It’s no secret that an advanced and innovative new technology can shift the way in which individuals in certain industries complete critical, daily tasks. For instance, access to big data and the ability to analyze it changed the way stakeholders across every sector thought about decision-making, enabling them to back their strategies with data-driven insights.

A recent report shows that several different technologies – including elements like virtual accounts, real-time payments and automation – are having a similarly disruptive effect in the treasury industry.

Rethinking financial operations management

In fact, according to a report from Global Finance Magazine on a survey completed at the International Treasury Management conference in Geneva this year, many treasurers note that new technological solutions and capabilities are shaking up long-held internal working processes.

“[T]reasurers are looking to leverage new and emerging technology solutions to create operational and strategic advantage,” wrote Global Finance Magazine contributor Anita Hawser. “[T]hese new solutions are also forcing treasurers to rethink how they manage their company’s operations.”

Some of the top disruptive advancements identified by treasury workers include:

Virtual accounts: Decoupling accounts from physical systems enables treasurers to create a nearly unlimited number of accounts, each with a unique account number. This helps reduce the number of external accounts treasurers have to manage, while also making processes like payment reconciliation and reporting much easier.
Real-time payment systems: Additionally, as global firms increasingly move toward real-time payment systems, treasurers can better manage particularly time-sensitive payments and financial activity. As Hawser pointed out, these systems also enable financial managers to view incoming credits to their account, helping to support improved liquidity.

“Real-time and instant domestic payment schemes are proliferating around the globe,” noted Bruno Mellado of BNP Paribas in the report. “What is not yet clear at a corporate level is whether the benefits of real-time or instant payments will outweigh the costs; however, treasurers need to be prepared, particularly for incoming flows.”

Benefits of treasury automation software

One way treasury stakeholders can help ensure their preparedness for these and other technological financial innovations is by taking advantage of yet another emerging advancement: automation.

Automation has been popping up all over an array of sectors, but for treasury workers, automation translates to less manual, paper-based work, alongside considerable time savings and access to up-to-date financial information. As Hanse Orga CEO Sven Lindemann wrote for Treasury Management, automation also boosts overall efficiency while supporting more productive treasury work and a better relationship with other departments within the business.

“Automation and integration can now translate joined-up thinking and planning into joined-up business processes, through enhanced information exchange,” Lindemann wrote. “Treasury’s closer relationship with the rest of the organization enables it to base its key risk decisions on better quality information that is dependable, accurate and up to date.”

Solutions that support automation within the treasury department can also free up considerable time for finance workers to investigate and implement other, advanced technologies, such as those described above. To find out more about how automation can impact your company’s treasury workloads, connect with the experts at SK Global Software today.

While the process of bank reconciliation may not be exciting, it’s something that’s absolutely essential for all businesses, large and small, across every industry. Bank reconciliation helps you ensure that your company’s internal records match those of the bank, and that no transactions or money have slipped through the cracks along the way. Keeping up-to-date and accurate records is, of course, imperative, no matter what type of organization you run.

Depending on the size of your company and the number of transactions you support every month, this process may be more arduous and involved than one might assume. Thousands of monthly transactions necessitate that each and every one be double-checked and reconciled, and that any discrepancies are flagged and addressed.

For these reasons, it’s simply not functional or efficient to complete reconciliation by hand. You need a best-in-class software solution that can help manage this process for you, while eliminating manual work and supporting accuracy. Let’s take a look at the different parts of a leading automated bank reconciliation platform and the role each feature plays in the reconciliation process.

Compatible integration

The ability to integrate the solution with the internal software you already use is more crucial than you might think. Chances are good that your accounting team already uses a platform to manage your financial data, like Microsoft Dynamics AX. Instead of switching windows between your existing software and your reconciliation solution, your financial officers need an all-encompassing system, where they can ensure balance and accuracy from a single place.

Advanced automation

Manual work, especially within accounting process, can be considerably time-consuming, and can lead to mistakes that require additional time and resources to correct. When it comes to your organization’s bank reconciliation, manual pen-and-paper activity simply isn’t feasible anymore, particularly if you’re a business with multiple accounts that need to be balanced.

