The future of finance and the pursuit of foresight

The future of finance and the pursuit of foresight

Article credit: Sage 

Transaction processing. Reporting. Compliance.

A traditional finance wheelhouse primarily concerns itself with these three areas, all of which share a common trait: they focus on things that have already happened.

During a recent webinar, The Future of Finance, hosted by Sage, it was clear that the role of the Chief Financial Officer, and the team that supports that office, is rapidly becoming more strategic and prestigious.

Professor Herman Singh, CEO of Future Advisory, used an aviation analogy to explain the new demands on the finance function.

“Every business needs a flight plan and must regularly test its parameters. And if the aircraft deviates from the plan, the CFO must be able to adjust course.”

Getting everyone on board

Attendees were asked in a survey to choose which option best described what the ‘future of finance’ meant to them. The majority ticked the ‘smart combination of people and technology’ box.

Speaking during the webinar, Gerhard Hartman, Vice President of Medium Business for Sage Africa & Middle East, said that, for finance teams to become more strategic, they need to free themselves from the monotony of mundane tasks.

Embracing the likes of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation is central to achieving that outcome. But it’s a transition that needs to be handled carefully.

Is there an optimal way to ensure your people embrace technology and their changing responsibilities? Creating and communicating a roadmap of how your business plans to adopt technology is an excellent place to start.

Plot your course

Digital transformation refers to any business function that deploys technology to improve how you do things. It’s a journey that isn’t walked in a night, nor do you need to digitise everything at once. But you should apply your mind as to which tasks and processes would benefit most from digitisation and then create a plan detailing how the transformation will happen.

Some of the critical areas any finance function should focus on include:

  • Use of automation and robotics to streamline finance processes,
  • Data visualisation that gives users access to actionable, real-time insights, and
  • Analytics that support strategic decision-making within the business.

How does this digitisation manifest? It’s a long, exciting list:

  • Financial planning and budgeting functions that are agile, centralised, accessible, and up to date,
  • The automation of report generation and data reconciliations,
  • Easy-to-use dashboards packed with insight for improved decision-making,
  • The ability to collate data from multiple sources for a unified view of financial positioning,
  • Forecasts powered by constantly improving algorithms, and
  • More sophisticated working capital management, to name a few.

As exciting as these prospects are, they are unlikely to run the course of their full potential without a plan in place. As Professor Singh said towards the end of the webinar, “The three most important things in any business are direction, alignment, and commitment.” All three require good planning.

The bigger picture here is that by pledging to digitise your finance function, you’re putting it on course for a higher purpose – your newfound ability to offer strategic direction means you become responsible for shaping the destiny of your business.

 Destination agility

The irony, and conundrum, is that all businesses today must embrace rapid technological progress to keep up with the demands of their consumers when it is often those very trappings of technology that cause their shifting expectations in the first place. To remain relevant, then, you’ll need to accept that ongoing change to your business, particularly in the realm of technology, is not only inevitable but is key to your survival.

With the volume and richness of data that now flows through finance functions everywhere, the most significant potential impact from digitisation lies, arguably, within your department. But only those who employ agile systems will be able to evolve at the speed necessary to maintain that higher strategic status.

Harking back to Professor Singh’s aviation analogy, the finance function of any business must have:

  • A flight plan that everyone is on board with,
  • A digitised dashboard, fed with real-time data that highlights deviations from that plan, and
  • The necessary insight and conviction to suggest corrective action.

In conclusion, he offered a brief explanation of how finance teams must evolve to stay relevant and, indeed, elevate their standing: “We must transition from a focus on hindsight to the pursuit of insight, and eventually, foresight.”

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

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Inventory: How to import new prices on the  Inventory Price Update Batch

Inventory: How to import new prices on the Inventory Price Update Batch

Article credit: Sage 

Price Update Batch Import

Let’s show you how to easily import Item Prices using the Price Update Batch.

