Operations is the unsung hero of most businesses. It may not get a lot of credit or attention, but they are the mechanics that optimize every aspect of your business like a well-oiled machine. When operations is doing its job, every other function is able to perform better. They’re powerful force multipliers.
That’s why investing in better tools for your operations teams can translate into substantial ROI. One particularly impactful tool to consider is custom financial software. But just what impact can this software have on your operations and how can you find a solution that suits your needs best?
How to create custom financial software
There are two basic ways to create a custom piece of financial software. The first is to develop it internally. However, unless you happen to work at a software development company or a large enterprise with a software development wing, that’s unlikely to be practical. The skills and expertise required are just too specific.
That’s why, in almost all cases it makes more sense to partner with a custom financial software development company. Here, you work with that partner to help determine your needs, budget, timeline, etc. In the process, you’re able to leverage their expertise to ensure your goals are realistic and that the resulting software can deliver the ROI you need.
External partners themselves can come in all shapes and sizes. They might be local or outsourced, small or enormous, specialists in financial software or generalists.
How to manage custom financial software
A common mistake companies make is assuming that once a piece of software is built, they’re done. The reality is that all types of software need to be managed. That may mean security updates, new APIs, new features, etc. One of the benefits of custom solutions is that you can ensure your software is able to scale and evolve as your needs do.
That said, this management process can be handled internally or by an external partner, usually the company which developed it in the first place. When looking at building custom financial software, consider how it will be managed and who will handle that important role.
How can financial software change your business?
Questions of how to create and manage such software aside, what kind of impact can you expect from equipping your operations teams with custom financial software?
Better tailored solutions
Operations generally uses financial software to track and optimize a wide range of activities. They’re likely tracking expenses, managing reimbursements, ensuring compliance, etc. The way you need to meet those and other requirements can vary widely depending on your industry, legal requirements and regulations, and even how you want your operations to function.
The advantage of custom solutions is the ability to tailor your software to more precisely meet those needs. So, for example, you can streamline reporting and compliance by automatically generating specific reports. Or you can match the User Interface (UI) of your financial software to other tools to help ease the ability of employees to submit expense reports.
Then, you can also ensure your software is ready to scale and evolve over time to continue meeting your specific needs. Taken together, this kind of customization can help your operations team both uncover and tackle new ways of improving your overall efficiency as an organization.
Better accuracy
In today’s era of software-driven business, most organizations are awash in data. The real challenge comes with organizing that data and ensuring its high-quality. Better financial software can automate a lot of manual data entry to ensure the financial information your operations team relies on to make decisions is accurate. It can also analyze data to identify numbers that look incorrect and flag them for manual review.
That’s without mentioning the importance of accuracy for compliance. Avoiding audits or costly errors is an easy way to ensure your financial software is saving you money in as many ways as possible.
Strategic advantage
Tailored solutions and accurate data are great, but the ultimate value custom financial software really brings is strategic. By empowering operations with greater capabilities, flexibility, and insight, you’re enabling them to be more strategic. That may mean identifying better places to invest in efficiency improvements or even equipping team leaders with more information about their teams’ performance.
The point is that going with a custom solution translates into greater flexibility and more options. That puts operations in the driver’s seat so they can drive operational improvements throughout your organization. In this way, better software can help operations translate small tactical improvements here or there into broader strategic advantages. It’s ultimately those advantages that really make a difference in a competitive business environment.