A best-in-class reconciliation solution will include advanced automation, enabling it to import your bank current statements without the need for prompt. What’s more, this advanced technology can run in the background and continuously pinpoint any discrepancies. This not only means your balances are always up-to-date, but your accountants can work proactively to immediately address any flagged transactions that might not match internal or bank records.

Robust security

Your banking information and associated details are highly sensitive, and these days, there’s no shortage of threats to this valuable data. Your bank reconciliation shouldn’t add to the risk – it should help protect your company financial details and transaction records. An industry-leading solution will offer end-to-end security, protecting data without releasing it into the cloud.

Treasury Automation: Bank reconciliation solution

Bank reconciliation solutions certainly aren’t one in the same. Your business needs a system that will support existing internal processes and software, help eliminate manual work while reducing errors and enable robust security for your sensitive data.

SK Global’s Treasury Automation Suite includes automated bank reconciliation that’s compatible with Microsoft Dynamics AX, AX7, AX2012 and AX 2009. Our advanced automation means the solution automatically matches each transaction against bank records, enabling accuracy and reducing the chance for any discrepancy. And our industry-leading security ensures that your most important financial information is protected.

Check out our whitepaper, and connect with SK Global Software today to learn more.

According to a recent study, accounting teams and C-suite executives have vastly differing opinions when it comes to their current accounts payable processes and the need for automated solutions.

The study – sponsored by SaaS firm Inspyrus and PayStream Advisors researchers – discovered that many executives are “far removed, if not out of touch” with their internal AP activity, PYMNTS reported.

This not only demonstrates the critical need for improvement in this area, but also underscores the importance of properly communicating the advantages of AP automation in a way that makes sense to decision-makers.

Fault and pain points in accounts payable

As PYMNTS noted, one researcher called the survey results “eye-opening” when describing the difference of opinion between employees who take part in AP workloads and the executives that oversee the business.

Overall, 93 percent of accounting professionals noted that there are faults in their existing AP processes, identifying manual data entry as a leading pain point contributing to these issues. At the same time, however, many executives did not agree – about half of C-suite decision-makers noted that their internal AP processes “work just fine.”

“Organizations can literally save millions through a combination of efficiency gains, cost savings and cash-back returns that come with combining invoice automation, payment automation and dynamic discounting — along with direct supplier enablement,” said Inspyrus Chief Strategy Officer Chris Preston. “However, complacency around the AP function threatens to hold organizations back from attaining these breakthrough automation efficiencies and financial returns.”

Highlighting key benefits for executives

However, the problem here remains, and accounting professionals must approach efforts at gaining executive buy-in for automation carefully. After all, executives may not be aware of all the in-depth detail and work involved in the current AP automation process, and it’s imperative that the accounting team highlight the advantages that will resonate the most with the C-suite.

In this vein, Untapped recommended discussing elements like:

The financial gains: This is particularly critical when speaking to the CFO. Underscoring advantages related to an AP automation solution’s robust return on investment, the low financial risks it presents, and how the technology will contribute to reporting accuracy and operational efficiency will help make the case here.
The ease of use and perks for internal IT: It’s also beneficial to demonstrate how an automated solution might support the internal IT team. As Untapped pointed out, many internal IT staff are stretched thin in terms of resourcing, and executives don’t want to put more on their shoulders with the deployment of another software platform. In this way, finding a supportive AP automation vendor is key.
Available options: Speaking of vendors, accounting teams seeking buy-in should do their research ahead of time and be ready to present different options that suit the company’s needs. Once convinced of the potential benefits, executives will want to be sure that they’re not overpaying for more features than they need, and that they’re selecting a robust and trustworthy software partner.

To find out more about making the business case for AP automation, connect with our experts at SK Global Software today.

A brief introduction about Cegeka

Cegeka is dedicated to helping companies survive and thrive in a digital world. They do this by means of advanced IT solutions, strategic thinking and a hands-on approach.

We live in a world where digital transformation and disruption have become the new normal. Organizations have to constantly reinvent themselves. They face the difficult task of keeping a cool head and taking the right steps in the digital arena. They have to do this in a controlled and targeted manner, without blindly following the hype.

That’s why there is a growing need for IT partners who are genuinely interested in helping organizations organisations make the right strategic choices. IT partners who work in close cooperation with the customer, and who commit towards tangible results. Cegeka is such a partner.

