The invoice was paid long ago, but the Cost centre is still missing for the booking. The original email has to be found, the person in charge contacted and the process reopened later.
Such processing loops can arise in financial processes due to missing documents, unclear allocations, multiply recorded data and manual reconciliations between different systems. Outstanding items can trigger additional searches, clarifications, checks or corrections.
A comprehensive analysis separates necessary booking and control work from avoidable extra work. This makes it visible whether individual bottlenecks are occurring or whether recurring time-wasters are permanently tying up personnel resources in accounting, specialised departments and management.
Direct answerSix central time wasters in accounting are missing or delayed receipts, unclear receipt allocations, manual multiple entries, media and system discontinuities, additional subsequent checks, and the need for clarification with potential work interruptions. The additional processing effort can arise before and after the actual entry.
The ongoing Bookkeeping includes technically necessary work steps. Business transactions must be recorded completely, correctly, in a timely manner and in an orderly fashion. Vouchers must be allocated, entries checked and changes kept traceable.
The GoBD specify traceablity and verifiability for electronic records, among other things. This results in necessary controls and assignments. Additional effort may arise elsewhere: A process can remain open if information is missing, data has been transferred multiple times or the processing status first has to be reconstructed.
Technically required are recording, allocation, checking and traceable correction. Searching, requesting and reprocessing may be added if information is missing or not clearly allocated.
| time sink | Possible signal | Possible additional work | Potentially affected roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missing or delayed receipts | Transactions remain open or are put on hold. | Search for receipt, request, edit again later and check. | Accounts, Purchasing, Specialist Department |
| Unclear document assignment | Order, Cost centre or responsible person is not recognisable. | Clarify facts, match receipt and booking, document allocation. | accounting, department, approver |
| Manual multiple entry | The same information is in the email, list, legacy system and accounting. | Recapture data, reconcile stock levels and check for discrepancies. | Bookkeeping, administration |
| media and system discontinuity | Number ranges or revision statuses do not directly match. | Search datasets, compare references and establish connections. | accounting, IT, department |
| Additional follow-up check | Inspections repeatedly uncover the same incomplete preparatory work. | Retake the exam, arrange for a re-assessment and coordinate the result again. | Accounting, authorisers |
| Need for clarification and work interruption | Request to clarify an older case during an ongoing task. | Interrupt, reconstruct the facts, answer, and return to the original task. | management, specialist department, accounts department |
ClassificationTime is wasted on the technical recording itself and every additional step that arises from missing information, unclear assignments or repeated processing.
A business transaction that requires record-keeping needs a reliable documentary basis. Vouchers and bookings must be capable of being clearly matched. If the order number, Cost centre, service reference or responsible person is missing, the accounts department may not be able to complete the process.
A missing feature can result in a processing loop: the document may need to be searched for, a query can interrupt another task, the answer may arrive later and the process be reopened. Afterwards, it can be checked whether the subsequently supplied information matches the entry that has already been recorded.
The timing also plays a role. If business transactions are only recorded periodically, this is only unproblematic under certain conditions according to the GoBD: they must be recorded promptly beforehand. In addition, the documents must be protected against loss until they are entered, completeness must be guaranteed, and prompt allocation must have taken place.
A Purchase invoice is received by the company via email. The file is saved locally, and the invoice amount is additionally transferred to an internal list. During entry, the corresponding purchase order and the Cost centre are missing.
Accounts are looking for the original email receipt, identifying the person in charge, assigning the invoice to a posting and then reconciling the internal list with the posting status. The additional effort arises from missing assignment criteria and duplicated information.
Manual multiple entries take time during capture and can cause additional control effort. If invoice data is transferred during the processing process from an email to a list, from there to a legacy system and subsequently to accounting, multiple processing requirements arise for the same transaction.
Technical multiple storage or parallel data stocks are not automatically inadmissible. Decisive for the processing effort are manual repetitions, additional reconciliations and the risk of an uncontrolled multiple accounting effect of the same business transaction.
Different number ranges between the document archive, ordering system and accounting are also possible. However, you need traceable links. If a direct link is missing, additional manual comparison of references may be required.
With electronic receipts, the received format also matters. In the case of an e-invoice, the relevant structured data part must be retained. If further processing is reduced to unsuitable substitute formats, data required for processing and subsequent traceability may be missing.
A possible loop is: multiple entry, additional reconciliation, identified discrepancy, re-examination and potential correction.
data capture, plausibility, reconciliation and processing controls belong to a internal control system (ICS). They help to process business transactions completely and transparently.
Additional processing effort may arise if incomplete preliminary work triggers the same review multiple times. If a missing assignment is discovered, the process can be sent back. Subsequently provided information can trigger another check. If this pattern repeats, additional rework is generated alongside the actual data entry.
Corrections are also a distinct processing operation. The original content must not be obscured by a modification, and the correction must remain traceable. Verification and documentation are added to the new entry. Depending on the case, re-approval may be required.
A transparent Procedural documentation describes the actual processing and system route used. Without this guidance, reconstructing the filing system, processing status and modification history can cause additional search time.
Important distinctionChecks are professionally necessary. They can become time-wasters when incomplete preparatory work generates additional review and correction loops.
An enquiry from accounts to clarify a transaction can arrive in the middle of another task. Depending on the availability of information, clarification may require tracing the transaction, searching for documents and, if necessary, obtaining a decision or approval. Afterwards, the person responsible has to find their way back to the interrupted activity.
Research into parallel attention-intensive tasks shows that such switching can promote interference and additional errors. Work interruptions can tie up attention and make re-entry more difficult. No fixed minute or error rate can be derived from this for accounting.
During a management task, the executive board receives a request for clarification regarding a previously recorded business transaction. The required information is not immediately available. The process remains open or is initially processed on a provisional basis.
Following the clarification, the same matter is dealt with a second time. In addition, there is a further control step and, where applicable, a correction that must be documented in a comprehensible manner. Missing information thus consumes time both within and outside of the accounting department.
A single time-consuming process can remain an exception. A structural time problem becomes apparent in recurring patterns that affect the same individuals and work steps month after month.
Repeated search times, additional requests and corrections highlight the structural extra workload. On a related issue: Lack of standards in accounting.
Recurring loss of time is in addition to the Cost issue in accounting, if internal working hours and rework are permanently increasing.
If these loops permanently consume professional and management time, the company can consider whether it wants to outsource the Bookkeeping.
Accounting takes time for recording, allocation, checking and traceable correction. Avoidable extra effort can arise from missing information, manual repetition, disconnected systems and processes that have to be addressed multiple times. The entire path of a business transaction makes the extra effort visible: from receipt of documents through clarifications and approvals to final control. In this way, professionally required work steps can be distinguished from recurring processing loops. If the high processing effort becomes a permanent state, the question arises as to whether the company Outsource accounting or wants to reorganise internally.
Brasser Accounting Solutions GmbH is a specialised accounting service provider that supports companies with financial accounting, payroll accounting, and the structuring of modern digital accounting processes. The aim is a collaboration that is professionally sound, organisationally relieving, and reliably functional in everyday use.
Brasser Accounting Solutions GmbH is part of a corporate group with Quint GmbH Tax Consultancy & Auditing and the Swedish accounting and tax firm Service Place Årjäng AB.
