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moreIn the modern farming world, we are seeing situations where our clients are spending more time out of the office and more time on the farm, or off-farm doing other life activities. This is leading more and more to us not having a dedicated office space and carrying around folders full of paper invoices, with mail sitting in the PO Box going unopened and suppliers wondering where their invoice has been placed.
This doesn’t have to be the case anymore by utilising increasingly powerful digital technology. Going paperless is becoming a reality for more and more businesses meaning you can take your office with you anyhow; anywhere.
Now, for many farms going paperless sounds pretty daunting, however, the act of going paperless isn’t as cutthroat as it may sound. All it takes is a few well-implemented cloud-based applications, plus a mobile phone and a laptop and you’re good to go.
1. Send your invoices and track payment electronically
Using the functions available to send your invoices from your accounting software via email can allow better tracking and follow-up of outstanding debts. It can also help with any important documents getting ‘lost in the mail.” As more and more businesses move to the cloud, sending our invoices immediately to their inbox and not their PO Box means we are front of mind and can be paid faster.
2. Take your accounts payable folder online
Using the accounts payable function through your accounting program can help reduce clutter and stress when it comes to paying your suppliers. By using the online functions through programs such as Receipt Bank, which integrates with both Xero and Agrimaster, this will allow you to see your outstanding invoices on your phone or computer.
Receipt bank enables you to forward electronic supplier invoices to a personalised inbox, or if you’re receiving paper receipts and invoices you can take a photo on your phone and it will upload to your system accordingly. Having your accounts payable folder online will also allow you to process batch payments from your Bank, meaning, you won’t have to pay each supplier individually on internet banking.
3. Take your employee timesheets & payslips online
Using an online employment management tool such as what is available in Xero’s standard payroll features, or Deputy if you are using WageMaster will allow your employees to do everything from submitting their timesheets for approval, viewing their payslips and applying for leave through an online portal.
These requests would then be authorised on your phone with the click of a button and will be automatically processed when posting your pay runs, including calculating your SGC obligations.
Taking the plunge into a digital world opens up a plethora of opportunities to take your office to the cloud and help increase the flexibility of the farm office.
How can RSM help?
If you need assistance to move your business online, get in touch with the RSM Agribusiness Team today.