Our UK sales director Lucy Beck has been discussing the advantages of outsourcing accounts in one of the UK’s leading entrepreneur-led publications, Talk Business.

The article looks at the functions of an organisation, and how outsourcing could be the difference between success and failure for any start-up business. Lucy observes that Accounts are often the first area considered for outsourcing, as these processes can be both time-consuming and time-sensitive.

Lucy said: “Allocating Accounts responsibility to someone else can be a huge relief for any business. More importantly, dealing with company accounts requires an in-depth understanding of a higher regulated industry, where failing to comply can lead to serious consequences such as large fines and penalties.”

You can read the full article here, on page 81 of the digital magazine:

http://talkbusinessmagazine.co.uk/latest-magazine/

Late payments are a bugbear for many businesses.  Just how big the problem has become was highlighted by recent survey data from BACS (Bankers' Automated Clearing Services) in the UK.  The average UK small company is now owed £39,000 at any one time, and that businesses are owed on average 10% more than last year.  Worse, those hit by late payment are waiting on average 28 days beyond their payment terms to have invoices settled. 

It's a critical issue that we look at in our latest article, published on AccountsPayableNews.org.  The key point is, impending EU Late Payment legislation means that companies may not have to put up with it for too much longer, as the legislation will give firms the ability to apply penalties.  The article looks at the issues and suggests solutions here:  

http://www.accountspayablenews.org/payments/353-terms-of-endearment-avoiding-late-payment-penalties.html

Our UK sales director Lucy Beck gives her thoughts about how invoice processing and document management functions are moving to the cloud to improve productivity in this article from the UK portal, CloudPro. 

It also features long-standing Palette customer, Stena Line, one of the world’s leading shipping firms. 
It’s well worth a read, at:  http://www.cloudpro.co.uk/saas/document-management/2749/how-cloud-rendering-traditional-document-management-obsolete?page=0,1

If you’d like to find out more about how our PaletteOnline solution gives you easier and more efficient invoice processing with minimal set-up and configuration, we’re hosting free webinars in February to show how you can deploy rapidly, cut costs and run either in the cloud or on your premises with identical functionality.   

The webinars are a no-obligation opportunity to find out how a cloud-based solution can provide you with a truly seamless method for managing supplier invoices more efficiently, delivering real, ongoing savings in both costs and time. 

To register for the webinar on Thursday 9th February at 3pm (GMT), click here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/705782734  

Or for Tuesday 21st February at 2.30pm (GMT), click here:   https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/245489558

We’ve just announced the latest version of PaletteArena, which includes a number of key enhancements to its mobile / smartphone working capabilities, email integration and reporting functions. 

PaletteArena Version 6 include PaletteMobile, allowing users to access their invoice workflows on their smartphone, offering more flexibility over how and where they can process and manage invoices.  The PaletteMobile client features an intuitive user interface to support invoice checking, approval, and workflow management. 

It also features PaletteMail which is aimed at users who prefer to integrate their workflow with their email, collating all of users’ invoices in their email inbox for review, which can then be reviewed and approved within the PaletteMail client, with all processing handled within PaletteArena.

We’ve also made a number of upgrades to PaletteDashboard, to give easier access to snapshots of key information on suppliers and the status of payments, with the option to drilldown into further detail if necessary.  Find out more about what PaletteArena 6.0 can do in our product pages.