How Business Process Automation Will Evolve Canadian Startups and Companies Positively?

Canadian technology is evolving every single day to serve its consumers and businesses. Nobody from the past could’ve imagined that consumers would have the freedom and power to compare products and their prices on the web, place orders online, and pay from home through payments apps like PayPal, debit cards, unsecured and secured credit cards in Canada.

• About 72% of the Canadian population are eCommerce users. This percentage is expected to grow to 77.6% by 2025.

Similarly, technological innovations have comforted present-day businesses in zillion ways. They can discover, compare, and contact suppliers/ vendors, hire freelancers to outsource marketing, data management, and coding, etc.

Canada is the 23^rd best country with the ease of doing business with relevance to business initiation, taxes, and foreign trading.

Furthermore, businesses can automate purchase order requests, employee hiring, and several other tasks through process automation to save time, cost, and reduce human errors.

What is Business Process Automation?

There are several tasks in a business that repeat themselves every day and require a huge chunk of employees’ time. Business Process Automation allows businesses to automate these tasks and save the manual work like:

• Calling company personnel to handle procedures
• Transfer of documents among relevant departments/ employees
• Report production
• Report distribution
• Process approvals

BPA is also known as digital transformation and business automation.

You can induce automation in the following business areas:

BPA not only minimized the labor at your business, but also it’s a fabulous means to ensure error-free and efficient workflows. For example,

Financial Process Automation

Following are some major tasks in the finance department of a business that can be automated:

• Employee expense reports
• Financial Statements
• Purchase Orders 
• Expense management
• Journal entries
• Payroll forms
• Account reconciliation
• Invoicing
• Tax reporting

Zoho Book, Xero, and QuickBooks, etc. are some of the widely used financial automation software. These help in the creation of a connected system – so there is better transparency and a clearer picture of your financials.

Transcript Processing

University/ college students are well aware that they need to fill out forms to get transcripts from their institutions. Process automation technology however allows educational institutions to automate this task. Now, students can input this info on the web and request the transcript.

This resulted in:

• Fewer to no manual work
• Time and labor-saving

Robotic Process Automation (RBA) vs. Business Process Automation (BPA)

What is RPA?

In this sort of automation, robots are utilized to replace humans in certain tasks. The main reason for deploying these robots/ software agents is to perform monotonous tasks (e.g. finance statements, employee attendance, etc.) and spare the company’s employees their efforts and time.

• The global RPA market is expected to touch the $13 billion benchmark by 2030.
• RPA vs. BPA

Business Process Automation	Robotic Process Automation
BPA is employed on a wider scale. It automates business process to improve efficiency.	RPA is induced to automate certain tasks/ business processes through robots
It usually requires reengineering of entire processes to yield maximum results.	RPA does not require task/ process reengineering to deliver full value.
It is more expensive (normally).	It is less costly.
It systematizes company-wide processes.	It automates specific tasks.
More complex. Requires IT and coding skills.	Less complex. Calls for less-to-none coding skills.
Restructures existing procedures of the business.	Works within existing business protocols.

Significance of Business Process Automation

BPA saves and profits a business in various ways, and this is the primary reason why Canadian startups and companies are taking interest in process automation.

• In today’s business environment, businesses are prone to fraud and security threats. Here, BPA induces technology in the system to improve fraud protection which in turn leads to high customer satisfaction.
• Also, automated marketing opportunities help companies to engage/ interact more with the customers/ potential clients. Their queries are dealt with without delays. This leads to high customer fulfillment, more leads, more purchases, and significantly more profits!
• Furthermore, it also minimizes the chances of involuntary human errors and voluntary prejudice. Later in a way that recruitment automation allows screening of resumes without favoritism and enables an equal opportunity environment in the organization. 

What processes can be automated?

Following is a glimpse of a few key areas which can be streamlined with business process automation:

Accounting processes	Email marketing
Performance management	Risk assessments
Audits	Data analysis
Purchase requisitions	Social media
Recruitment	Hiring HR
Time off requests	Data management
Inventory management	Contracts

Let’s have a look at some business process automation:

Data Management

Data is always existent and is always building up whether you are a small business owner or a large business owner. This data helps in enhanced business decisions like improved formula, strategizing new services and products, and noting and eliminating errors.

Therefore, getting rid of this data is not a resort.

• 31% of companies have automated at least 1 task in their lifetime.

In manual data management, data flow among various departments. This takes a lot of time and there are high chances of mistakes. In automated data management, file transfer management tools take this responsibility allowing the error-free and secure transfer.

Company HR

Human resource is a crucial part of any company. Where on one hand, human resource startups and companies help businesses to hire relevant skillset, BPA allows automating several employee-related processes:

• Payroll
• Record management
• Leave requests
• Schedule management
• Forms
• Attendance

47% of businesses would be benefiting from artificial intelligence in their human resource by 2022.

This streamlines the human resource department, and technology induction improves employee morale.

How BPA is Evolving Companies and Startups of Canada?

Just like any other country, companies and startups in Canada are lending significant consideration to business process automation. BPA is evolving Canadian companies in the following ways:

Quicken Business Processes

Before process automation and technological advancements, businesses used to make projections entirely on guesswork or took so much time in data accumulation and assessment.

