SHOW ME THE MONEY!
It’s all about payments…
Do you remember that iconic scene in Jerry Maguire where Cuba Gooding Jnr. tells Tom Cruise to “Show me the money�
Can you hear Tom now – “Show. Me. The. Moneeeeeeeyâ€.
It is a scene that really resonated with people. And it is a line that has been used endless times across industries, time zones and situations. Why? Because everyone wants to be “shown the money’. In one way or another.
Whether they are being paid or have to pay others.
Moolah, cheese, quid, buck, coin, bacon, Benjamin’s and bills. Whatever you call money, it makes the world go round. It keeps companies afloat and people above the bread line. It is therefore a crucial portion of every business (which is why automating bank feeds was so significant).
And the quicker the paying and getting paid can be done, the better for everyone involved.
It’s about paying your dues
When it comes to payment requisitions (you know those pesky requests by various departments to pay bills every month) and authorisations (you know, those really important signatures that you need to acquire prior to getting any payment made?), the line “show me the money†has never been more apt.
What do we mean?
As we said, money makes the world go round. Therefore in order to get work done on your end, you are often required to engage the services of others to assist you. The basics of this is that the people you engage help you acquire your “moolahâ€. And as a result, they too need to get paid for services rendered.
And so the world turns and the process is repeated over and over again.
A synergistic and symbiotic relationship where everyone benefits.
That is, if (and when) everyone gets paid.
It’s the “when†that is important
Payment requisitions and authorisations have, historically, been a manual and tedious (and sometimes troublesome) undertaking.
Completing forms by manually filling out all the information pertaining to a supplier or an account including the inclusion of batch transactions and narrations for each of them, only to then have to manually cart the form all over the office to have it signed by those necessary authorised signatories.
Only to then find out that one of them is out of the office and the form cannot be finalised. Seriously?
*So frustrating*.
Not only is a lot of time wasted but you are also left with a very unhappy (and frustrated) accounts department #notagoodthing.
AJS has the solution
We know first-hand the importance of getting an account paid. Of having money come seamlessly into our account in order to be able to pay those suppliers who helped us get the money in the first place. Remember – synergy.
And every company will understand this. It is not a specialised or unique phenomenon.
It’s just business.
And everyone will understand the frustration associated with having everything be so manual, about not being able to finalise a payment because a signatory is out of the office.
Something has to be done.
Step in AJS’s New Look Payment Requisition
With a simplified screen, AJS has made it easy to capture a payment requisition.
By linking authorised accounts to your payment requisition system, you simply need to enter the account number, payment reference and the amount – as few as three fields. That’s it. Done and dusted.
Note: At AJS we pride ourselves on being open and transparent. Therefore, we would like to note that should an account not be linked to a contact with authorised banking details, a few more relevant fields will need to be completed. Fear not, this process is simple too. And we would be happy to guide you through it at any time. Just contact us.
The info is also displayed as you need it. There is no need to validate banking information as the form is loaded with all banking details already captured and included (from the linked contact information).
The amount of time you will save will be incredible!
Pertinent supporting documents related to the account or invoice can also be easily attached (uploaded or linked from documents already attached to an account, so there is no need for duplication of uploads), making the viewing of the requisition and understanding why it needs to be paid, simple to understand and easy to action. With all information readily available for authoriser(s) – such as proof of banking details, ID documents etc. -the generation of the requisition document will be done in a matter of a few easy steps.
Even for the busiest of authorisers.
A clever little addition is being able to set up default posting codes and “magic words†to “build†the narration from information already captured. The need for manual capturing is done away with – magic words allow you to format the transaction narration to suit your needs.
No wonder they are called “magic†words…. “Abracadabra†comes to mind.
One more amazing thing we have to share – the requester of the requisition can monitor whether or not a payment has been authorised or rejected as the requisition automatically creates a task from them for all authorisers.
