If you’ve ever been bugged by a back-office coworker needing timely, verifiable, detailed information, you may wonder why that is.
The Day-to-Day
You’re arriving to work on time, completing your job tasks, attending meetings, answering emails and as a professional working in the life science industry you have full understanding of the importance of strict compliance with established practices because they minimize the risk of misinterpretation, errors in communication and ensure product quality.
Back office staff — though not generating revenue and generally not client-facing — provides vital support and administration in the areas of accounting and finance, payroll, management reporting, human resources, IT, recruiting, operations and record maintenance.
Why?
Providing timely and accurate information for the back-office recordkeeping professionals, makes everyone’s jobs easier. Paying attention to detail is important for avoiding errors, maintaining efficiency, making a good impression and analyzing information. A well-oiled back office is an asset – a valuable resource – the glue that holds everything together!
You probably already know that the accounting professionals in your organization must adhere to general rules and concepts or basic accounting principles and guidelines forming the groundwork for detailed, complicated, and legalistic accounting rules. These rules would be similar to you needing to follow GMP and GDP regulations. Generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP consist of three important rules: basic accounting principles and guidelines, detailed rules and standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and generally accepted industry practices.
Think About It
Now getting back to the back-office bugger – attention to detail matters, because if you don’t care, why should other people care? Time and time again, the people who get ahead in every profession are the people who take the extra step to do what others neglect to do. You know in every instance when an employee squanders information or timelines within a project, there is a loss of valuable time. This lack of attention creates frustration, since the work must be completed a second time to correct any errors.
This also applies to the invoicing process, the means by which a company gains access to money to fuel the company’s bottom line. Providing accurate supporting documentation for invoice processing — the final product based on the information provided in a coherent, organized manner – effectively allows the person receiving the document to process the invoice correctly the first time.
The Sum and Substance
Timely and correct processing usually results in timely payments. Timely payments directly effect a business’ cash flow and their ability to pay their vendors and most importantly meet payroll obligations – after all we like to be paid for our daily toil!
So, when your back-office bugger bugs you – there is a method to their madness. They want to be sure you’ll be paid. Accurate information in a timely manner (meeting reporting deadlines) effects everyone in the organization – not just you.
Written By: Nita Wilding, Controller
