Investing in technology can boost your finances

With businesses enduring constant challenges on multiple fronts right now, they might not necessarily be thinking about upending their internal processes – but now is actually the perfect time to look for opportunities to improve.

Aside from the benefits of taking stock and enacting an audit of what is and isn’t working, there are tangible benefits that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

According to research by Accenture, 62% of high-growth companies are actively planning to invest more in innovative technologies in the coming year. This isn’t necessarily because they’re on the cutting edge of discovery, but more because they have a firm handle on their changing situation, and are willing to adapt and learn.

Companies that are more open to organisational improvements are also likely to be supportive of their employees, and foster greater creativity and collaboration between teams. Although structure can help us to measure our deliverables and timescales, it can also act to box us in.

It’s easy to become entrenched in an outdated system that no longer serves your business needs or the needs of your customers –and having an open and honest conversation with your team is the first step in discovering what helps your bottom line and what hinders performance.

How Technology Has Improved Our Processes

Our work at Duncan & Toplis is a great example of how leaning into technology can improve efficiencies but also radically benefit workflow. The audit team has recently improved the ways it uses technology to enhance client service and it now plays a leading role in helping to shape internal processes and best practice policies for software throughout the business.

embedded within our audit methodology.

We’ve also introduced using a revenue analyser on the majority of audits to reduce our substantive sales testing and increase quality by allowing the team to focus on unusual and outlier transactions.

We listened to our team, took time to balance their concerns and questions, and ultimately decided that changing how we worked could improve our performance in the long run – and we’re very glad that we did.

This includes the implementation of data analytics and digital auditing using a data analytics software, Inflo, in the audit process to increase audit quality and add value to our clients. It allows the team to focus on the highest-risk transactions where errors or inconsistencies are most likely found.

Duncan & Toplis was an early adopter of Inflo and, as a result, we have been able to work closely with the developer to ensure it fully meets our needs. This means we have a firm understanding of how to use it to optimise our work, as well as ensure that data analytics is

FIND OUT WHAT’S NEEDED FROM WITHIN THE BUSINESS

I would advise all business owners to take the time to speak openly and directly to their teams –without judgement or expectation –and most will be surprised at what they learn about their operational efficiency and, critically, what needs to be done to improve it.

Technology is constantly developing and now, with the surge in scope for AI applications, businesses that are flexible, able and, critically, willing, to adapt are less likely to be closing their doors – much like the 17,145 businesses that sadly closed in 2022.