# Eliminating financial leaks across your business
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2021-07-30
Category: BUSINESS
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business
Meta Title: Maximise Financial Efficiency with Historical Transactions Analysis
Meta Description: Discover and eliminate maverick spending, improve oversight of vendor performance, enhance budget control, and eliminate invoice errors to reduce financial
URL: https://financedigest.com/eliminating-financial-leaks-across-your-businesshtml

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_By **Ray Welsh,** Head of Product Marketing,_ [_FISCAL Technologies_](https://fiscaltec.com/)

All businesses are vulnerable to financial leaks, whether your business is a start-up or an established company, many risks can have serious consequences on your finances. The importance of assessing historical transactions thoroughly to identify any recurring weak spots is critical. Whether you are a [small and mid-size enterprise or a global](https://www.financedigest.com/2021-the-year-of-the-global-workforce-for-british-small-businesses.html "2021: The Year of the Global Workforce for British small businesses ") organisation, undertaking these measures will ensure your business is proactive, rather than reactive to these issues before it’s too late. Having the necessary AP [technologies in place helps to identify red flags and eliminates the threat](https://www.financedigest.com/sophisticated-cyber-threats-are-biggest-technology-fear-for-financial-and-public-sector-in-2018.html "Sophisticated cyber threats are biggest technology fear for financial and public sector in 2018") of human error.

In light of this, here are the five [key benefits of assessing historical transactions](https://www.financedigest.com/why-machine-learning-is-the-key-to-effective-transaction-monitoring.html "Why machine learning is the key to effective transaction monitoring") thoroughly;

**Discover and eliminates maverick spending**

Maverick spend or any organisational purchase made outside of a formal purchasing process can result in unexpected purchases, [leading to a cash-flow crisis](https://www.financedigest.com/new-pm-rishi-sunak-pledges-to-lead-britain-out-of-economic-crisis.html "New PM Rishi Sunak pledges to lead Britain out of economic crisis"). When purchases [aren’t properly tracked](https://www.financedigest.com/the-flexible-working-revolution-is-here-so-why-arent-you-tracking-expenses-on-the-go.html "‘The flexible working revolution is here – so why aren’t you tracking expenses on the go?’"), this results in data gaps, and as a result, the financial department is unaware of where the money was spent. This [leads to delays at month-end close](https://www.financedigest.com/leading-blockchain-firm-to-unveil-decentral-project-at-official-consensus-industry-closing-event.html "Leading Blockchain Firm to Unveil Decentral Project at Official Consensus Industry Closing Event") as well as the potential for fraud. Reconciling maverick spend can become the primary cause of bottlenecks within the AP [organisation](https://www.financedigest.com/how-giving-insights-into-card-spend-can-help-organisations-to-manage-their-business.html "How giving insights into card spend can help organisations to manage their business") Without a system to continually check for the indicators of maverick spend, working in the background on your behalf, cash continues to leak out and cleaning up the mess continues to consume your team’s valuable time.

The solution to maverick [spend begins with having the necessary AP technologies in place helps to identify](https://www.financedigest.com/paid-search-advertising-how-to-identify-wasted-spending.html "Paid search advertising: how to identify wasted spending") red flags.

[**Improves oversight of vendor performance**](https://www.financedigest.com/panasonic-delays-production-of-new-tesla-battery-to-improve-performance.html "Panasonic delays production of new Tesla battery to improve performance")

Thankfully [digital transformation](https://www.financedigest.com/3-reasons-why-businesses-get-stuck-at-the-starting-gate-of-digital-transformation.html "3 Reasons Why Businesses Get Stuck At The Starting Gate Of Digital Transformation") has removed the paper document-intensive back-and-forth of completing a purchase that historically included items such as quotes, purchase orders, order confirmations, invoices, credit notes and receipts. Thankfully the environment has benefited from this transformation, it has however failed to reduce the number of [documents required in a supplier transaction](https://www.financedigest.com/ephesoft-releases-enhanced-version-of-flagship-smart-document-capture-solution-transact-4-5.html "Ephesoft Releases Enhanced Version of Flagship Smart Document Capture Solution: Transact 4.5"). If the necessary technologies and procedures are not in place these documents can become lost in the system, resulting in a waste of [employee time](https://www.financedigest.com/the-pandemic-means-that-its-time-to-double-down-on-our-commitment-wellbeing-and-employee-engagement.html "The pandemic means that it’s time to double down on our commitment wellbeing and employee engagement"), excessive spending, and poor supplier relationships. An effective Procure-to-Pay system [consolidates the entire process into a single platform](https://www.financedigest.com/make-way-for-the-rise-of-the-finance-super-apps-consolidation-of-financial-digitisation-tools-platforms.html "Make way for the rise of the Finance Super Apps – Consolidation of Financial Digitisation Tools & Platforms") which improves efficiency, but without the contemporary controls needed to protect spending, P2P solutions can speed up cash leakage.

