducing manual data entry tasks. Therefore, helping you improve your financial governance through better segregation of duties.
At Hopscotch Accounting, we have used award-winning technology for our not-for-profit clients. We have provided cutting-edge, cloud-based accounts services and advice to the not-for-profit sectors.
Our team here have years of experience and can help you save time and money, allowing you to focus on servicing your clients and customers.
To learn more, contact us at 1300 HOP 123 or admin@haccounting.com.au
