Page 59 - Green Builder July-August 2019 Issue

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FIELD NOTES Business tips and
strategies that work.

CREDIT: NVOICEPAY

Filling (out) the bill. When it comes to balancing the books, construction companies are among the most complex entities, due to their many vendors and
ever-changing roster of subcontractors.
scarce IT resources, and sees t to spend most technology investment while on their jobsites, which saves tons of time and really helps
on eld operations. Further, with many construction companies run keep jobs moving.
by founding families, the tradition of the owner signing every check
dies hard. Positioning for the future
Although construction lags other industries in adopting technology,
Not just for consumers in general, it’s not far behind in terms of payment automation. Many
Here’s the good news: Just as they did with consumer payments, companies are slow to adopt electronic payments, because they’re
technology companies have stepped up to go beyond moving money simply unaware of new automation solutions. For years, bank and
electronically. Automated payment solutions enable you to make card products have been the only game in town, even though they
every type of payment from a single interface. There’s just one haven’t solved for all the complexity surrounding payments. Things
workow: deciding which invoices to pay and clicking the “pay” have changed, and there’s a lot coming down the pike, including
button. innovations in accounts receivable (AR), trade nance and dynamic
You don’t even have to know how a vendor wants to get paid. discounting.
Solution providers now use cloud-based networks to handle As payments become automated in the cloud, companies are
vendor enablement and information management at scale—and gaining enough visibility and speed in invoicing and payments to
a lot of your vendors are probably already part of their networks. leverage these advanced programs. Even if you’re still heavy into
Plus, the cloud lets providers integrate their solutions into your checks, you’re not a long way from being able to capitalize on new
enterprise resource planning (ERP) or accounting system with technology solutions.
just a few hours of IT time. These new ntech systems can help So, it’s time to start thinking strategically about payments—not
most businesses reach 80 percent or more electronic payments. just as paying bills or shifting from paper to electronic. Think about
It’s a project that pays for itself quickly and frees up AP time for payments as an area where you can leverage technology to increase
other initiatives. value and get out on the leading edge of back-o’ce innovation. GB
Early electronic-payment adopters in construction have found that
being able to pay vendors on time consistently with full remittance Brent Meyers is the vice president of national sales for Nvoicepay. He
data helps them attract top subcontractors to bid on their jobs. They specializes in regulation compliance and expense reporting solutions
can also enable eld supervisors to approve payments in the cloud for the accounts payable industry.

www.greenbuildermedia.com July/August 2019 GREEN BUILDER 57

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