[**Improves budget control**](https://www.financedigest.com/german-regulator-calls-on-allianz-to-improve-controls-source.html "German regulator calls on Allianz to improve controls – source")

Having the necessary AP technologies in place to track and check transactions can have a monumental [positive impact](https://www.financedigest.com/what-brexit-blues-new-research-reveals-over-half-of-businesses-in-the-financial-sector-believe-brexit-will-have-a-long-term-positive-impact.html "What Brexit blues? New research reveals over half of businesses in the financial sector believe Brexit will have a long-term positive impact") on budgets and how they are controlled. It is sometimes the case that a budget-orientated mindset doesn’t always make its [way into the Procure-to-Pay process](https://www.financedigest.com/three-ways-that-female-entrepreneurs-can-supercharge-their-hiring-process.html "Three ways that female entrepreneurs can supercharge their hiring process") within organisations. Possessing [clear budget controls should be of the utmost importance within any organisations](https://www.financedigest.com/germanys-bafin-tells-eurex-clearing-clearstream-to-clean-up-organisational-deficiencies.html "Germany’s BaFin tells Eurex Clearing, Clearstream to clean up organisational deficiencies") purchasing system. Through a singular purchasing platform, budget limits can be set for each department, resulting in ease of visibility within the purchasing dashboard. Assessing historical transactions via AP technologies will result in the necessary bodies having total visibility and control of departmental budgets, eliminating unwarranted spending and [reducing financial](https://www.financedigest.com/cobots-in-the-financial-workplace-reducing-costs-attracting-talent-and-enhancing-sustainability.html "Cobots in the financial workplace: Reducing costs, attracting talent and enhancing sustainability") leaks within the organisation.

**Eliminates invoice errors**

Incorrect invoices can come in many shapes and sizes, whether it be inaccurate costs, missing or incorrect purchase order numbers or duplicate invoices, this remains a [common headache for many businesses](https://www.financedigest.com/5-common-tax-mistakes-small-businesses-make-in-australia.html "5 Common Tax Mistakes Small Businesses Make in Australia"). Any worthwhile purchasing process will [automate checks and balances](https://www.financedigest.com/adopting-ai-balancing-automation-with-risk-management.html "Adopting AI: balancing automation with risk management") that will automatically flag invoice errors, potential duplicate invoices, and all other errors that account for invoice related cash leakage in an organisation. Having the right AP [technologies in place](https://www.financedigest.com/gft-appoints-marikalulay-as-new-ceo-to-place-focus-on-international-expansion-and-transformative-technologies.html "GFT appoints MarikaLulay as new CEO, to place focus on international expansion and transformative technologies") will allow you to proactively audit invoices to check for errors, such as duplicates or overbilling. If your platform does nothing but eradicates overpayments, your organisation will have [overcome one of the most common](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)") causes of unnecessary spending.

**Removes** [manual processes](https://www.financedigest.com/new-cloud-cfo-automates-the-manual-consolidation-process-for-group-finance-with-spreadsheets-connected-to-the-cloud.html "New Cloud CFO Automates the Manual Consolidation Process for Group Finance with Spreadsheets Connected to the Cloud")

Manual processes are known to be error-prone and extremely time-consuming. Having the required AP [technologies in place can eliminate the challenges](https://www.financedigest.com/five-technology-challenges-that-are-holding-back-legal-innovation.html "Five technology challenges that are holding back legal innovation") and difficulties attributed to manual Procure-to-Pay processes. But when human processing is replaced with rules-based, automated systems, the time allocated to contacting vendors, [following up with approvers](https://www.financedigest.com/gecko-governance-launches-compliance-solution-for-ico-market-following-approval-by-isle-of-man-regulator.html "GECKO Governance Launches Compliance Solution For ICO Market Following Approval by Isle of Man Regulator"), and gathering credit notes etc. continues unless smarter error detection is also introduced, alongside AP automation. Time wasted in P2P processing is a major [financial leak that can be prevented with the right approach](https://www.financedigest.com/cloud-migration-for-financial-services-organisations-whats-the-best-approach.html "Cloud Migration for Financial Services Organisations – What’s the best approach?").


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