Run of the mill, repetitive business processes are incredibly efficient and streamlined today. Both in business in general as well as in Corporate Finance – but there’s one common area where these streamlined and automated mass processes fail. That’s every time there is an exception. When something that shouldn’t happen, happens. Let’s look into some issues related to manual payments.
Non-standard payments, one-off payments, manual payments – there are many names for the same problem. How does the process work when you need to deal with an exception?
For most, it doesn’t. Issuing the payment is a manual, error-prone and high-risk activity that some companies refuse to do and some try to refuse, kicking and screaming.
How many airlines issue the EU compensation for delayed and cancelled flights promptly? Without trying every other option besides paying first? The alternative to not paying is to provide a bad customer experience. And as we all know, bad experiences are shared more than good experiences. Combine that with your Customer Acquisition Cost and the price of having an inefficient, sub-optimal one-off, non-standard or manual payment process becomes significant.
But what if it could be fast? User friendly? Simple to raise, review, validate? Easy to send to the bank? And what if it could be effortless to post the subsequent manual journal entries in the same secure and controlled environment?
There is clearly a need, as quite often these one-off manual payments are simply a part of your business. Unavoidable – as it is for most airlines today. Think of a newspaper making payment to a citizen journalist whose material or intellectual property, such as a photograph, was made use of? Or a refund policy, or promotional, marketing activities like a cashback campaign.
What would we need from such a solution? What is it made up of and does it cover all the concerns there would be around security?
The Aico solution for Manual Payments is as simple as a form and a workflow. These provide all the information and supporting evidence regarding why the payment should be made and to whom.
The workflow ensures the payment is reviewed by one or more individuals to confirm the payment request is valid. And that there is a reason to make the payment. That nothing sanctioned or blacklisted is in question, and thus the manual payment request is good to be paid out.
Once it is approved, it is critical to make sure that nobody can tamper with the payment request order. The PAIN file message is sent from Aico to your payment gateway, through the customer to bank PAIN file upload process, in a secure and fully automated manner.
To ensure that there is no way to cover up evidence of fraud by forging details in the journal, the same secure process needs to be in place when processing the payment confirmation or bank statement. Aico takes care of this as well, automating the subsequent journal entry to finish the process in a secure, closed loop.
Download this 28-page eBook to learn about the top four areas where the typical manual payment process allows for fraud. The eBook will also help you to find ways to make these payments secure, properly approved, and evidenced.
We help enterprises simplify financial close and record-to-report (R2R) accounting processes. The result is less manual work and faster period-end financial reporting with the assurance of compliance and data accuracy.
Our software platform includes solutions for the key R2R processes – Account Reconciliation, Closing Task Management, Journal Entries, Intercompany Invoicing and Manual Payments. Unique real-time integration to multiple ERP systems brings increased automation levels and reduces IT system complexity to our customers.
With teams and a network of partners across EMEA, we deliver high-complexity projects for enterprises with a global footprint.