The pandemic brought about many changes, some of which were temporary and faded as the pandemic faded. However, other aspects of our professional lives have changed in the long term. This is especially felt in the deployment of people in the workforce. The pre-pandemic workforce saw a trend towards a more decentralized remote model. While this trend represented a small percentage of people, certain functional areas like the financial back office were generally exempt. But that is changing rapidly as companies have been forced to adapt to a greater number of resources working remotely. Many companies now realize that the low-cost, low-overhead model of a remote workforce is here to stay.
Working Remotely in the Financial Back Office
One functional area that had to adapt quickly to a remote workforce model is the financial back-office. Since many of these functions surround processing activities, companies had to shift those resources and activities out of the controlled, team-centric environment of a shared service center or centralized processing operation, while still being able to manage the performance and productivity of those workers.
Enabling easily accessible technology is one of the cornerstones of a successful remote workforce. ICG’s AP Automation delivers value, savings, and efficiency. ICG’s cloud-hosted accounts payable solutions rapidly deploy in a remote processing environment to support business continuity in both good and difficult times. ICG can help your company support remote back-office operations with the following:
- Process invoices from multiple sources in multiple formats
- Processing all types of invoices (Expenses/Non-PO, PO, Fixed Assets/Fleet, Construction, Services, Repair & Maintenance, etc.) in one place with one consistent user experience
- Tracking worker productivity using ICG tracking and reporting tools
- Handle more work in less time with an advanced AP Automation solution
Our cloud-hosted accounts payable and comprehensive procure-to-pay solutions are technology-agnostic and can seamlessly integrate with your current systems and infrastructure. Our goal is to help you create a remote, automated, and standardized financial back office system that is optimized for remote and hybrid processing operations and works in conjunction with your existing processes and systems.
Vendor Portals: Platform to Support Remote Workforce
A vendor portal is a web-based solution that allows you to communicate, collaborate, and transact with your vendors in a secure, online environment 24/7. Vendor portals provide a web-based platform that allows you to move processes from your centralized operation to remote workers. Learn more about ICG’s vendor portal solutions and how they can support your remote and hybrid applications.
You can also move non-value-added research and data-gathering functions from your operation back to the vendors, thereby reducing the burden on your workforce. Via the vendor portal, your vendors can find the information they need and easily submit data and documents to you. Constructed correctly, over 70% of vendor questions can be serviced through the portal instead of through return calls and emails, freeing up time for your resources to focus on value-added activities.
Vendor Portal Functionality
- Perform 24/7 payment and dispute inquiries without having to call your vendor service center or their AP contact
- Electronically submit invoices for payment, including PO flip, to eliminate the need for physical mail room activities for AP
- Initiate payment and transaction disputes and track the progress of resolutions via the portal
- Prospective vendors can easily provide data and documentation electronically via the vendor onboarding portal
- PO dispatch and update module allows the vendor to receive POs and Updates via the portal – vendor setup
- Participate in workflows to update, communicate, and collaborate
- Offer vendors a dynamic discounting solution to drive significant economic benefits while strengthening your supply chains
Security – All of your financial data and transactions are secure with remote processing using ICG’s solutions! ICG, along with its partners Amazon Web Services and Sysdig, provides around-the-clock security protocols, monitoring, and detection & response.
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ICG has helped several of its high-transaction-volume customers adapt to a remote workforce in very short order. Customers like Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores were able to respond to the need to transition to a remote-based operation quickly without sacrificing performance, service, or functionality. Organizations that utilize ICG’s cloud-hosted back-office solutions are positioned well for now and into the future with their low-cost, high-functioning remote operations. Contact ICG for a free demo!