Learning from your peers

Concur’s study, conducted by Wakefield Research, polled 500 employees with AP responsibilities at SMBs (companies with less than 750 employees) in the U.S. The survey asked respondents about how business growth affects core financial functions.

Growing pains

The survey reveals 95 percent of SMBs experience AP challenges tied to growth. The most difficult tasks respondents reported included invoice management, spend analysis and forecasting. Invoice management got a particular mention – the SMBs in the survey report having to deal with more errors as they grow.

Living with mistakes – and not liking it

The survey found that there’s a problem of scale: vital AP processes become more difficult as a company grows in size. Among the most common tasks that get more challenging due to growth are collecting invoices (55 percent); paying invoices on time (53 percent); identifying trends in spending (53 percent) and forecasting spend (52 percent).

A variety of errors

Many of these companies report experiencing financial mistakes including delays in processing vendor invoices (47 percent); errors in applying invoices to projects and clients (42 percent); errors in reconciling invoices (42 percent) and late fees from vendors (41 percent).

The bottom line

Vendor invoice errors are costly. Sixty-five percent of medium-sized businesses and 42 percent of small businesses report that paying invoices on time is an issue – and nearly one half of medium-sized businesses report having to pay late fees from vendors. And that dings your bottom line without adding value.

The solution

The successful businesses that have overcome these problems have an AP strategy and tools that can scale with growth. By automating AP processes, businesses can eliminate errors. They can more accurately and effectively manage cash flow, and that helps them grow their businesses at their own pace.  After ThreeBridge automated its vendor invoice processing and expense reporting in a single system with Concur, Blake shared, “it allows us to stay lean, to work faster, and to work smarter.”

Want to learn more about how businesses can beat financial growing pains?  Watch this video to see how ThreeBridge did it. Or click on over to Concur.com.

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Christal Bemont is the Senior Vice President & General Manager of the global Small, Mid-sized, and Nationals (SMN) business unit at Concur, the leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions.  Christal joined Concur in 2004 playing an integral role in the explosive growth of Concur’s business including their largest global clients, leading multiple sales teams to success, and developing outstanding talent within the Nationals segment.

Living in the Greater Chicago area, Christal serves the community through supporting and volunteering at organizations such as the Anderson Animal Shelter, Lazarus House, a local women’s shelter and Open Arms, a non-profit organization that cooks and delivers free, nutritious meals to people living with life-threatening illnesses.  In addition, Christal is a strong supporter of Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit organization committed to feeding hungry children globally and The Bridge for Youth Services, a safe and welcoming place for youths who are facing homelessness.