Disclaimer: These articles refer to possible solutions and a platform to share information. Each article describes a method that solved a query (knowledge gathered from previous sites) and how Sage Evolution should operate. These articles make reference to a specific Sage Evolution version, however the thought process can be generalised. Please note the information contained in these articles should be treated as guidelines and adapted to accommodate differences in business processes and IT environments. Articles may not be applicable to all environments. If this article did not resolve your query please contact Kiteview Technologies Support Department on:  (+27) 010 005 6678.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

Sage 200 Evolution’s Serial Number Tracking Add On Module

Sage 200 Evolution’s Serial Number Tracking Add On Module

Article credit: Sage 

Sage 200 Evolution Serial Number Tracking allows you to individually track items. For example, if you sold an item that carries a warranty, you will need to know when you sold the item, to whom you sold the item so that you know if the item is bought in for repairs, if it is still under warranty or not.

Integrating with Sage 200 Evolution’s Inventory module, Sage Evolution Serial Number Tracking keeps detailed information on specific inventory items. From purchase to sale, to returns, each item is tracked uniquely providing you with absolute control over individual inventory items.

With Sage 200 Evolution Serial Number Tracking you can receive Serial Number Listing reports that provide you with key information regarding your items, such as:

• Where the current location of the serial numbered item is
• The item code and description
• The date of its last movement
• The current general location in stock and
• The customer it was sold to.

While the Serial Number Transaction report will show you all the transactions for a Serial Number, by reflecting one transaction per line. Each line will report on the following information: the Serial Number, item code and description, transaction date and reference, the customer/supplier account code and its originating module.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

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E-Procurement Online (EPO) by Asamco

E-Procurement Online (EPO) by Asamco

Your solution for intelligent business

Being up-to-date is crucial.

In a very competitive business world, antiquated processes and a lack of a professional ERP solution can swiftly damage your business and give your opposition an advantage.
Whether you’re operating a small business or handling procurement for a larger institution, the correct procurement system can make a tremendous difference in
how well the procurement process operates in your business.

Facilitate a safe, easy and complete solution for procurement and employee expense claims.

EPO allows you to create, submit and begin procurement processes in a user-friendly web-environment. No office dependencies for either the creation or the approval of procurement documents.
Streamline your procurement processes using fully configurable workflows, SSO with Office 365 and seamless integration with Sage 200 Evolution and the Document Management System (DMS).

Key features

Streamline and accelerate your procurement processes.

  • Advanced procurement functionality available such as:
    – Supplier rotation
    – Suppliers linked to sectors
    – Supplier portal to have supplier capture quotations
    – Configurable weight factors to assess supplier quotations.
  • Multi-currency support (with automatic FX rates).
  • Branch accounting support.
  • Fully customizable report layouts.
  • Manage the entire Procure-2-Pay flow in one application.
  • Configure the application to work for your organization. The workflow module allows for unlimited options with configurable thresholds and workflow steps.
  • Seamlessly integrated with Sage 200 Evolution.
  • Full history and audit trail of every document created in EPO.

 

Key Benefits
Gain perfect control over your procurement processes

  • Customizable workflows – no limitations to thresholds or workflow steps.
  • Onshore and offshore notifications.
  • Send procurement documents directly to suppliers.
  • Auto-creation of suppliers for employees when submitting an expense claim.
  • Supplier requests – have new suppliers approved before creating them on the system.
  • Supplier rating – allow employees to rate suppliers after completing a transaction.
  • Scalable – as the organization grows, the application grows with you.
  • Hosted in Azure, SSO with MS 365.
  • Create and approve your purchase orders, requisitions, requests for quotations, employee expense claims from anywhere in the world.

 

EPO Modules

  • PURCHASE REQUISITIONS (RQs)
  • REQUESTS FOR QUOTATION (RFQs)
  • SUPPLIER GATEWAY
  • PURCHASE ORDERS (POs)
  • PAYMENT BATCHES (PB)
  • SUPPLIER REQUESTS
  • RETURN TO SUPPLIERS (RTS)
  • EXPENSE CLAIMS (EC)

If you are thinking about upgrading your company to the next procurement level, or have any questions, please email info@kiteview.co.za today and we will be happy to assist you.

