New Year, New Business Office

2022 is here and, although January is mid-way through the academic year, it’s a great time to set new goals for your business office.  

One of the most popular trends for business offices to adopt is cloud-based software. According to a recent study, 63% of finance executives are using more cloud-based planning and reporting tools now versus pre-pandemic.  

This trend has been on the rise for years, but the impact of COVID-19 on business operations expedited the need for schools to move to a secure platform accessible anywhere. By leveraging cloud-based software and incorporating new digital processes like tuition management, you can improve security, create efficiencies, and save your school valuable time and money.  

Enhance Security
Prior to March 2020, many schools were still using traditional methods for tuition payments and accounting. Parents paid their bills via paper checks that were mailed to the school and could’ve easily been lost in route or ended up at the wrong address. And, in some cases, schools would ask parents to directly provide their bank account numbers, putting their personal information at an extremely high risk.  

The paper trail created by these physical checks flooded business offices and filled filing cabinets. These methods were not secure and posed a logistical nightmare when the pandemic hit, drastically restricting in-person office duties. This year, consider switching to a cloud-based tuition management platform that allows parents to easily make payments online via a secure software system.  

Eliminate Bottlenecks and Improve Efficiencies
Paper-based business processes can be slow and laborious. Digitizing these processes will benefit your office in several valuable ways. Debra Lee-Rizzi, Chief Financial Officer at The Evergreen School in Washington, reported the following benefits after transitioning her team to a cloud-based system:  

• More accessibility: gone are the days of sharing one physical file and waiting your turn to access it. Digital files can be accessed by multiple people at the same time, speeding up the workflow and allowing for easy collaboration. 
• Increased accuracy: manual entry can result in typos or inaccurate reports. An automated system will take the middleman out of the process and improve the accuracy of your files.  
• Remote-friendly: digital files can be accessed from virtually anywhere, a huge bonus for today’s hybrid or remote workforce. People can work from home with no delay to business procedures. 
• Less support needed: old systems required VPN access if working online, often resulting in system failures and requiring help from IT. With a cloud-based system, you don’t need on-site servers or VPN access — and your IT team can rest easy.  
• Eco-conscious: less paperwork is a win for the environment, too!  

Save Time and Money
Moving to a cloud-based system might not save you money immediately; however, you will undoubtedly save money over time through streamlined efficiencies and new workflows. An integrated platform like Veracross allows departments to work within the same system which improves operations. Staff will spend less time working on tedious tasks and will have more bandwidth for new projects or initiatives.  

Time saved is money saved.Debra Lee-Rizzi, Chief Financial Officer, The Evergreen School

If you are still relying on paper checks and traditional payment methods, now is the time to reevaluate your workflows and modernize your business office for 2022 and beyond.