What’s the best way to add value to something? Make it more efficient. Instead of adding new processes, hiring new staff, increasing your output, have you ever looked into what you already do, and simply tried making it better?
Sometimes it’s a simple fix. Even just making sure everyone is following the same processes can see gains in productivity. But this kind of governance is not easy in a school, with such displaced processes and teachers doing what they think is best for their class, and not for the school’s budget or bank account.
We all want the kids to have a chance, and sometimes what one teacher thinks is cutting a corner, gets picked up by the admin team and excess time is wasted instead of one person simply inputting correct information.
What’s the best way to promote best-in-class processes?
Make them easier.
In this case, supplier invoice processing is a notorious money pit. You’re spending money to spend money. It seems like a crazy idea, but it needs to be done, and it needs to be done right. A lack of governance, in this case, could lead to the Taxman knocking, and it will affect your school’s spend management & budget.
The answer can be as easy as one simple piece of software.
One piece of software that makes it easy to track school spend data and process invoices. Some may even go through without anyone having to do any work! (Touchless invoices.)
To have the most productivity gains, you’ll need to get suppliers on board with sending you e-invoices (invoices, but over email), which should be a win-win for them; the faster you receive the invoice, the faster they get paid, AND they don’t have to pay printing and postage!
To reap even further rewards, you can enable your staff to purchase what they need online (like they would at home). In this case, the order is digital, the purchase approval is digital (control spend with POs!), and the invoice is digital. It’s a process perfect for 2022, and at the end of the year, you can brag about how much paper and petrol you have saved!
I know you’re probably thinking this is all ‘best case’ scenario, the real world couldn’t possibly be so fruitful!
What if we had proof? A voice in the crowd that uses our software achieved 100% user adoption FROM DAY 1 (!?), and before you say, “but that couldn’t work in my sector”, the voice I’m talking about is the giant MAT that is The White Horse Federation.
So, what do you have to lose? Your cred with the luddites?
