Leaders of Modern Finance Ep. 2: The Proactive Accountant ft. Peter Taylor
On this episode of the Leaders of Modern Finance podcast powered by Stampli, Peter Taylor, Corporate Controller at Purple Innovation, shares the framework he follows to keep his finance department firing on all cylinders. He developed this framework over the course of his career in finance, which spans nearly 20 years.
Peter’s Proven 4-Step Framework for Being a Proactive Accountant
I. Identify and Evaluate
The purpose of Peter’s framework is to identify and evaluate problems with your processes in order to improve them and always be moving forward in your organization. This framework will allow you as finance leaders to close gaps in your processes and move your teams forward in a more effective and efficient manner.
The first step is to ask questions. Many finance leaders have a 50,000-foot view of their organization, and they focus on big picture decisions. But sometimes you need to ask questions about the nuts and bolts of the organization to make sure you understand how all your processes and transactions work from start to finish.
II. Planning
Making changes to your organization is going to take a lot of planning, and you need as much information as possible before you jump in. Asking the right questions will help you in the planning process.
The point of the plan is not to make changes for changes’ sake — it is to close gaps and improve inefficient processes. Don’t be afraid to reject the status quo. Just because something has “always been done that way” doesn’t mean that’s the best way to do it. Adding value and efficiencies to processes is going to take digging into the details of these processes. Only then can you make decisions that will improve them.
III. Tools, People, and Process
Once you identify the problems, you can begin planning the solutions. Peter breaks those solutions down into three distinct categories.
The first category he says to look at are your tools. In today’s finance world, that usually means some kind of software automation, a new tool to integrate into your ERP, or maybe a SaaS service that will make life easier on your team by making tedious processes more efficient. Software is constantly evolving and it is important to keep up with the latest versions of available tools to make sure your organization is using the best.
The second category for improvement is your human resources. Your people make your organization what it is, and having the best people in place is vital to your success. Peter calls his people his Dream Team, and says that he couldn’t be successful without them. When you lose a team member, or your workload has increased and you are thinking about bringing a new person on board, don’t look at it as simply bringing in a new body. Take your time and make good choices when it comes to adding team members.
In his framework, the third category Peter recommends you look at is your process. There is always room in any accounting and finance department for improving and cleaning up your processes. Look at every process in your department and ask yourself, “How can I improve this, make it faster and more efficient?”
Again, don’t accept the status quo. Those processes may be well established and well documented, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best. Process improvement starts with poking as many holes as you can in the current system to find the gaps and close them. Peter says the goal is to make your processes so efficient and well documented, that no matter who you might suddenly lose on your team, a new person could come in and keep things rolling without a hitch.
IV. Documentation and Implementation
After you have identified and evaluated your gaps and problems, the next step is to get all the stakeholders together and hammer out a set of solutions. It is important to get buy-in from everyone, even though that can be difficult at times.
Documenting those solutions is vital at this stage. Peter is a fan of using email as a documentation tool. He jokes that some people claim to hate email, but for him it is an ideal platform for getting everybody together working toward a common goal in an agreed-upon manner.
Peter emphasizes that this is a team effort, and not a place for strict directives. Communicate your solutions, but offer alternatives and take feedback from all the team members to come to the best solutions for streamlining your processes.
The documentation doesn’t end at the planning stage. Continue to document results after implementation. How much time are you saving? What metrics did you improve with the new tools or systems you implemented? Would you call your changes successful? By documenting the answer to these and similar questions, you can keep what is working and continue to tweak what could be better.
Putting the Framework into Play: A Real World Example
Peter closes by talking about a real-world example of following his framework, and how it resulted in positive changes in his organization.
His department had a team member in the AP department leave, and they found themselves with the same amount of work with a smaller team. Instead of simply filling the role with another person and continuing with the status quo, he decided to follow his framework to see if there was a better way to run the department.
He sat down with all the stakeholders, asked questions and evaluated the processes in the department. He evaluated pain points and examined all his options, from hiring one or two people, to adding technology, to changing workflows.
They decided to pursue a technological solution through an AP automation tool. After an initial hiccup with a vendor who promised features they couldn’t deliver, he brought in Stampli. He was able to automate processes that were previously labor intensive. He cut one process down from a day’s worth of labor to 15 minutes.
By taking the time to follow his framework, to identify the problems they face, and to be open-minded about all the possible solutions, he was able to improve efficiency in the department and eliminate the need for a new hire.
As he says, don’t be paralyzed by inaction. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you do make mistakes, don’t be afraid to admit it, go back through the framework, and find a solution that works!
This episode is brought to you by Stampli. The Most Powerful Way to Process & Pay Invoices. Stampli is the only AP Automation software that centers communications on top of the invoice so that accounts payable collaborates better with approvers, vendors, and anyone involved with purchases to quickly resolve issues and questions, resulting in 5x faster approvals.
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