Insight interview with Peter Fechter of RS Finance

In conversation with Peter Fechter of RS Finance
“Making the process easier and facilitating simple applications like claims apps and solutions takes away frustration.”

Anyone visiting RS Finance not only runs into business economists and tax specialists, you also stumble across IT specialists there. As a partner, Peter Fechter wears several hats within the innovative accountant. For instance, he is responsible for all marketing activities, but also heads the financial administration.
SimpledCard asked Peter Fechter about his frustrations, dreams and solutions within financial management.

As a financial manager, what irritates you the most?

“Irritation is not the right word, rather frustration. Like the fact that I depend on other people for optimal processes. As finance manager, I have different priorities than my colleagues. Then sometimes things go wrong in the process. Think of a declaration arriving at the last minute or having to wait for someone else's work. For now, the declarations process is clear, but it would save a frustration if everyone was in step with me,” Fechter explains with a laugh.

Financial management, do you know a good solution?

“More important is to look at how you can remove some of the irritations in certain processes from colleagues and employees. You have to make a process small and bring it back. Do we do that by thinking smart? And where do all our interests lie and how can we synchronise them with each other? An obvious solution at many companies, for example, is to automate the claims process. After all, there are still companies where you have to fill in a claim form and staple the expense in the form of a receipt or invoice to it. Then a manager has to approve this form and only then does the claim go to the administration, which has to enter it all manually. Making the process easier and facilitating simple applications such as claim apps and solutions takes away frustration.”

Do discussions about a claim ever arise?

“To avoid what may or may not be declared, make arrangements with your employees in advance. At RS Finance, we have an agreement that expense claims must be requested in advance and permission given. Travel expenses are clear from the start. And if something has to be purchased ad hoc, I like to hear what it is, so I don't have to disapprove a claim later. A business lunch with a client that takes place unexpectedly is clearly billable, but an invoice for a laptop that lands on my lap from nowhere is another story.”

How do you see the future of financial management?

“We cannot replace and automate all processes in finance. An example is cash flow forecasting. There is no generic software that can do this as well as a finance team. Previously mentioned claims apps like SimpledCard make a finance manager's life easier. As an accounting firm, we embrace all innovation that makes life easier for our employees and customers. I strongly believe in the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence with some processes replacing cumbersome work. Think of business solutions that recognise expense claims and automatically approve and book them.
Taking that broader, I think the ultimate optimisation would be when a purchase is made somewhere, the sale is automatically recorded, entered and handled. This is because in this case there are two different, but also the same administrations. They are each other's mirror image (debit vs credit). There should be a way to handle all the issues surrounding this transaction (confirmation, approval, fiscal) without the intervention of a third party.”

How innovative are we really in this area?

“Blockchain partly offers these opportunities. The technical innovation is there, but people are still too conservative to embrace all these developments. The innovative behaviour is missing or at least prevents many new developments from being adopted. This often explains the growth of start-ups, these young companies are developing with a view to innovating and breaking this behaviour. As an accounting firm, we distinguish ourselves by looking beyond just preparing annual accounts and handling VAT administration. Thus, we are very technical at the back end and very human at the front end. By using new technical applications, we manage to save a lot of money and time. We then put that into the front end of the business: the people and the knowledge, the first point of contact for customers.”