by Jose Jimenez | Jan 7, 2021 | News
By oAppsNet Staff
We’re pleased to announce we’ve partnered with Tricentis to implement their automated testing platform. With the industry’s #1 Continuous Testing platform, Tricentis is recognized for reinventing software testing for DevOps.
Tricentis is the global leader in continuous testing and automation, widely credited for reinventing software testing for DevOps and agile environments. The Tricentis AI-based, automation platform enables enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation by dramatically increasing software release speed, reducing costs, and improving software quality. Tricentis has been widely recognized as the leader by all major industry analysts, including being named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant five years in a row. Tricentis has more than 1,800 customers, including the largest brands in the world, such as Accenture, Coca-Cola, Nationwide Insurance, Allianz, Telstra, Dolby, RBS, and Zappos.
by Jose Jimenez | Jan 1, 2021 | Charity
By Stefanie Dell’Aringa
As we look back on 2020 and enter 2021, the central theme of giving and supporting one another continues to resonate with companies across the nation.
According to the Washington Post “about 26 million people say they don’t have enough to eat as the pandemic worsens” and, as we enter a new calendar year, as many as 12 million may have lost their unemployment benefits.
Nationally, we’ve seen top nonprofits like Feeding America, the United Way and Feed the Children step up efforts to serve and provide food to increasingly needy populations during the pandemic.
The New York-based organization WhyHunger? ramped up social media efforts to educate others about initiatives like seed planting projects to provide 61 million servings of healthy food to food-insecure communities.
“Now more than ever, we need your help to address urgent human needs and to end hunger for good,” their website, highlighting the organization’s ongoing Hungerthon, states.
So what can companies do on a local level to address needs and support communities? In this blog, we’ll highlight what oAppsNet Group is doing to support others to help you get started on your own giving campaign.
Move the Group, Move Yourself
oAppNet Group’s mission, “Move the Group, Move Yourself” was the springboard that launched a monthly giving campaign to pantries in various states. It was easy enough to search online for local food pantries to support, according to Managing Partner Tom Korbecki, who states:
“As we pondered what was going on around us within our communities and realized our remote workers were set up in various parts of the nation, we decided to support food pantries where our employees lived and worked to represent a meaningful and impactful connection.”
This led oAppsNet Group to collectively commit to monthly payments to stabilize and “move the group.”
Choosing Local Food Pantries to Support
In addition to states where employees work, oAppsNet Group cast a bright light on an agency in Colorado, home to company headquarters.
Gilpin County receives a monthly monetary donation to support Gilpin County residents who may need the resources of the Gilpin County Food Bank and/or help with rent and medical assistance services.
Take the Next Steps
It doesn’t take extensive research to identify a need in your local area. Many organizations have done the work for you. Feeding America provides this helpful resource to identify local pantries simply by entering your company’s zip code.
Four simple steps can lead your company into a quarterly, monthly or annual giving campaign that can truly make a difference.
- Communicate at a high level what the donation amount will be and determine within departments your goals for the giving campaign. Gather data and buy-in from employees at all levels.
- Come to a consensus — perhaps using a SurveyMonkey poll — to identify one or more agencies that align with your company’s goals and objectives. Consider diversity and remain sensitive to local, current and pressing needs.
- Reach out to your selected agencies to establish relationships, ascertain commitment and get started with giving.
- Communicate out to the company at large about the impact you’re going to make.
All the Feels
A Jan. 2018 article in Entrepreneur.com reports “workers are happier when they work for generous companies.” So consider the fact that not only will your company be helping neighbors in need, but it will grow a culture of generosity and connectedness.
Learn more about oAppsNet Group’s efforts to support local communities.
by Jose Jimenez | Dec 31, 2020 | Procure to Pay
By Matthew Albert
There’s a scene in Office Space where the Bobs are doing interviews before the dreaded firings. They bring in Tom “I HAVE PEOPLE SKILLS!” Smykowski and ask him the legendary question, “What would ya say…ya do here?” We could post the response here, but you know it already. (And if you haven’t seen the film, fix that problem immediately. Don’t bring further shame to our blog.)
