Josh Nathan, Consultant, Freed Associates
Off-the-shelf software, such as the kind used for basic accounting or word processing, is typically great for meeting standard business needs. It can be challenging to use commoditized software to assist with more complex calculations or decisions, such as those involving major capital projects, without significant thought, preparation and execution of utilizing higher-level functions.
Specialized, big-ticket and enterprise-critical projects that depend on software tool analytics and assistance typically require significant financial and time investment that comes with custom applications. That was the reality faced by a leading health system nearing several key decisions regarding a major capital project. The organization’s leaders wanted to make the best-informed choices possible regarding their project need, including around the project’s potential financial, operational and community impact. They lacked a tool, however, to properly factor in multiple financial metrics, such as cost of capital, payback period, and growth rate.
Rather than relying on off-the-shelf software as-is, the health system chose to develop a customized forecasting tool capable of providing the analytical and scenario-planning capabilities its leaders needed to make well-informed decisions. Ultimately, the tool the organization gained, which allowed for evolving and time-modified inputs and assumptions, gave decision-makers a new and valuable way of looking at different scenarios to gauge multiple potential project risks and opportunities.
The lessons this health system learned in creating its customized forecasting tool offers valuable insights applicable to any health care organization seeking greater analytical insight about a major capital decision. The following are five key factors that should be considered whenever developing a customized tool for capital project planning.
1. Consider flexibility and growth potential – One of the greatest benefits of a custom solution is that it can be initially built to fulfill the minimum requirements needed now, but later expanded or tweaked to meet additional or changed requirements. It also needs to match your specific business needs and processes. Be sure up-front that the custom tool you begin building has the flexibility and potential to meet your future needs.
2. Factor in multiple impact potential – Decision-making around major capital projects inevitably leads to a series of “What if?” and “What about?” impact-related scenarios and questions. As questions like these are folded into the capital decision-making process, the analytical tool informing such decisions needs to be powerful enough to properly account for a variety of uncertainties. After all, the primary goal of a tool like this is to reduce decision uncertainty.
3. Gain stakeholder support – Analytical tools are truly useful only if they’re used properly and provide their users with a high degree of confidence in their functionality and accuracy. That’s why it’s important when developing a custom tool, to get input and support from all key stakeholders who will ultimately rely on this means. The greater an opportunity you provide to stakeholders to have a voice in a custom tool’s development, the more likely it will consistently meet stakeholders’ needs, interests and confidence levels.
4. Document inputs and assumptions – Customized tools are put together based on a series of inputs and assumptions about things as they stand today. What happens tomorrow, if and when any of these inputs and assumptions prove incorrect, or are changed by factors beyond anyone’s control? Will there be finger-pointing and insinuations made about the tool not being properly built at inception? Or will a carefully documented series of inputs and assumptions serve as the foundational standard for your tool, and allow everyone to quickly agree on necessary updates and changes?
5. Employ the best resources possible – Depending on your projected capital project budget, the cost of a customized solution is likely a mere fraction of that total. The true value of a custom tool used for capital project decision-making comes in risk reduction – the degree to which this tool helps you avoid making a potentially very costly wrong decision. Against that context, consider the “savings” to be gained by employing the cheapest solution provider available versus striving to capture the best resource possible.
Ultimately, your goal should be the same as the health care system which created its own capital project forecasting tool. They sought – and gained – a tool that would deliver the functionality, adaptability, and specificity they needed to confidently decide about their major capital project. With that kind of capability in hand, you too can gain a tool offering similar decision-making power. And rest assured you’ve done as much as possible to make the best financial decisions possible.
About Josh Nathan
Josh Nathan is a consultant with Freed Associates, a California-based health care management consulting firm. As Delivery Leader for Freed Associates, Josh Nathan oversees quality delivery for all consultant projects and maintains a systematic and evolving engagement manager program to best support our consultants and clients.
A custom billing software system saves you time and money while keeping your invoices and payments organized and on schedule. This software makes it easy to customize professional invoices and send them to your clients with complete confidence that they're accurate. Clients can then submit payments online for a seamless transaction, ensuring you get paid faster and with less follow-up required.
Custom Billing Software Benefits
If your current billing system is slow, complicated, or cluttered, keep reading for five compelling reasons you should opt for online custom billing software and how to leverage it for the best results.
