How to Structure your App Stack for Payments: flinder’s 7-Step Process
Telleroo harnesses the data in your accounting software to save you time and de-risk client payments. But if you’re looking to automate payments, chances are you’re also automating data capture, approvals and other essential areas of the finance function.
With this in mind, a key question we get at Telleroo is “What processes should we have in place?”
We sat down with Luke Streeter, COO of flinder, to find out how they structure their app stack to ensure payments run smoothly.
flinder leverages automation to provide fast-growing tech clients with an agile finance function. But Luke says the key is “having a clear and standardised process which everyone can follow”.
There are 7 steps in flinder’s process:
- Inbox management in Outlook
- Invoice processing in Dext
- Approvals using ApprovalMax
- Remind clients of approvals using Slack
- Bank rec in Xero
- Discuss what to pay with the client using Xero, Slack & Float
- Suggest payments using Telleroo
Having a clear process allows the team to work efficiently across a large number of clients. Each client may have different needs and bookkeeping schedules (daily, weekly, monthly etc), but Luke says setting the bookkeeping frequency, discussing client needs and agreeing on responsibilities are essential first steps.
Step 1 - Inbox management (Outlook)
Inboxes are managed by the flinder team, answering supplier queries, escalating matters to the wider business and ensuring any invoices are forwarded to Dext for processing.
Step 2 - Invoice processing (Dext)
The team use Dext to process all invoices from client inboxes to Xero, saving time and reducing errors. For clients on a weekly bookkeeping and payment schedule, invoices are typically processed at the start of the week.
Step 3 - Approvals (ApprovalMax)
Where invoice approval is required, ApprovalMax is used. This is typically the case when founders/directors start to relinquish control of day-to-day matters. It’s not often used for smaller clients where the payment approval acts as the final check and approval step.
Step 4 - Remind clients of approvals (Slack)
Slack is used to communicate with clients throughout the process, here it’s used to send a friendly nudge to clients reminding them of any invoices awaiting approval. It’s often found that ‘missing’ invoices from payment runs are a result of unapproved invoices.
Step 5 - Reconcile bank accounts (Xero)
Now that the invoices and receipts are in Xero, and have passed the approvals process, the team will reconcile the bank accounts so they have the most up-to-date information. There is nothing more embarrassing than proposing an invoice for payment that has already been paid!
Step 6 - Discuss what to pay with the client (Xero, Slack, and Float)
Payments are prepared using scheduling functionality in Xero, showing everything that should be paid if cash were unlimited. Next, they check the weekly cash position to see what the client can afford to pay.
The team then sends this info over to the client and has a conversation about what payments to prioritise.
Step 7 - Suggest payments to the client (Telleroo)
Now that the team have clarity on what needs to be paid, the payments are set up and sent to the client to approve and fund. Luke does this directly in Telleroo for the Xero invoice scanning feature, which imports the sort code and account number into Telleroo. Luke says, “This is a key feature that I love as it reduces the risk of errors when paying new suppliers”.
By Rebecca Fowler, Telleroo
Telleroo will be exhibiting at Accountex Summit Manchester on the 19th September 2023 on stand B14.
You can register for a free ticket here.
How to automate the accounts receivable process | Capium
Managing accounts receivable (AR) is a key part of the bookkeeping process – without keeping a close eye on the money that’s due to come into a business, it’s hard to maintain a healthy cashflow.
As an accountant, this is an area where you can provide a lot of support to your clients, making sure their AR process runs smoothly and keeping the right records to feed into their accounts.
There are also many opportunities to automate this process, freeing up time and improving efficiency for both you and your client.
A streamlined AR process should also help your clients to get paid faster, boosting their cashflow and bolstering your relationship with them as a trusted professional.
We’ll cover a few practical tips to effectively implement AR automation in your accountancy practice.
Consider your current processes
Before you get started, take the time to look at the way you manage AR in your firm at the moment.
Ask yourself:
- How do you and your team receive information from clients?
- How do clients receive information from you?
- Which parts of the process are already done automatically?
- What software are you already using to manage it?
- How are clients interacting with your current software?
- Which parts of the process are the same every time?
- Which parts take the most time or cause delays?
By looking at your current AR process from end to end, you should be able to highlight any problem areas and consider how you could manage those things differently.
At this stage, it’s a good idea to draw up a workflow, giving you and your team a framework for the way the process should work each time, while building in flexibility for any differences between clients.
From there, you can consider the best ways to automate parts of your workflow, rather than jumping straight to software solutions and trying to fit those into the way you work now.
If you have a practice management system, you should be able to build your workflow there so anyone in your practice can follow it.
Onboard with the right information
As part of your AR workflow, it’s also important to think about how you can begin the process with the right bookkeeping data, including for new clients.
Onboarding is another process where you can establish a workflow and use software to automate it. After this has been done – or as part of the onboarding workflow – you should reconcile your new client’s accounts so you can start with the correct information on hand.
Capium’s auto bank reconciliation feature can help you to do this swiftly, for new and existing clients.
Create invoice templates
The first step of AR is sending an invoice. For some clients, creating these and filling in the relevant information can take up valuable time – so one of the easiest ways to speed this up is by creating a reusable template that pulls through data automatically.
This way, it should only take a few clicks for you or your client to send a clear, professional invoice, making it easy for the customer to pay promptly.
Send automatic payment reminders
Once an invoice is out, the next stage of the process is monitoring that payment and reminding the customer to pay it after set periods of time.
Losing track of this can lead to cashflow problems with serious knock-on effects, so it’s really important to stay on top of things at this stage.
Setting up automatic reminders takes away the stress for both you and your client – it’s one less thing for you to remember, and should help to keep the cash coming into their business.
There are several software tools available that allow you to send invoices and reminders, but ideally you should look for something that connects to the software you use to manage the rest of the accounting process.
Automate AR with Capium’s integrated accounting software
Capium is a cloud-based accounting and practice management platform for accountants, designed to streamline your workflow with an integrated set of modules.
Our bookkeeping module allows you to easily automate your AR process, and the data you collect will sync automatically with our other accounting modules. It’s a comprehensive platform, giving you access to all of the most important information about your clients in one place.