Digitisation of accounting - process and benefits

You’re probably familiar with data digitization in the context of the IT world. But what about accounting digitization—do you know what this term means and how to automate and simplify accounting processes? We’ll answer these questions in this article. After reading this, you’ll have a clear understanding of what digital and online accounting entails, and you’ll discover that it’s the right path for your business.

The Most Common Accounting Challenges

Do you know exactly how your business’s accounting processes are set up? We most often encounter the following problems with our clients:

• There is a lack of supporting documentation for the accountant , and it’s unclear who submitted the receipts, when, and how.
• There is no designated person responsible for collecting all accounting documents.
• Each employee must individually hand over documents to the accountant or send them by mail.
• All document archiving is done in paper form.
• Documents must be scanned, copied, and filed in binders.

Does this system sound familiar to you? If so, you should know that there is a solution that will transform your accounting into a paperless system and streamline individual accounting processes. This will save you money, prevent unnecessary errors, and, above all, save you time.

The Concept of Accounting Digitization

Think of accounting digitization—or online accounting—as a process in which all accounting documents are first converted into electronic form and then processed automatically: documents are thus approved, posted, and archived more quickly using your chosen system. Thanks to digitization, you have immediate access to accounting reports and better control over the processing of accounting documents.

Digitizing Accounting in 4 Steps

1. Data Collection

If you decide to digitize your accounting, you must first set up a simple and fast process for collecting and uploading data. In other words, you need to gather all documents in one place. Secure cloud storage is most commonly used for this purpose, and it must comply with all Czech and European standards.

An undeniable advantage of cloud storage is that you don’t have to worry about your current location. You can upload documents from anywhere, at any time, and in any way. Simply convert them to digital form—by taking a photo or scanning them—and then easily upload them via a computer or by sending an email to the storage service.

2. Document Processing – Data Extraction

Cloud storage must be connected to a system where all documents are automatically prepared for subsequent approval and processing. In other words, this involves extracting the content from received documents. This is handled by artificial intelligence, which can automatically read information from invoices and other documents. Accountants therefore do not have to manually transcribe information or make significant manual adjustments to the extracted data.

The error rate is typically minimal, saving a tremendous amount of time. Digital documents are then stored as structured data for further processing.

3. Approval and Posting

You can now easily edit the saved documents and assign them to orders or set payment priorities. The approval process itself usually has several levels, and the work can be divided among multiple people. As soon as you approve an electronic document, it is automatically posted to the synchronized accounting system. Ideally, posting involves simply confirming pre-prepared data.

4. Archiving

Posted documents are immediately stored for long-term archiving. The documents are marked with qualified time stamps and signatures for audit purposes.

Key Benefits of Online Accounting

The time saved by eliminating manual data entry and the lower costs of processing invoices are by no means the only advantages. Digitized accounting also offers you other benefits:

You’ll save money with digitized accounting

If you decide to switch to online accounting, don’t expect changes overnight. We know from experience that properly configuring systems and implementing new processes can take several months.

But one thing is certain: the resulting time and cost savings are well worth it. Online accounting eliminates errors caused by manually transcribing data. There’s no duplication of documents, invoices don’t need to be forwarded via email, and everything is processed in one place. The result is simplified and streamlined accounting processes.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re thinking about digitizing your company’s accounting. This will save you most of the manual work involved with documents and the associated costs. At the same time, you’ll have an overview and control over your accounting anytime and anywhere, thanks in part to the modern financial reports in Power BI that we provide to our clients. Just contact us using the form below.