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Punctual payments
One of the most enticing reasons to use custom billing software is its ability to help your firm get paid on time consistently. Setting up recurring invoices for your clients and creating a personalized payment schedule that works for both parties prevents you from having to request money repeatedly or track down outstanding invoices. Instead, automated payment reminders do it for you.
These are great features if your company offers subscriptions, payment plans, or frequently bills the same clients regularly (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or annually). Billing and invoicing software notifies clients before their balance is due, on the due date, and as soon as payment is late, removing the pressure from your firm to micromanage these tasks.
Instead, you’re free to spend more time on your firm's services and the work you enjoy. It also offers you flexibility, as many invoicing systems include mobile functionality so that you can monitor invoice and payment status from anywhere.
Track all expenses
With cloud-based billing software, all invoices sent and received are securely tracked and logged for more accurate records. This keeps your firm and its clients accountable for services purchased and payments owed. And like any business owner, you want to do everything you can year-round to remain tax-compliant and prepared for an audit. A digital billing solution is the simplest way to ensure you always are.
Tracking your expenses and payments also provides detailed insights into your financial patterns. It's simpler to know which clients are your most valuable, which services are most popular, and the time of year you're most profitable. This knowledge is powerful because it helps you adjust to keep cash flow stable all year and invest more in the clients and services that make money for your firm.
An online billing system will allow you to understand your revenue and your budgets and spending. With budget reports like those automatically created in BQE’s CORE, you always know if you’re under or exceeding a project’s budget, while expense tracking at the project or employee level reveals unnecessary spending, so you make changes going forward.
Client management
Your billing system is an underrated client management tool because it quickly highlights all financial information related to a client. You can sort and categorize your clients based on their industry, business size, and how recently you worked together. Knowing your previous interactions and the services they purchased will help you re-engage with a recommendation or simply check in on their needs.
You also foster goodwill with clients when you make it easy to work with you. Be flexible by accepting multiple payment types, including credit cards. Credit card payments are increasingly popular, with 84% of people wanting the option to pay by credit card. Mobile payments are on the rise, too, so you need your firm to accept payment methods that are convenient and safe.
Most billing and accounting platforms integrate with popular payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal to securely receive money and deposit it in your account faster than traditional banking systems. When you make it painless for clients to pay you, you’ll find that you receive more on-time payments and fewer email exchanges about the matter.
Team management
Many tedious billing tasks get automated or streamlined with custom billing software, but it doesn’t completely eliminate your team's involvement. Instead, it enables you to keep everyone organized, informed, and accountable. When all of your collaborators work together from one platform, they know what they’re responsible for and what others have recently completed. Say your automated payment reminders have gone ignored. Which team member is responsible for making that phone call to your client, asking for a payment ASAP?
Customize your online billing tool to your team’s liking, including the cadence at which it generates financial reporting, such as a profitability report, and who automatically receives an email copy at your desired interval. By standardizing your financial processes, from invoicing schedules to data collection, you set the example for your team and keep your firm running smoothly.
Digital conversion
Everything is digital now, including receipts, invoices, payments, and even tax filings. This is a positive for business owners because you can save money on paper, ink, and office space! It’s easier to store hundreds or thousands of records when you do it digitally, and it's faster and more secure to share with other stakeholders this way.
In 2022, if you don’t accept payments online, or you can't send clients and vendors a digital receipt, your firm looks out of touch and less credible. Adapting to new technology is a boon for businesses because it makes you look savvy, like you know what's coming before everyone else.
Not only do you seem more informed, but your firm becomes more powerful when you use software, thanks to third-party integrations and automations that let you work more efficiently. And the invoice templates included in custom billing software are a win because they ensure you always look professional and on-brand, but only take seconds to personalize and send.
BQE Solutions - Custom Billing Software
Billing and invoicing software for small businesses offers your firm unlimited invoicing capabilities, improved cash flow, organized records and tax information, and automated payment follow-ups, so your team isn’t stuck doing it.
If you need some help staying on top of your billing and invoicing tasks, CORE offers user-friendly automatic billing software as well as project management software, expense tracking, time tracking, and accounting software. All of this functionality lets firms more easily assign tasks, set project budgets, and manage time and expenses.
Check out the rest of our blog for resources to help you find software built for your industry to make your company more efficient, whether you're looking for project management software for engineers or legal billing software. Sign up for your free demo today to see how CORE can streamline your firm's billing processes, project execution, and more.