# Automation is the name of the game in fintech in 2022 and beyond
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2022-04-26
Category: FINANCE
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance
Meta Title: Fast-track Market Expansion with Billing Automation
Meta Description: Discover how embracing financial automation in billing, accounts receivable, and account reconciliation can help SaaS businesses scale, streamline operations,
URL: https://financedigest.com/automation-is-the-name-of-the-game-in-fintech-in-2022-and-beyondhtml

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_By_ **_Tarmo van der Goot,_** _VP EMEA,_ [_Chargebee_](https://www.chargebee.com/)

As subscription businesses are looking to scale up operations, their finance teams will be eyeing opportunities offered by new markets, different pricing models and fresh product families, while assessing the potential risks in a fiercely competitive market. In 2021, it was estimated that organisations were [using no fewer than 110 SaaS applications per year](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233538/average-number-saas-apps-yearly/), compared to just eight in 2015. Not only that, but customers of such services are not afraid to tweak or abandon subscription plans altogether, leading to [increasing churn rates](https://reply.io/saas-report-2019).

The pressure is on for these businesses to impress their customers, and for their finance teams to enable nimble decision-making. Yet, lack of automation remains one of the [leading constraints on growth in the SaaS sector](https://www.financedigest.com/invest-in-infrastructure-to-escape-the-starvation-cycle-warns-leading-nonprofit-sector-strategist.html "Invest In Infrastructure To Escape The ‘Starvation Cycle’, Warns Leading Nonprofit Sector Strategist"), as seen in the dependence on manual data entry via spreadsheets.

Financial automation can ensure SaaS businesses aren’t [left behind](https://www.financedigest.com/click-and-collect-or-get-left-behind.html "Click and Collect or get left behind") in the race to meet the demand for their services in 2022 and beyond, and there are three major areas they should focus on to succeed: billing, accounts receivable and account reconciliation. Embracing [automation of these processes can arm finance](https://www.financedigest.com/why-do-modern-finance-functions-strive-for-automation.html "WHY DO MODERN FINANCE FUNCTIONS STRIVE FOR AUTOMATION?") teams with the tools they need to drive sustained growth – and it all starts with how billing is processed.

**Fast-track** [market expansion through billing automation](https://www.financedigest.com/guide-to-the-most-affordable-marketing-automation-software.html "Guide To The Most Affordable Marketing Automation Software")

Automated billing can feel like moving from darkness to light, as [finance teams can immediately start automating tax management](https://www.financedigest.com/how-parents-can-help-students-manage-their-finances.html "How Parents Can Help Students Manage their Finances"), payment processing and collection as well as payment retries. Crucially, billing [automation can help businesses tackle common](https://www.financedigest.com/5-common-mistakes-around-accounts-payable-automation.html "5 Common Mistakes Around Accounts Payable Automation") challenges that often accompany fast-paced growth and market expansion, such as managing diversifying product families, payment methods and pricing models.

The typical SaaS [business model](https://www.financedigest.com/apis-open-banking-and-new-business-models.html "APIs, Open Banking and New Business Models") can entail a lot of add-ons, coupons, price points, alternative currencies and various billing frequencies. These are difficult enough to juggle manually, but when companies seek to add fresh revenue streams, [managing new product](https://www.financedigest.com/understanding-management-theories-and-maximising-productivity.html "Understanding management theories and maximising productivity") families becomes a losing battle without the help of automation. Intelligent billing software can help companies categorise and configure the different elements of product families to reduce the time and [effort that goes into their upkeep and scaling](https://www.financedigest.com/mifid-ii-why-you-should-not-scale-back-your-implementation-efforts.html "MIFID II: WHY YOU SHOULD NOT SCALE BACK YOUR IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS"), enabling teams to speed up new product delivery, even when new currencies and payment methods are involved.