 

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

The Art of Being Paid: A free kit to help your business speed up late payments

The Art of Being Paid: A free kit to help your business speed up late payments

Article credit: Sage 

There is almost R250 billion worth of late payments owed to South African small businesses. This startling amount is not only impacting cash flow for many firms but could also threaten the survival of many of them beyond the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Research shows coronavirus lockdowns imposed by the government have also significantly impacted late payments, having almost doubled compared to 2019.

Keeping late payments to a minimum could reduce the number of bankruptcies and subsequent level of unemployment from rising.

While several large South African companies pledged to pay small -to-medium-businesses (SMEs) faster, the issue of late payments still looms large.

So what can businesses do to work with their clients and customers to ensure timely payments are being made in full?

To help, check out the Art of Being Paid kit – a useful guide full of tips to help businesses get paid on time.

 

Download your free copy of The Art of Being Paid

 

How to get paid on time: Start with the customer.

Chasing the payments themselves is a contentious topic in itself for many SMEs.

Our 2017 report (The Domino Effect: The Impact of Late Payments) found that 40% cited “protecting client relationships” as the biggest barrier to chasing payments.

As uncertainty in business is still rife, the pandemic will likely have amplified these worries, making conversations around payments even more challenging.

To help SMEs gain a better insight into the type of customer they’re dealing with, the Art of Being Paid kit includes a quiz to ascertain how best to approach the topic based on your customer’s characteristics.

Here’s what else you’ll find inside…

The Art of Being Paid: Your free kit

Alongside getting to know your customer better, the Art of Being Paid kit includes a host of information and advice on various elements of the payment process, including:

  • How to work out what character traits your customers will help you determine how best to communicate and work with them, so you get paid on time.
  • How to send an invoice and how invoicing software can help to automate the process.
  • What you need to know about a potential customer before you accept a job.
  • The steps you need to take during the job to communicate with your customer in the right way.
  • What you need to do just before you finish the job and what to communicate to your customer, such as reiterating your payment terms.

By the end, you should feel well prepared to tackle how to approach late payments logically and professionally.

Improving customer relationships

The pandemic continues to thrust businesses’ issues, meaning companies are still getting used to the new normal.

This is why it’s important to invest time in working with your customers collaboratively, more so than you might usually.

Being transparent and having open discussions around the fears and pressure points your customer is facing will help you decide on a reasonable compromise or set out clear payment terms from the offset.

Whatever it may be, establishing clear communication and cooperation at the start not only ensures you’re on the same page but will work to strengthen your business relationship both now and in the future.

For more useful advice, download your free kit – The Art of Being Paid.

Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2018 and has been updated for relevance.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

Inventory – Inserting and printing Inventory Item Images on Source Documents

Inventory – Inserting and printing Inventory Item Images on Source Documents

Article credit: Sage 

Summary

Let’s show you how to insert and print Inventory Item Images on Source Documents in Sage 200 Evolution.

Disclaimer: These articles refer to possible solutions and a platform to share information. Each article describes a method that solved a query (knowledge gathered from previous sites) and how Sage Evolution should operate. These articles make reference to a specific Sage Evolution version, however the thought process can be generalised. Please note the information contained in these articles should be treated as guidelines and adapted to accommodate differences in business processes and IT environments. Articles may not be applicable to all environments. If this article did not resolve your query please contact Kiteview Technologies Support Department on:  (+27) 010 005 6678.

About Us
Kiteview Technologies (Pty) Ltd was founded in May 2010 to provide the Sage Evolution Business Management solution to the SME market. The management team of Kiteview have combined +30 years of experience in the delivery of small to mid-market Financial & Business Management solutions. This experience, combined with a sound project implementation methodology has helped in Kiteview’s growth, becoming a Platinum status partner for SAGE Pastel within just 1 year.

Contact Us

For An Obligation Free Quote

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