Key Markets

Cegeka is an international partner attending the needs of their customers in many European countries. Their Key Markets are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Romania. We are very proud to collaborate with their more than 4000 people working at Cegeka!

Our partnership

We are sure that this partnership will help many customers to discover the market’s best Banking and Treasury Automation solution for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. We are looking forward to a great collaboration!

Would like to learn about the benefits of becoming an SK Global Software partner?

No matter what industry an organization operates in, every business has one very important process in common: payment. Whether your have to pay a vendor or provide tender to a customer according to specific invoices, reimbursement for goods and services is something everyone takes part in.

For decades, the payment process remained the same – merchandise or labor is provided, and upon completion, the customer pays the provider. This process mainly leaned on manual, paper processes. Today, however, there is a better way.

Payment automation enables your organization to leverage the latest technology to eliminate the time consuming payment process. But why, exactly, does your company need this kind of innovation? Let’s take a look:

Enhance efficiency

Before payment automation, workers had to manually match invoices and ensure that service providers and customers were paid. Not only did this take considerable time and effort to support accurate payment and overall accounting, but any lost or misplaced invoices could result in late payments – as well as negative impact on the company’s standing and reputation.

Payment automation tackles these issues head on, removing the need for manual, paper-based processes and reducing the time it takes to reconcile bills. This means your employees can work on other mission-critical tasks while payments are taken care of automatically and correctly every time. In fact, business printing firm Relyco found that automation can cut the average invoice approval time from 28 days to just under 3 days. What could your company do with an extra 25 days of production time?

Workflow automation can result in considerable savings.

Save processing costs

Eliminating paper processes can do much more for your business than just improve its efficiency. This benefit goes hand-in-hand with cost savings, meaning your organization gets back both time and money.

Automation can contribute to as much as 80 percent savings over manual, paper-based processes.

Considering this fact, it is easy to wonder why many enterprises have not yet automated their accounts payable operation.

Up to 80 percent savings alongside the ability to align with top businesses focuses makes payment automation the ideal solution for today’s accounting departments.

Eliminate errors

“Automation can contribute to 80 percent savings over manual, paper-based processes.”

There are few problems that impact your finance team more than incorrect invoices or payments. It’s an issue that every organization has dealt with at some point, particularly those that still rely on manual data entry.

Because payment automation can integrate with an array of banks to streamline the payment process, it removes a layer of data entry during which mistakes most commonly appear.

“Customer and payment data that has been captured and approved for disbursement can be entered into the payables system, making the process considerably faster,” optical image company DocFinity explained. “At the same time, the possibility that an approved invoice will have an error in the corresponding check or payment can be eliminated.”

In this way, accuracy is supported throughout the process and payments are always correct.

To find out more about the kind of advanced banking and treasury automation that can bring these benefits, visit our website and take a moment to check out our video today.

Automation has been applied to countless industry sectors, freeing employees from manual tasks while improving overall risk management. When it comes to the financial sector, automation has proven particularly advantageous in connection with treasury management. In fact, according to a survey from the Aberdeen Group, the ability to automate financial transactions is now the most sought after approach for enhancing treasury management.

One of the key advantages treasury automation brings to the table comes in the form of support for security. Data and system protection has consistently been a top priority for financial service providers and enterprises alike, and treasury automation is an ideal solution.

1) Supporting a single, secure point of access

Because companies have so much data to keep track of in connection with their transactions and overall finances, a common problem is information overload, coupled with a lack of security when accessing the multiple different systems used to track this data. Thankfully, a robust treasury automation suite can help address this issue by providing a single and protected point of access for financial details.

“Financial transaction automation is the most sought after approach for enhancing treasury management.”

“Companies that maintain relationships with multiple different commercial banks can procure financial information from all of their different banks,” a recent report from Cadence Bank stated.

Overall, 52 percent of companies noted that the ability to access this information from a single, secure solution would greatly benefit their online treasury management.

2) Providing a protected payment portal

In addition to accessing critical financial transactional information and improving management of banking relationships, treasury automation can also offer an encrypted portal to ensure payment security. The most robust solutions allow users to tailor this window in order to create a branded portal that provides flexible payment options coupled with automatic, real-time transaction posting.