In short, Tom tells the Bobs that he (actually, his secretary or the fax machine) takes software specs from customers and brings them down to the engineers. The Bobs, of course, ask why the customers can’t just deal directly with the engineers to which Tom goes ballistic because software engineers “are not good at dealing with customers.” The point the Bobs raise in this scene is one of efficiency. Tom’s probably right that the engineers don’t want to deal with the customers. However, the larger issue is that there’s a spot to optimize communication here.
When we think about the idea of Procure to Pay (or Purchase to Pay depending on how rich your alma mater’s donors are), we’re talking about a complex chain of events that ultimately accomplishes a simple exchange–goods for money. That’s it. How customers get those goods and how you get their money is far more complicated. Let’s break that process down. In most P2P arrangements:
- The buyer inquires about purchasing goods usually through a catalog or product list
- The supplier confirms they have the requested goods
- The supplier quotes the price
- The buyer confirms the original request
- The supplier confirms the confirmation and ships the goods (stay with us, folks)
- A purchase order gets issued to the supplier
- The supplier receives the purchase order and processes the goods for shipping
- The goods get delivered
- The buyer confirms they have received the goods
- The supplier sends an invoice to the buyer, matched with the number of the purchase order
- The buyer confirms they have received the proper goods and related invoice, based on the purchase order
- The buyer pays the supplier
Now that’s a 12-step program with a completely different set of issues. Involved? You bet! Imagine how problematic this system could be if you had 1-2 humans handling each step (or even a couple of steps along the way). You’d be a prime target for miscommunication, errors, and unhappy customers.
Wouldn’t it be nicer if you had software that did the vast majority of these steps for you? What if you had some software that basically took care of the cataloging, updating the inventory, confirming orders, issuing POs, issuing invoices, and processing payment? Think about how much easier your life would be if all you had to do was fill orders and ship them because the computer took care of the rest.
In a nutshell, that’s why you want to consider transitioning your P2P setup to better technology. There are several options and features to consider in these types of programs, and we’ll spend a big part of this series focusing on what these features are and how they can help you streamline P2P.
by Jose Jimenez | Dec 28, 2020 | Accounts Payable
By Matthew Albert
There’s a rather poignant moment of irony in the undisputed, unchallenged motion picture classic “The Blues Brothers” where Elwood picks up Jake from a Joliet prison in an old Mount Prospect police car. Naturally, Jake is rather upset and demands an explanation. (Hey, it’s my mini-review. Take that, Ghost of Ebert!)
After Elwood leaps an opening river bridge and clears the gap with no damage done to the suspension, he tells Jake something that inevitably changes the audience’s outlook on life as we know it. Something so crucial, we can’t help but think about how we have grown as humans in the first few minutes of the film. Elwood says that while the car may have an undesirable exterior, “It’s got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas.”
Which brings us, obviously, to checking. Here’s the thing: Checking’s outdated. However, being outdated doesn’t mean useless. In fact, sometimes older things don’t change over time because parts of them continue to outperform other things. When compared to current payment methods, checking still has those good cop shocks and cop tires. It’s why over a third of businesses still prefer to use them.
Let’s take a closer look at which parts of checking are worth riding out and which parts are worth avoiding.
Checking Advantages
Before the invention of credit and debit cards, checking was the preferred method many individuals used to make payments. Checking allows people to:
- Make large payments without the worry of carrying excessive cash. Big win there.
- Mail more secure payments than mailing cash. For the business world, checks are most valued for the control of finances they offer. When a business or individual signs their name to a payment, it creates a sense of accountability and certainty that payments are reaching their intended vendor. It takes less active thought for someone to swipe a plastic card or hold their phone to a chip reader then it does to physically write out payment.
- Keep a detailed record account, which is helpful in the prevention of checking fraud and false payments that could occur among employees or from outside the company.
Disadvantages
Unfortunately, despite the many advantages found in checking, several disadvantages exist.
