The Record - Issue 19: Winter 2020

58 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om V I EWPO I NT Cloudy with a chance of productivity A LY S S A PUT Z E R : ME TA F I L E I NFORMAT I ON S Y S T EMS Organisations should integrate cloud-based enterprise resource planning systems with automation solutions if they want to optimise their accounts payable and accounts receivable processes C loud technology has been a game changer for quite some time. However, cloud- based enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms and add-on solutions are also now gaining momentum thanks to their ability to cut costs, increase productivity, empower remote teams and boost revenue. For example, instead of licensing software for each machine in the company, a business can simply subscribe to cloud-based ERP for a low monthly fee per user. And, because cloud-hosted solutions are easy to scale, all the organisation has to do is adjust the number of user subscriptions if the number of employees in its team changes. Another advantage is that cloud-based solu- tions operate via the web, which means author- ised employees can access the data they need anytime and from anywhere. This is ideal at a time when more people are working remotely than ever before. Importantly, the cloud serves as an automatic back-up service for a company’s data with built-in redundancies. Consequently, data stays secure and it can be retrieved from any computer to help a business get back on its feet in the event of a crisis. These benefits can help businesses run more smoothly, but companies cannot realise the full impact of cloud-based ERP without automating accounts payable and accounts receivable pro- cesses. When companies integrate cloud-based ERP and automation, they enhance their oper- ations in several ways. Paperless automation solutions eliminate paper- based andmanual processes and they also provide workflow automation, which expedites approvals and invoice processing, and increases the accuracy of data. Information only needs to be entered into the system once and it can be securely accessed at anytime from anywhere in the world. This means everyone is working from the same version of the data, so management can be assured that they have a complete and up-to-date view of the com- pany’s financial situation when projecting finan- cial trends and impacts within the business. Combining Microsoft Dynamics with a cloud- based paperless automation solution also cen- tralises and automates workflow to reduce paper trail cycles. Not only does this save time, but it also decreases the people-related costs of man- aging paper documents, allows for early pay- ments discounts, and eliminates penalty fees for late payments. When an organisation hosts both its ERP and paperless automation solutions in the cloud, it ensures that all its systems will work together seamlessly and give employees the access, secu- rity and reliability they need to complete tasks from anywhere Alyssa Putzer is the marketing communications specialist for Metafile Information Systems “When companies integrate cloud- based ERP and automation, they enhance their operations”