Process Automations have eased this process to yield fine projections and make plans accordingly.

Moreover, approvals (e.g. for purchase orders) have also sped up as there are nil data entries and all relevant information is shared through the cloud.

Cost Saver

Customer communication is one of the most significant occurring tasks in a business’s day-to-day routine. Numerous online sellers on Amazon have automated it via Chatbot. A Chatbot expert/ freelancer is hired to produce a flow and fed company and product relevant info.

• 40% of businesses are using Chatbot today. 

This saves sellers the hiring and monthly costs of full-time customer support. Also, the process is error-free and customers get a timely response.

Automation also saves costs of errors happening in the case of manual work. 

Reduced Error Probability

A majority is of the view that automated tasks have a lesser probability of inaccuracies than manual task management.

One of the chief causes is standardized procedures. Consider data management as an example. In automation, technology collects, assesses, organized, and transfers data. So, there are lesser likelihoods of human errors.

In contrast, glitches and viruses may also contaminate these automated tasks. Organizations take steps to minimize this probability.

More time for High-Value Tasks

Repetitive tasks are usually boring and eat up so much time for employees every single day. Businesses that adapt to business process automation take over these routine tasks leaving employees to focus on high-value jobs like marketing, planning, strategizing, etc.

This way employees are more productive and encouraged to contribute more! Their efforts lead to:

Improved Communication

Businesses sustain themselves through teamwork. The output of one employee/ department is an input of another. Business automation improves employee communication and minimizes delays.

Reminders are put in business software to communicate deadlines, protocols to employees/ departments. This leads to high transparency and lower excuses.

• 86% of employees believe that poor communication results in workplace fiascos.

Process Visibility

In BPA, an automated centralized system is the habitat of data gathering, analysis, and reporting. All relevant personnel has direct and convenient access to this system.

Resultantly, there is a fewer chance of hanky-panky. And if something happens, it’s relevantly easier to track and reverse.

Responsibility distribution in workflow automation buds the idea of accountability. If someone’s not doing the assigned job well, he/ she is tracked and leaders/ managers take steps to rectify the situation!

Businesses enjoy the following benefits due to workplace accountability:

• High employee morale
• Better creativity and innovation
• Better performance
• Employee participation
• Communication of company goals
• Employee commitment

Customer Service

Customers today prefer shopping online and paying through their debit and unsecured/ secured credit cards. Even if they are not shopping online, and have inquired about a problem in an already-purchased product over the web – they are expecting to get a timely reply and resolution.

71% of customers are of the view that timely response is very crucial for today’s customer service.

Chatbot automation had made a quick resolve possible. It interacts just like a human and solves client problems. Businesses avoid pathetic customer support because they know that it leads to:

• Revenue loss
• Sales loss
• Customer loyalty loss

TheAppLabb, Vellgus, Korah Limited, and Vooban are some famous Chatbot developers in Canada.

Enhanced Employee Performance

Business process automation clearly conveys what an employee is expected to do and when! He/ she has a strong picture of what he/ she is supposed to do and how his/ her days/ weeks/ months would look like.

Therefore, he/ she would then also be accountable for the completion/ performance of the duty assigned.

The team is continually updated. This eliminates employees’ confusion, gives them more time to improve than before, fastens the work speed, and contributes to the company goals.

How to select a fine BPA Technology?

These points are some chief BPA characteristics:

User-friendly Technology	BPA technology may be installed by the experts in that field. But, it has to be user-friendly so that business employees/ workers can use it.
Integrations	Process automation requires system reengineering for maximum results. It requires access to data within internal systems.
Satisfied Clients	Before purchasing a BPA technology it’s also wide to do some research and collect feedback from their past clients/ users and inquire about certain factors e.g. visibility, processing times, and storage etc.
Technical Support	Downtimes and glitches may occur in the automation software. If the competitors are providing an after-sale support, it’s a strong point to consider that software for smooth running of your business.
The Company has an Advancement and Development Mindset	If the automation company has the development mindset, means it strives to innovate and develop as per modern needs, it’s a big plus.
Mobile Friendly Technology	Since a significant portion of the world is comfortable with working on their cell phones, this system should also be mobile-responsive.
Limitations (if any)	Compare what the software is offering and what it is not offering. Would these limitations matter to you in future? Consider it as one cannot change software regularly.
Business Needs	Last but most important is that: Why you want to automate? What you wish to automate? This aids you to decide the software company better.

FAQs

How to create BPA?

These are some steps to implement process automation:

• Make a list of to-be-automated tasks
• Determine your business goals
• Select the most suitable software available
• Train/ educate relevant staff
• Make adjustments wherever and whenever required

Can we automate all business procedures?

We can automate business procedures that have repetitive nature and predictable results.

Should small businesses do BPA?

Yes, they must consider automation to sustain in the competitive world, manage business operations effectively, and provide stellar customer satisfaction.

What are the benefits of technology and automation for a company?

It saves time which can be utilized in high-value business procedures. It also minimizes error. Later one also saves costs which can be consumed in other important operations.

How can business process automation impact the workforce?

As per studies, 30% of present-day jobs would be automated by 2030.

What are the effects of BPA on quality?

Automation helps in the elimination of human errors, consistent and accurate procedures, and easy identification of mistakes. All these factors contribute to improved quality.