Finance processes

Finance processes

How purchase to pay, accounts payable, order to cash, the general ledger, month-end close and financial reporting work, and how they fit together.

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How finance processes fit together

Every finance team runs the same core cycles. Buying and selling create transactions, payables and receivables settle them, and everything lands in the general ledger. Month-end close checks the ledger, and financial reporting turns it into figures the business can act on.

When each step sits in a different tool or spreadsheet, the gaps show up as late invoices, slow collections and a month-end that relies on manual reconciliation. Joining the processes up, with clear ownership, approvals and shared data, is where most of the time savings come from.

Core processes

The finance processes every business runs

Each process has its own guide, covering the steps, the controls and where automation helps.

  1. 01 Buying

    Purchase to pay

    From requisition and purchase order through goods receipt and invoice matching to supplier payment.

    Purchase to pay process guidePurchase order software
  2. 02 Paying suppliers

    Accounts payable

    Capturing, checking, approving and paying supplier invoices on time, with the right controls.

    Accounts payable process guideAccounts payable automation
  3. 03 Selling

    Order to cash

    From customer order through fulfilment, invoicing and collection, until the cash is in the bank.

    Order to cash process guideCash flow forecasting software
  4. 04 Recording

    General ledger

    The central record of every transaction, organised by your chart of accounts and dimensions.

    What is a general ledger?Finance software
  5. 05 Closing

    Month-end close

    Reconciling accounts, posting accruals and checking balances so the numbers can be signed off.

    Month-end close process guide
  6. 06 Reporting

    Financial reporting

    Turning the ledger into management accounts, board packs and statutory reports people trust.

    Financial reporting software guideDynamics 365 reports and dashboards
  7. 07 Spending

    Expenses

    Submitting, approving and reimbursing staff expenses, with receipts and VAT captured along the way.

    Expense management software
  8. 08 Paying people

    Payroll

    Running UK payroll and posting the results to the ledger, so staff costs appear in your reporting.

    Payroll for Business Central
Systems

Choosing a system to run your finance processes

The right system depends on how many processes you need to join up and how complex your business is.

Articles

More on finance processes

Our articles on payables, receivables, month-end, automation and payroll, grouped by topic.

Payables, receivables and cash

Invoices, collections, supplier payments and keeping an eye on cash.

Close, control and reporting

Faster month-end, reconciliations, approvals and audit trails.

Finance automation and payroll

Taking manual work out of finance, from approvals to payroll.

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Most finance teams run a handful of core processes: purchase to pay, accounts payable, order to cash, accounts receivable, the general ledger, month-end close and financial reporting, with payroll, expenses and cash flow management alongside them.

Purchase to pay and order to cash create the transactions. Accounts payable and accounts receivable settle them. Everything posts to the general ledger, which month-end close checks and reconciles before financial reporting turns it into management accounts and statutory reports.

Purchase to pay covers the whole buying cycle, from requisition and purchase order through goods receipt to supplier payment. Accounts payable is the part of it that checks, approves and pays supplier invoices.

Invoice capture and matching in accounts payable, bank reconciliation, recurring journals, payment reminders and approval workflows are usually the quickest wins, because they are repetitive and rule-based.

Not always. Clear ownership and consistent steps help in any system. An ERP such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central helps when processes span purchasing, sales, stock and finance, because every step works from the same data rather than separate spreadsheets.

It varies with the size and complexity of the business. Teams that reconcile through the month, automate bank matching and post recurring journals automatically usually close faster than those that leave everything to the last few days.