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Using Hubdoc and Receipt Bank to automate paperwork and date entry in a family business

It is a sad fact that doing the accounting taxation, and financial management for a family business in Perth involves a lot of paperwork.  There is a lot of retyping data and filing documents endlessly.

Thankfully, and after an incredibly long time, technology is automating the mindless paper chase. And incredibly it is now working.

As family business accountants we are fans of using any cloud programs that can create efficiencies.  And for some of our clients in Perth the automation of these low-level tasks has cut two full time employees from low level work and freed them up to do higher end business activities.

So how does it work?

Hubdoc and Receipt Bank collect data from invoices and automatically uploads the data into your cloud accounting platform ready for reconciliation. The information is captured through phone app, email or manual upload. It effectively uses optical character recognition to understand the content of that data. It can even breakdown the level of GST and GST Free expenses of each purchase on the tax invoice. This allows you to snap a picture of a receipt electronically with no longer needing to store paper receipts in the filing cabinet as each transaction has the supporting document attached.

The second functionality of Hub Doc and Receipt Bank enables them to fetch statements automatically from major suppliers and customers. These businesses are some of the most common that family businesses interact with every year i.e. the big banks, investment platforms (Commsec) and Telecom’s such as Telstra, Vodafone they have over 3000 connections. This will replace the need from an information request at the end of the financial year from you accountant and allow processing of the end of year compliance instantly.

While it sounds a bit far-fetched to many, we have applied this to family businesses in Perth and it is working.

Is it safe?

Importantly these software programs are “read only” platforms.  So, there is no capacity within the program to access your money or to make changes to your financial, taxation and business reporting. The programs are continually learning and process over 6 million receipts monthly with a success rate of over 97%.

All data is stored on amazon web servers in the cloud and photos of receipts remain within the Hubdoc or Receipt Bank program and are not stored amongst other personal pictures on your smart device.

Is it limited to one user?

No. You can have multiple employees across the country all uploading documents to the one file simultaneously. It also includes a date and time stamp of the invoice being uploaded to the program. This provides an extra layer of quality control with a direct audit trail for all invoices and the responsible parties for those expenses.

Why would I use such a program and what value do I receive?

Hubdoc and Receipt Bank will help to provide a 10 times efficiency increase in your paperwork and filing. The days of spending afternoons and weekends in the family office filing receipts and manually uploading PDF to your accounting software is redundant. It allows more time to spend on the moments that matter.

The additional value this product creates is the ability to free up key personnel to work on the business and not in the business. You need to have adequate business records to enable an understanding of your business today, tomorrow and in the future. Better financial records leads to increase sale price of the sale of the family business.

Hubdoc and Receipt Bank also reduce the risk that documents will be lost or destroyed. It provides instant access to a receipt from 7 years ago which will certainly reduce stress levels and anxiety when dealing with difficult scenarios. We have had instances where the Australian Tax Office has asked to view certain receipts from a client in digital form. This cost the client endless hours scanning in paper documents to be eventually be transferred to the Australian Tax Office. Being proactive in receipt automation will provide

What does it cost?

Not implementing technological efficiencies imposes a serious cost for our family-owned business. The price of $240 annually is will provide significant return on investment. It will  help free up limited resources to be focused on future innovative strategies. Part of our vision is for family owned business’s to be the primary driver of innovation in Australia. Hubdoc and Receipt bank help to automate and speed up this process.

 

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