Accounts Payable: Beyond the Numbers

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Finance is the lifeblood of any organization. A company’s strength is not only determined by its reputation and products, after all,  but also by how well they manage their resources. To make it easy for managers to assess how well they are faring, Sarah Ghosh, director of Lean Finance Consultancy Ltd., developed an app that provides graphical representations of emerging trends in operational performance.  The first in a series of financial management tools, called “Accounts Payable KPIs”, is set to be launched soon.

Freelancer recently spoke to Sarah to learn more about the latest app to hit the market and Freelancer.com’s participation in its development.

Freelancer Q&A

F: How does your financial app add value to your client companies?

S: I wanted to help finance directors and heads of finance monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of four key areas in finance: accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting and forecasting, and monthly close. I started with the app that monitors accounts payable through the use of  10 key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPI trends may highlight potential issues with a company’s current processes, and may also indicate that corrective action is needed to address underlying problems. Users can compare period trends and look for patterns over various intervals.

F: Why did you choose the accounts payable app as your first venture?

S: A key priority for Finance Directors is to manage cash flow, and as part of that, paying suppliers in line with agreed payment terms, and ensuring that the organization does not find itself in a situation where it is charged interest on overdue invoices.

F: Did you have a particular market in mind when you developed the app?

S: My target market is SMEs that do not necessarily have the budget to develop more complex software  tools to monitor their finances. The app can be applied across multiple industries.

F: Typically, finance applications are desktop programs. What made you choose a mobile platform?

S: I initially developed an Excel tool to monitor KPIs but found that the backend of maintaining such a database and the administrative impact of multiple users was prohibitively expensive; therefore, I looked for other ways to make this tool accessible and easier to use. The mobile platform suits my intention.

F: Do you think that Freelancer is the best venue for finding highly-skilled mobile developers?

S: Our overall experience was very positive and we would recommend Freelancer® as a medium to engage developers. We were fortunate enough to choose sincosten and Sophie Rom as our contact, who have provided us with a workable app, within budget.

F: What benefits do you see in using Freelancer for this type of projects?

S: The benefits of going through the platform are that we are able to review the feedback to evaluate which bidder to go with, and we are confident that our intellectual property rights are protected by the non-disclosure agreement.

Posted 28 January, 2016

Nikki Hernandez

Wired and Inspired | Content Coordinator, Freelancer.com

I'm the coordinator of Freelancer's Case Study Program. I write inspirational success stories of employers and freelancers. When not busy writing, I play video games.

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