How Higher Ed is Managing Invoices and Expenses in the New Normal
You remember those multiple-choice quizzes, where A and C were both technically correct, but one of them was more correct than the other? This is like that, but picking the best answer could mean the difference between peaceful success and ongoing challenges for higher education finance departments struggling to see a way through the current work-from-home environment.
So it’s not simply a test for your higher ed institutions, it’s an honest assessment of the present and the future. But make no mistake: You are being tested. By unexpected expenses and new categories of spend. By an unprecedented volume of invoices and reimbursement requests. By traditional policies that don’t measure up to the unusual circumstances we now face. And by employees returning to an overwhelming volume of work.
To pass these tests (notice we didn’t say “ace”), finance leaders will need:
- Best practices for decision-making in the current environment.
- Instant data and insights.
- Adaptable policies that simplify spending processes for faculty, staff, and vendors.
- Smarter, better tools with which to forecast and plan for the future.
If remote work was a pop quiz, transformation is your thesis
Managing spending is difficult even in the best of times, but work-from-home obstacles, like preserving continuity of operations, timely payment of vendors, and overall financial discipline – not to mention the health and safety of employees – make it even harder.
Why is that, exactly? A recent Wakefield Research survey of 350 higher ed finance leaders sheds a little light on the subject:
- 63% of finance and administrative departments lack a fully remote solution.
- Only 16% of staff, on average, can continue to work remotely this fall without hurting department productivity.
- 49% are handling an increase in employee reimbursement requests.
And every day on campuses across the country, AP teams are sending in shifts of people to do check runs or compile invoices, only to bring them home for manual processing. They’re driving invoices from house to house to get reviews and approvals. And in at least one case, a CFO was printing checks at home, so AP could pick them up, take them to the Post Office, buy stamps, and mail them.
This isn’t safe, it isn’t sensible, and it certainly isn’t how to deliver the sound financial controls colleges and universities need right now.
And there are far more issues out there. Check out this infographic to see the challenges higher education is facing now.
So what’s the answer – the best answer?
Automation. Integration. Digitization. They’re fairly significant concepts, yet with the right tools, they’re relatively simple to put to work. And they simplify the process for AP while letting CFOs effectively control costs.
Better yet, they eliminate the need to drive from house to house to pick up checks and get approvals. They save you time while saving you money, and every payment, p-card charge, corporate card charge, cash payment, virtual payment – or any other type of payment – is automated and connected.
Every invoice and each expense report gets routed through simple, configurable, automatic workflows. And you get the critical data you need to see and manage what’s going out the door. Here's how automation ends traditional trouble spots:
- Exception Handling: Drive down the data-entry errors of paper-based invoices; you’ll see fewer exceptions, and you’ll have the insight you need to deal with those that arise.
- New Spend Categories: When you suddenly have to buy something like PPE, you can quickly adapt to track the costs.
- Late Fees: Automated efficiency eliminates the roadblocks in your process that result in added fees.
- Audits: AI-driven auditing does the hard work for you, checking every expense report against your policies, so you can deliver more oversight in less time.
- Compliance: Real-time visibility allows you to take proactive control of how compliance polices are working and how grant, CARES, or rainy-day funding is being used.
- Forecasting: When you can see what’s spent, what’s pending, and what’s left in your budgets, you can accurately and instantly forecast (and reforecast) as funding sources shift. You’ll also know when budget shortfalls are coming, and you’ll have the insight to make the in-the-moment decisions – so spending goes where you need it most.
Back office efficiency is your assignment, and it’s due
Investing in digital expense and invoice processes isn’t something you have to do, but as higher education institutions face a changing and challenging future, it is a critical way to get the adaptability to manage those changes – at lease from a financial perspective.
This quick eBook is a smart place to start. It describes a much-needed solution that brings immediate value to your institution and equips you with both the efficiency and intelligence to manage your budgets for years to come.