- Checking requires more time and is therefore less efficient than other methods of payment. It also isn’t completely fraud-proof. (But then again, lots of methods have some weakness to fraud. That’s why we covered lots of them on this blog in our uber-special 3-part fraud series.)
- Checking is a costly form of payment. There are many expenses included in the process, from paying for the paper supplies to write and send checks, to the receiving and approving fees of checks.
- Many retail chains and vendors choose not to accept checking as a valid means of payment in their business. This can prove challenging for a business who relies on checking in all their business costs.
How does Technology and Checking work?
With so many risks, and with the increase of security in other forms of payment, businesses often question if check keeping and writing is the best alternative for them. That is why it is important to note the influence technology has had in the improvement of checking. Advanced check writing, or digital checking, offers competitive advantages that traditional checking cannot.
- It’s more cost effective. Online technology allows businesses to skip the fees they would normally pay with physical checking.
- Advanced checking is more time-effective, meaning that businesses can focus on other areas of their work and direct more energy in production of services.
- Many online checking technology programs offer cloud-based software for their clients to use. This means that companies have easier and more convenient access to their checking information. Online services often have app options, meaning that business owners can check their payments on their mobile devices.
- Online advanced checking technology is economically friendly. Many businesses are concerned with the carbon footprint they leave in their daily use of materials. An online alternative gives employers and employees the satisfaction of knowing they are doing their part to responsibly cut down on the use of paper materials and waste.
So like we said earlier, checking has parts that make it worth it and others that don’t. Your reliance on checks ultimately depends on the needs of your business. We still feel it’s important to keep an open mind to advanced checking as it continues to improve as a reliable source of payment. As your business grows and finds the need to improve your checking payment methods, feel free to reach out to an oAppsNET Partners consultant to learn more today.
(And don’t let me catch you playing the Armada Room at the Holiday Inn! You’re better than that.)
by Jose Jimenez | Dec 28, 2020 | AP Automation
By Matthew Albert
“Let’s see…I’m on Short Line Railroad and need cash badly. 5 or higher! Let’s go!”
*rolls a 9*
“Sweet! 1…2…3…4…5..pass Go and take my $200, I’m so buying houses on this turn.
6…7…8…9…INCOME TAX?!”
And just like that, whatever ground you had gained in this game of Monopoly is out the window. Most of us can usually handle this moment once or twice during a game, but it gets really annoying when it keeps happening and you keep putting that $200 back in the bank with no return. At some point, it’s impossible to catch up on the ground you’ve lost (unless you get REALLY lucky later).
Paper invoicing is really similar to this nasty Monopoly situation. Continuing to stay with paper invoices puts you in a never-ending state of catch-up. When you rely on paper invoicing, you are losing ground to your competitors who do electronic invoicing. Compared to your competitors, your paper invoicing makes you slower, less efficient, and more prone to errors. Not to mention, in the event you actually get caught up on your paper invoices, there’s usually a whole slew of new invoicing events waiting for you that’ll put you right back on the defensive.
Switching to electronic invoicing probably already seems like a no-brainer, but we’ll give you a list of benefits anyway in case you’re still unsure. When you shift to electronic invoicing:
- You save money by not having to print and mail invoices. You also save time by not filling envelopes and by not going to the post office.
- You can easily replace an invoice in the event that the original gets lost.
- Replacement happens nearly instantly once you figure out what has gone wrong.
- You can send follow-up invoices just as quickly (if the first ones don’t get paid).
- Invoices aren’t subject to damage while in transit.
- Your processing speed goes up considerably.
- You can keep your contacts updated more quickly. If an e-invoice goes to a bad email address, you know about it on the same day. If a paper invoice goes to a wrong address, you find out about it way after the fact.
As we often preach on this blog, every business has its own needs. Keep these needs in mind as you search for e-invoice software. Do your homework on what each program offers and consult with your team as you make this switch. It may seem like a lot of work up front, but the long-term savings are absolutely worth it.
