Are you bogged down paying your bills manually? There is a better way!
Some of you may have heard about, or even tried, online banking for your vendor payments. However, the efficiencies you had hoped for may not seem all that beneficial because you are entering your bills into your accounting software and then re-entering the payment information into your bank bill payment system.
The better way is Online bill pay, which offers more than online banking. Online bill pay integrates your accounting software, your bank account and your filing system into one robust package.
The online bill pay service will set up an inbox for your company. You can have your vendors email their bills directly or you can scan paper bills that you receive and send them to the inbox. The bill pay system will keep electronic copies of your bills that you can review whenever you wish for as long as you need. No more file cabinets to maintain at your office!
You then access your online bills and assign your accounting codes as you normally would do on paper. Some systems will actually code your bills for you! You can also set up a series of approvals just the same as you would in the paper world. Finally you can schedule the pay date for the actual payments; this will help you manage your cash better.
On the payment date, online bill pay charges your bank account (previously set up) with a single debit and your bills are paid either electronically or in paper format. Similar to your current internal controls, only authorized check signers on your bank account may initiate the payment process.
The best part of an online bill pay system is that all the information is synchronized with your accounting software on a regular basis so there is no extra effort on your part. When you add a new account or a new vendor to your accounting software, that information is uploaded to online bill pay automatically. One of my clients has saved more than 50 percent in data entry time using this service.
The advantages of online bill pay include:
• Save time and money paying your bills by eliminating the postage, checks and envelopes.
• Eliminate duplication of bill payments and accounting system updates.
• Improve vendor relationships.
• Manage your cash flows better.
• Eliminate expensive file storage expenses
• Digital documents are indexed for quick retrieval.
• The system uses the highest level of security available and it is backed up continuously.
Reach Jones at [email protected]
Some of you may have heard about, or even tried, online banking for your vendor payments. However, the efficiencies you had hoped for may not seem all that beneficial because you are entering your bills into your accounting software and then re-entering the payment information into your bank bill payment system.
The better way is Online bill pay, which offers more than online banking. Online bill pay integrates your accounting software, your bank account and your filing system into one robust package.
The online bill pay service will set up an inbox for your company. You can have your vendors email their bills directly or you can scan paper bills that you receive and send them to the inbox. The bill pay system will keep electronic copies of your bills that you can review whenever you wish for as long as you need. No more file cabinets to maintain at your office!
You then access your online bills and assign your accounting codes as you normally would do on paper. Some systems will actually code your bills for you! You can also set up a series of approvals just the same as you would in the paper world. Finally you can schedule the pay date for the actual payments; this will help you manage your cash better.
On the payment date, online bill pay charges your bank account (previously set up) with a single debit and your bills are paid either electronically or in paper format. Similar to your current internal controls, only authorized check signers on your bank account may initiate the payment process.
The best part of an online bill pay system is that all the information is synchronized with your accounting software on a regular basis so there is no extra effort on your part. When you add a new account or a new vendor to your accounting software, that information is uploaded to online bill pay automatically. One of my clients has saved more than 50 percent in data entry time using this service.
The advantages of online bill pay include:
• Save time and money paying your bills by eliminating the postage, checks and envelopes.
• Eliminate duplication of bill payments and accounting system updates.
• Improve vendor relationships.
• Manage your cash flows better.
• Eliminate expensive file storage expenses
• Digital documents are indexed for quick retrieval.
• The system uses the highest level of security available and it is backed up continuously.
Reach Jones at [email protected]