In addition, to ensure that authorisers are notified that they need to authorise a payment, a message will appear via in-app notifications and/or emails with a direct link to the requisition.
No more excuses of not having seen the requisition.
Quick, efficient and accurate. Fulfilling our main goal for all our Version 4 updates.
Requisitions are no longer the manual, tedious, troublesome tasks they use to be.
Tired of the authorisation run-around?
AJS has the solution for you!
With AJS’s Authorisation feature, you will no longer need to run around trying to find a signatory. What’s more there will be no confusion as to who may or may not authorise a payment.
You may have some questions about all of this. So we have included some that are top of mind –
1. How you may ask?
By setting up authorisation groups of course! The authorisation groups are made up of the users who approve or decline payments. The minimum number of required authorisers will also be noted in each group. This minimum number must approve the requisition in order for it to be processed.
2. What does this “minimum number of required authorisers†mean?
Simple – if you set up an authorisation group that consists of four users, the minimum number of authorises required to authorise a payment will be two. Essentially what this means is that any of the four members of the group can authorise a payment, but as soon as two of them have done so, the request will be shown as processed for the remaining two group members. A caveat here is that each requester must belong to at least one authorisation group.
3. What is meant by a group?
This refers to the departments, such as the conveyancing group, litigation group or directors. As simple as that.
4. Remote working a problem?
Don’t stress. All authorisations are now done digitally which means that there is no need to be physically present for a signature. For example, with our new “work from home normalâ€, or if one of the authorised signatories is out of the office, being able to simply authorise the payment online via the AJS platform makes the finalisation of requisitions absolutely do-able. Even if there is no face time involved. Do we sense a “Hallelujah†in the air? The bonus here is that because everything is done digitally not only is there a reduction in the use of paper (“Yay†for the Planet) but there will also no longer be any lost documents as they will all be attached to the account enquiry.
5. How does everyone know what’s what?
Authorisers will know when action is required from them, as an “Authorise Task†is created. In addition, a requester can see who needs to authorise what or who rejected a requisition. That way a very convenient audit trail of the entire process from request, to authorise, to release of the payment is logged. This comes in very handy if there is ever a deficit in the trust account – who authorised it? Who overrode a warning of a deficit (yes any override is logged at each stage)? Keeping everyone in check. And allowing any missteps or misappropriation of funds to be fully accounted for. Supporting documents (required to validate the payment request) are included in the original requisition. They can be newly uploaded or linked from documents already attached to an account – limiting the duplication of uploaded documents and minimising any unnecessary back and forth emails to get information. It’s all there already.
6. When is a payment released?
To ensure that everything remains above board, payments can only be released once the required number of authorisers have completed the task. Ensuring all the t’s have been crossed and i’s have been dotted.
7. Worried about how to manage all the authorisation tasks?
Don’t. Your bookkeeper has nifty little buttons to view all outstanding, authorised and rejected requisitions, allowing for the easy management of what still needs to be done vs what is good to go. Who said that payment requisitions and authorisations were tedious, troublesome or time consuming? After this, no one!
It is so simple, one is tempted to say “Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezyâ€.
Go ahead. We know you want to!
Our mission
AJS has made it their mission with their Version 4 updates to save you time whilst also ensuring that your practice always remains on top of everything.
And with the addition of these rather smart Version 4 update features to our current service offerings, we believe that you will always remain on top of your payment requisitions ensuring that your symbiotic and synchronized relationships remain wonderfully intact.
And we can say with absolute confidence, that AJS’s Requisitions and Authorisations will ensure that, just like Cuba Gooding Jnr. and Tom Cruise, you too will be able to shout –
“Show me the moneyâ€
Because you quite literally can. Audit trail and all.
AJS is excited to reveal all our amazing updates (to an already incredible system). Be sure to tune in each week where we will be letting you in on some of our most exciting features.
Stay tuned!
Written by Alicia Koch on behalf of AJS
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