Finance — Summary
Across 3 mapped workflows · annualised so different rhythms add up fairly
Opportunities in Finance
2 opportunities — every size; the org review only shows the biggest| Impact | Opportunity | Workflow | Kind | Effort | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Approve bills inside the accounting system Full recommendation ▾Change: Every bill is emailed to a manager and then chased by email: about 8 minutes of the accounts officer's time on each of 75 invoices a week, 10 hours a week. Send each bill for approval inside the accounting system you already use, and managers approve it there, not by email. About 6 of those 10 hours come back. How: Turn on bill approval in the accounting system you already use and send each matched bill to its manager there. First step: This week, send one supplier's bills for approval in the accounting system instead of by email. Why: 75 invoices a week, each chased by email for about 8 minutes: the same approval asked twice. ✓ Runs on what you have · using Finance system access (AP/AR) ⚠ Watch out: Keep the match to order and docket before approval: it catches wrong prices and short deliveries. | Supplier invoice to payment step 5 | Automate | quick fix | 312h/yr |
| 39 | Extract invoice headers automatically Full recommendation ▾Once document OCR lands, invoice PDFs saved from the AP inbox get read automatically — header data lands in the finance system for confirmation instead of being keyed. Typo-chasing a month later ends with the typing. | Invoice matching step 2 | Simplify | needs setting up | 48h/yr |
Firm up the numbers
The unanswered facts carrying the most time in Finance — each opens that workflow's fill-in cards, where it can be answered or routed to whoever knows.
Workflow by workflow
Click a workflow for its own detailed summary. 1 of 3 not analysed yet — their capacity numbers show as 0 until they are.
| Workflow | Owner | Complete | Steps | Hands-on /run | Runs /yr | Friction | Planned /run | Planned /yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplier invoice to payment75 per week | Accounts officer | 95% | 6 | 1.0h | 3900 | 2 | not yet timed | |
| End-of-month reportingMonthly | Finance Manager | 100% | 5 | 5.4h | 12 | 2 | — | — |
| Invoice matchingWeekly | Assistant Accountant | 100% | 7 | 3.4h | 52 | 2 | 0m | 0h |
Top friction points
Across every workflow, worst first — how much a step hurts, multiplied by how long it takes. So a long mildly annoying step can outrank a short painful one.
| Step | Workflow | Who does it | Kind of pain | Hurts | Time | Why it hurts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2Build the reporting pack in Excel | End-of-month reporting | Assistant Accountant | — | a lot | 180m | Rebuilt from scratch monthly; the template drifted years ago |
| 2Key each invoice header into the finance system | Invoice matching | Assistant Accountant | — | badly | 60m | Manual keying, and every typo surfaces a month later |
| 3Chase commentary from the five department heads | End-of-month reporting | Finance Manager | — | a lot | 60m | Same chase every month |
| 4Chase missing purchase orders with the buyers | Invoice matching | Assistant Accountant | — | a lot | 20m | Same three buyers every week |
| 5Chase approval by email | Supplier invoice to payment | Accounts officer | Waste | badly | 8m | Same approval asked twice |
| 3Match to order and docket | Supplier invoice to payment | Accounts officer | Protective | a bit | 4m | Catches wrong prices and short deliveries before they're paid |
| 4Email manager for approval | Supplier invoice to payment | Managers | Waste | a lot | — | The approval sits in a manager's inbox, away from the bill |
Comms insights
Where the department's time goes: doing work in systems vs moving information between people.
Run “Analyse workflow” on a map to surface glue patterns.