Accepting payments in foreign currencies is a key consideration when moving into new geographies, but setting up the process usually requires countless hours of manual configuration. Similarly, new markets often come with their set payment methods and gateways, yet [businesses cannot afford to hit](https://www.financedigest.com/julius-baer-2022-profits-fall-as-it-hits-business-cycle-targets.html "Julius Baer 2022 profits fall as it hits business cycle targets") the brakes on their expansion efforts to manually work out the solution. Nor can they afford [customer churn due to declined payment cards](https://www.chargebee.com/blog/making-sense-credit-card-declines/) at the point of sale. Automation – in the form of dunning [management and multi-currency support](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-manage-burnout-and-how-leaders-should-support-employee-wellbeing-tom-keya.html "How to manage burnout and how leaders should support employee wellbeing | Tom Keya") – helps ensure firms can stay agile and flexible while also remaining compliant with the various tax regimes of their chosen markets.

Finally, new markets come with new and exciting opportunities, and companies should be able to experiment with different pricing [models](https://www.financedigest.com/tesla-cuts-u-s-model-s-and-model-x-prices-between-4-and-9.html "Tesla cuts U.S. Model S and Model X prices between 4% and 9%") and price changes to capitalise on these. But [managing multiple pricing models can become increasingly time-consuming for finance](https://www.financedigest.com/finance-management-for-small-business.html "Finance management for small business") teams, requiring them to pore over large amounts of data on spreadsheets for hours. By automating billing, this is no longer required. With technology simplifying complex billing calculations, the finance team can flexibly experiment across subscription workflows with zero developer dependency, and identify [ways to evolve the revenue model in order to pre-empt market changes](https://www.financedigest.com/10-ways-automation-has-changed-the-role-of-the-cfo.html "10 ways automation has changed the role of the CFO").

**Maintain a steady cashflow by [automating accounts](https://www.financedigest.com/being-nimble-and-responsive-in-banking-and-business-has-arrived-thanks-to-accounting-automation-technologies.html "Being Nimble and Responsive in Banking and Business Has Arrived, Thanks to Accounting Automation Technologies") receivable**

As any [finance team](https://www.financedigest.com/finance-teams-using-ai-outperform-peers-as-demand-for-skills-grows.html "Finance Teams Using AI Outperform Peers as Demand for Skills Grows") will know, cashflow is the lifeblood of a business, and it won’t function unless accounts receivable (AR) are collected on time. In many cases, manual [accounting or poorly-executed part-automation of such processes](https://www.financedigest.com/things-mortgage-lender-takes-into-account-when-processing-an-application.html "Things Mortgage Lender Takes Into Account When Processing an Application") can lead to errors, creating backlogs in collection.

Automating the process of collecting [payments helps firms know](https://www.financedigest.com/the-end-of-payments-as-we-know-it.html "The end of payments as we know it") which customers to charge, when and how, and what to charge for specifically. Imagine the complexity involved when a customer opts to [change their subscription plan](https://www.financedigest.com/exclusive-olympics-paris-2024-plans-games-relay-changes-fewer-torches-source.html "EXCLUSIVE-Olympics-Paris 2024 plans Games relay changes, fewer torches-source") from one quarter to the next and then multiply this by the thousands. As [businesses grow](https://www.financedigest.com/philanthropy-is-an-underrated-tool-for-growing-financial-services-businesses.html "Philanthropy Is an Underrated Tool for Growing Financial Services Businesses") their customer base, this is too much for manual effort to handle.

SaaS vendors will notice a tangible difference when automating AR, because [automation solutions typically offer](https://www.financedigest.com/convenience-offered-by-home-automation-solutions-to-offer-opportunities-for-market-players-iot-has-encouraged-the-demand.html "Convenience Offered by Home Automation Solutions to Offer Opportunities for Market Players; IoT has Encouraged the Demand") up a dashboard providing useful and up-to-date information, as well as helpful notifications, reminders and emails that ensure a smooth cashflow. This can diminish the risk of a build-up of bad [debt over time and enable businesses to make rapid financial assessments and decisions as they go after new customer](https://www.financedigest.com/christmas-debt-hangovers-how-banks-can-help-customers.html "CHRISTMAS DEBT HANGOVERS: HOW BANKS CAN HELP CUSTOMERS") segments.

