Upgrading Your Technology/Digital Ecosystem for 2021

Prior to March 2020, it was not uncommon for nonprofit organizations to have manual accounts payable procedures. This meant that staff would spend considerable time gathering print invoice approvals, manually entering invoices into accounting systems, physically cutting paper checks and mailing vendor payments, and manually filed vendor invoices for onsite auditor visits. The pandemic, in a positive way, has compelled many organizations to embrace technology and to give up manual processes. In a survey of CEOs conducted by Fortune magazine and Deloitte*, "77% of CEOs reported that the COVID-19 crisis accelerated their digital transformation plans".

The chart below was presented at a Sage Intacct Conference we recently attended. This technology and application growth represents the new digital reality in front of us. ​​​​​​​

Just a few years ago, this ecosystem had 2 - 3 players in each area. Now there is an overwhelming selection of applications and software available, and new categories such as blockchain and business intelligence. Although COVID-19 has taken us by surprise, the good news is that we have new tools and applications to support our remote work environment and accelerate the move forward from inefficient manual processes. We have been helping organizations transform their accounting operations for many years and have the expertise to find the right the solution for your organization.

You can read about some of these tools and directions in this blog, including an introduction to Digital Transformation and how we are applying it in our work, Big Data and Data Analytics and how we can utilize data to make informed decisions, and new features from Sage Intacct that use Artificial Intelligence to make our bank reconciliations more efficient and propel us to real-time data access.

2020 will go down in history as the pandemic year, but it is also the year where we made big strides towards the use of new technology in accounting. In 2021, let us be part of your journey – we are here to support you as you continue to dive into this new digital age.

Sources:

• https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/digital-transformation/digital-transformation-COVID-19.html