A branded portal of this kind doesn’t just keep the business’s transactions secure, but also provides protection and peace of mind to customers. Although online transactions have been a leading capability for years now, there are still some that hesitate with these kinds of payments. Offering a professional and secure payment portal can put these concerns to bed while safeguarding payments with staunch protection features.

3) Improved tracking of transactions

A basic tenet of financial security and fraud prevention is robust visibility into all of the transactions between vendors, banks and customers. However, this can easily get very complicated, especially for global businesses that not only have multiple bank relationships, but have to factor different types of currency into their considerations as well.

This is yet another area where treasury automation provides significant support. This type of solution can help organizations large and small keep track of their transactions, providing granular visibility into payments and cash management.

To find out more about the advantages of treasury automation and how it supports secure transactions, contact the experts at SK Global Software today.

We give you 15 Reasons

With Bank Statement Automation for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations, you can enhance the level of automation significantly, when performing bank statement imports, and performing your reconciliation. With increased automation you will enjoy;

Increased efficiency
Decreased Cost
Eliminating Human Errors

Here are 5 specific advantages of Automating

(To see all 15 Reasons, Download the Guide below)

No.1: Save Time and Money

By saving you time, you save money. Many underestimate the time needs to be spend on reconciliation between Bank Accounts and General Ledger Balances. Decrease the working time by using a Bank statement Automation.

No. 2: Operate independently of your bank

Switch bank without risk of losing automation. When switching your bank provider you can add and change Bank Accounts without without worrying of your internal efficiency.

No. 3: Reconcile daily, automatically

Increase cadence of Reconciliation to a daily process. Let the intelligent do the job and decrease the human interactions.

No. 4: Enterprise-wide = Massive efficiency gain

The size of your company is redundant, the Bank Statements Automation cover all from the smallest SME to the biggest International Enterprise.

No. 5: Process large data quantities, FAST!

This process makes it possible to at small number of individuals to handle a very large quantity of data painlessly.

Download the Guide here:

Guide: Why should you automate? We give you 15 reasons

Or, Contact us right now for more information

In the current FinTech landscape, an increasing number of organizations seek solutions that can help them avoid the type of error-prone, manual work they utilized in the past. After all, things like pen-and-paper tracking of transactions and manually updated spreadsheets have been on their way out for years now, in favor of faster, more efficient and more accurate software solutions.

This includes processes like accounts payable. Ensuring that invoices are paid and that partners and vendors receive payments on a timely schedule is critical – and integrating software to automate this process can be a considerable boon for nearly any organization.

According to a study from Certify, 65 percent of companies plan to make the switch to an automated accounts payable solution by the end of 2019. With 15 percent of businesses currently using manual paper processes, there seems to be substantial room for improvement.

Don’t purchase software without proper planning

However, organizations cannot simply purchase AP automation software and think that this will solve all of their problems. Herein lies the first misstep with AP automation initiatives: where companies purchase a solution and assume it will be the silver bullet to solve all of their accounts payable inefficiencies.

Although automated AP software certainly has the capacity to support key advantages like improved efficiency, reduced manual work and fewer errors – while contributing to significant time and money savings in the process – decision-makers can’t just hand over the software and expect their job to be done.

Transitioning from manual, paper-based processes to an advanced system dependent on digital channels takes time. The AP and finance team will need to rework their processes and migrate key data, including customer information and payment schedules from existing databases to the new automated platform.

As the Institute of Finance Management noted in a series for PaymentsJournal, putting new, automated working processes in place provides the accounting team with the ideal opportunity to take a look inward and improve their initiatives.

“If automation is implemented without taking a cold, hard look at the existing way of doing things and cleaning that up beforehand, you’ll essentially be ‘lifting and shifting’ the problems of a manual system and trying to impose them onto a software-driven system, one which is far less flexible than the humans now doing the work – human beings who have learned to work around the issues in the interest of just getting stuff done,” the Institute of Finance Management stated.

In this way, it’s imperative that accounts payable stakeholders and decision-makers take a look at current AP activity and address any key problems before transitioning to the new software. Taking the time to properly plan the change will make the migration much smoother and support a better ROI for management.