**No [room for error by automating](https://www.financedigest.com/how-process-automation-increases-productivity-in-the-insurance-sector-while-giving-employees-room-for-more-high-value-activity.html "How Process Automation increases productivity in the insurance sector while giving employees room for more high value activity") account reconciliation**

Account reconciliation may seem basic, but inaccurate manual reconciliation can expose companies to a whole host of risks, from cashflow leaks to fraud and fines. It’s all about ensuring the numbers stack up, comparing [internal financial](https://www.financedigest.com/the-hidden-financial-woes-of-international-students-heading-for-the-uk.html "The Hidden Financial Woes of International Students Heading for the UK") statements with external ones from banks and elsewhere. Over the years, it has become a [pain point for firms](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-rate-rises-pile-pain-on-sme-firms-in-u-s-and-europe.html "Analysis-Rate rises pile pain on SME firms in U.S. and Europe"), due to the sheer number of disparate sources that have to be reconciled over many long hours.

Not only time-consuming, this process is also riddled with human error. Even one mistake can lead companies to overspend or find themselves [coming up short when having to pay](https://www.financedigest.com/why-pay-by-bank-app-will-come-into-its-own-in-2022.html "Why Pay by Bank App will come into its own in 2022 ") salaries or suppliers. Errors in account reconciliation also make it considerably harder for [firms](https://www.financedigest.com/britain-considers-energy-bill-subsidy-for-industrial-firms.html "Britain considers energy bill subsidy for industrial firms") to detect fraudulent activity in their midst, as this can be masked by mistakes in manual number-crunching.

When a rapidly-growing business has a ledger bursting at the seams, [finance teams may struggle to fully process the data](https://www.financedigest.com/why-finance-teams-need-to-go-beyond-numbers-to-an-active-relationship-with-data.html "Why finance teams need to go beyond numbers to an active relationship with data ") as it comes through, allowing mistakes to crop up and sending the business backwards. As a company’s footprint and headcount grows, eliminating this risk [factor becomes of paramount importance](https://www.financedigest.com/high-streets-remain-an-important-factor-for-people-choosing-where-to-live-property-investors-on-alert.html "High streets remain an important factor for people choosing where to live – property investors on alert").

Automating account reconciliation helps minimise the risk of human error by allowing companies to configure rules based on the customer’s preferred payment method and currency, so that [gateway accounts can be automatically assigned without the need](https://www.financedigest.com/5-reasons-why-e-commerce-sites-need-a-token-gateway.html "5 reasons why e-commerce sites need a token gateway") for human intervention. Automation has the added benefit of allowing companies to assign roles and delegate more effectively, creating a more straightforward audit trail and speeding up [approval processes](https://www.financedigest.com/emvco-streamlines-approval-process-for-mobile-payment-devices.html "EMVCo Streamlines Approval Process for Mobile Payment Devices").

**Automation spurring growth in 2022**

[Fintech is in the midst of a digital revolution](https://www.financedigest.com/the-fintech-revolution-trends-to-watch-in-2016.html "The Fintech Revolution: Trends to Watch in 2016"), which will continue to reshape the economy in the years to come, and the argument for automation grows louder and louder by the day. As more and more businesses rely on some form of subscription service to operate, SaaS providers have a huge market opportunity, which can only be maximised if [common issues of financial](https://www.financedigest.com/3-common-financial-hurdles-for-the-self-employed-and-how-to-overcome-them.html "3 Common Financial Hurdles for the Self Employed (And how to Overcome Them)") management are resolved.

Automation plays an undeniable role in keeping the wheels turning, allowing new products and [services to be unveiled, while allowing existing subscription services to be continually improved upon to better-reflect the changing needs](https://www.financedigest.com/top-5-seo-services-you-need-to-succeed-in-2022.html "Top 5 SEO Services You Need To Succeed In 2022") of customers.


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