As companies around the world are implementing business continuity plans, AvidXchange, the leading provider of accounts payable (AP) and payment automation solutions for the middle market, polled senior leaders at 500 different U.S. businesses to find out how well they are prepared. This new research shows that just over 60 percent of businesses have a continuity plan in place, but only 37 percent actually have the necessary technology to enable employees to work from home as part of their strategy.
The study reveals a similar gap in technology preparedness in connection to mission critical processes like managing invoices and making payments. If finance staff had to work from home, only 54 percent of businesses would be able to make all of their payments and more than half of business leaders would anticipate a significant impact on their finance team’s ability to process invoices.
“To create a reliable business continuity plan, leaders need to consider all critical operations that keep their business running, including employee access to resources like laptops and internal networks and how they’ll make and receive payments,” said Angelic Gibson, Chief Information Officer at AvidXchange. “Enabling a remote workforce starts with technology and automating AP and payment processes is critical so cash can continue flowing through the business despite unpredictable changes in daily operations.”
AvidXchange’s research also shows how a lack of technology in business continuity planning could ultimately create cash flow issues for businesses, as more than 40 percent of businesses would make at least some late payments if finance staff had to work remotely and 12 percent believe all payments would be late. In comparison, only one in five businesses would be able to operate normally for more than a few weeks if cash flow was interrupted due to late payments.
Learn more about how AP automation can bolster your company’s business continuity plans.