Ensure visibility and alignment across teams

Another issue might emerge when it comes to the accounting team’s visibility and its alignment with other departments within the organization, including and especially the purchasing team.

As the Institute of Finance Management noted, transactions that are not related to inventory, and thus may not come with a purchase order, can gum up the works in accounts payable. Without visibility into these purchases, vendor and partner relationships can suffer.

“These non-inventory purchases can drag an organization down with uncontrolled spending and event OFAC violations, and get AP intro trouble for non-payment of invoices – even though they weren’t aware of them in the first place,” the Institute of Finance Management stated.

About 80 percent of a typical business’s budget goes toward non-inventory purchases, according to PaymentsJournal. Not having visibility into these transactions and a lack of alignment between the accounting and purchasing teams can result in late payments and lots of headaches for internal accountants.

In addition to cleaning up and improving existing working processing ahead of putting AP automation in place, it’s also vital that the accounting team support collaboration and alignment between their department and purchases made within other departments.

Experts recommend educating the purchasing and other teams about the negative effects of careless spending and how late payments can impact the business. When teams work together to enable visibility and ensure everyone is on the same page, invoices can be paid on time and accounts payable can avoid payments from falling through the cracks.

To find out more about how to avoid common missteps with your AP automation initiative, connect with the experts at SK Global Software today.

Are you working with Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations? SKG’s Banking and Treasury Automation Suite solution is ready for the newest update! This update is ready for download, install, and upgrade for all new and existing customers.

Our Treasury Automation Suite, Banking Automation Suite and all related module are fully ready for the most recent Microsoft Update, for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations Version 8.1. The fully compatible SK Global Software solutions have been available for download since 23 October 2018.

We have not introduced any new features with this particular update since we have recently added a long list of enhancements in the two previous releases. So for this update, all the most recent enhancements have simply been lifted up to D365, version 8.1 But don’t worry, more enhancements are already in the making.

As a premier Microsoft Dynamics ISV it is a key component of SK Global Software’s commitment to our Customers, Partners, and the general Microsoft Dynamics Partner Channel that we always stay current with Microsoft’s version updates.

We always aim at having our solution on par with Microsoft’s general updates within 30 – 45 Days of their release, a target which we have never missed so far.

As an SK Global Software Partner, remember that you have full access to the downloadable and most recent versions of our solutions, via our Partner Portal.

And for our active customers, you are always eligible to upgrade to the newest version as well and benefit from all the enhancements that we constantly put into our products. Contact us or your partner for assistance if needed!

Useful Links for you as a SKG partner:

For our Partners, please find the most recent solutions via our Partner Portal, follow this link

https://www.sksoft.com → https://portal.sksoft.com/Account/Login

See our full Product Update/Release History here:

http://www.sksoft.com/support/release_history.php

For a general overview of Microsoft’s changes with the 8.1 Update please follow this link:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/unified-operations/fin-and-ops/get-started/whats-new-changed

Collaborate Canada is back in 2018! Join your peers at one of these one-day events happening in five cities across Canada this November. Collaborate Canada is an exceptional opportunity to build professional relationships and fuel your Microsoft Dynamics Product knowledge. Find solutions to your everyday challenges working within your Dynamics product from MVPs, ISVs, industry leaders, and subject matter experts.

Registration is open – secure your seat today!

Event Highlights:

Microsoft Keynote

Microsoft will deliver the keynote presentation at all Collaborate Canada locations.

Engaging Networking Opportunities

Countless opportunities to create lasting relationships by networking and collaborating with Dynamics users, MVPs, and industry experts.

Exceptional Educational Content

Customize your learning with over 35 sessions featuring content for users of:

Microsoft Dynamics 365
Microsoft Dynamics AX
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Microsoft Dynamics GP
Microsoft Dynamics Business Central & Dynamics NAV

Learn from your Microsoft Dynamics peers, expand your network of connections, and discover the possibilities of your Dynamics product.

Don’t miss the opportunity to get involved, select the city nearest you:

Vancouver – November 5, 2018

Calgary – November 8, 2018

Montreal – November 13, 2018

Toronto – November 20, 2018

Ottawa – November 27 2018