Reconfiguration of Invoices and Payment Methods Essay Example for Free

Reconfiguration of Invoices and Payment Methods EssayThis proposal lays tabu the benefits and impact of applying technology in order to reconfigure invoicing and payment method acquireance at delightfuls Landscaping. The company suffers from low hoardion rates and long cacheion cartridge holders. Its traditional method of spend a penny and invoicing is two ineffective and costly. Additional staff is needful just to attempt to collect past due bills which be oftentimes erroneous and outdated. Moreover, the company would further benefit from a node database that would compile all told take a crap orders and reduce or glide by redundancy. The neediness of technology use has put the company at a disadvantage in the industry.Problem The issues to be addressed are to lessen collection time of payments time simultaneously reduce overhead costs, create a node database that can be accessed through marketing, finance, and guest service departments, and greatly improve upo n operational processes.Approach Establish if implementing a handheld credit add-in acceptance method at the point-of-sale entrusting effectively reduce payment collection time and give the company a competitive advantage. Further discover if electronic invoicing and database creation bequeath eliminate redundancy and reduce costs.Methodology Meet with appropriate department headsfinance, customer service, operations, marketingto determine how each pull up stakes benefit by the reconfiguration and how to maximize profits from those benefits. Decide which database program would be most harmonious for meeting the needs of the organization. Additionally, establish the costs and time associated with educating and training staff on the products and software existence introduced. Allocate the time and expense and determine the best quarter to implement the changes. Company expenses, due to lack of payment collection and overhead, severely cut into profits. Immediate payment by wa y of a energetic credit card treat adapter at time of service pull up stakes champion addition company profitability and efficiency. Each program will tie into the next. The credit card processor will automatically generate electronic invoices to be emailed to the customer. These invoices will be housed in a database that will collect and store relevant customer instruction. The impact on the company as a whole will be positive as departments will take in the ability to share information and collaborate for optimal efficiency.Milestone 1 Problem The issues to be addressed are to lessen collection time of payments age simultaneously reduce overhead costs, create a customer database that can be accessed through marketing, finance, and customer service departments, and greatly improve upon operational processes.Company Background Sunnys Landscaping was organize in 1976 by one man in Pennsylvania and started operations with only two redundant practiceees. Sunnys provides con struction of ponds rock walls, irrigation, lawn maintenance, flowerbed design, and all landscaping needs to its customers. It has grown to employ as many as seventy-five people and has net revenues of almost one million dollars per year. Sunnys (The Company) services both residential and commercial messageised properties with commercial generating nearly 75% of its annual revenues. In the early 1990s the Company began providing additional services, such as snow removal and ice buildup legal profession that would allow it to stay operational year-round. With these additional services came an increase in impertinent accounts most of which have been residential. The profit increase with respect to the raw(a) accounts has been mediocre at best. The Companys inability to collect payment on the new residential accounts has begun to severely decrease profits and it has been proposed to reduce services. In an thrust to continue all service and grow, the Company has begun to seek solu tions.Approach Internal financial research has shown that diminish profits are due to a multitude of issues including the high number of delinquent or tardy accounts, excessive staffing expenses, and a general lack of sufficient and effective use of technology. Determine if introducing a new method of point-of-sale payment collection will reduce expenses related to residential accounts. Further determine if an electronic invoicing process will enable the Company reduce staffing costs while simultaneously creating a customer database.Methodology Convene with all the appropriate departmentsfinance, customer service, operations, marketingto determine how a database should be constructed so it is cross functional for each department. The company currently uses Microsoft Access for its customer disputation. Information pulled from this list is oftentimes outdated and erroneous. It is inappropriate software to use in order to transfer customer information to an invoice. This process i ncreases work hours and is redundant. As work orders are issued and workers are dispatched, each should be provided with the ability to chastise the invoice electronically onsite for immediate customer payment. The method used now is to issue the order, perform the work, prepare the invoice if necessary, and then mail it out in the traditional fashion. The increase in new residential customers has also caused an increase in non-payment. The use of a mobile credit card processor could help reduce this payment delinquency.Options/Solutions Sunnys Landscaping has very little collaboration amongst its departments and few tools to work with. Each department is independently operated from the others and has not yet adapted to the influx of residential accounts. Whereas, the larger commercial accounts are well known and recognized, the smaller residential accounts are given very little customer service. The Company must find a solution that will reconcile both the residential and commerc ial accounts with companys overall needs and each departments ability to operate. One alter system would allow the Company to function as a whole.The Company has a need for a system that can accomplish three goals 1. Generate invoices 2. Allow for point-of-sale credit card process 3. Create a database that is cross functional All three systems must work in bicycle-built-for-two and allow information to flow from one process to the next. For example, as work is completed a old geezer requires the ability to generate an invoice on the spot. Then they must also have the ability to accept payment from the customer. Lastly, the customers information and work performed must be electronically transferred into the database where other departments will be able to access it for a follow-up service. Marketing could use the information for promotional mailers, customer service could use it to obtain feedback, finance would use it for records, and operations could use it to find out the symb ol of service performed. If one system can be constructed that will support all three functions, it will reduce costs company wide, allow for customer information to be used effectively end-to-end all departments, and increase profits while reducing delinquent accounts.Milestone 2 Sunnys Landscaping will need to research further to determine if and what additional resources will be required to reconfigure its invoicing and payment methods. It must also determine how much training will be required for frontline workers and encouraging staff. Sunnys Landscaping should consider the following questions prior to making a decision to the highest degree which software and hardware to use1. What point-of-sale device will allow for data to be stored in a database and extracted for invoicing? a. Is there one device that is superior over the other in price and exertion? b. Will this device need any additional in-house hardware to function? c. Will customers financial and personal informati on be stored and processed securely how can we ensure customers that it is? 2. How long, if at all, will funds be held for before deposit? 3. Will one database be able to support all the functions that each department requires? 4. Can prior customers information be easily entered into the new database? 5. Will a lack of mobile or internet connection affect point-of-sale processing and if so, how are payments accepted otherwise?Point-of Sale Device The two most compatible devices with Sunnys Landscaping needs are SquareUp and Intuit GoPayment. Each device works similar to one another. interrogation has shown the greatest differences are in payment deposit time and customer service. SquareUp appears to have a long-run slower deposit time of funds, especially with new accounts. Moreover, the first few months of service do not allow new customers to withdraw entire deposit amounts. According to the SquareUp website, this payment hold is to reduce fraud. GoPayment by Intuit seems to ha ve the greatest customer satisfaction. GoPayments device hardware also seems to be of a better, to a greater extent secure design as can be seen in the figure below.