How to Build a Control Tower for Smarter & Faster Business Decisions

As businesses add locations, teams, and entities, and complexity, four systems start creaking: AR, AP, reporting, and the workflows that connect them. This webinar dug into how to build a “control tower” that keeps those parts talking—helping you make faster and smarter decisions.

Speakers

  • Helina Patience, CPA, CMA — Head of Accounting @ ApprovalMax; CEO @ Entreflow
  • Harry Symons — Head of Customer Success @ Joiin
  • Hosted by Matas Pranckevicius — Content Lead @ Method
Business Control Tower - AR AP Reporting and Workflows

Does AR take too long?

In a live poll, we asked: “How long does it usually take for your invoices to get paid?”
Most responses landed in 31–60 days, with a healthy chunk around two weeks. We think this can be a lot better, and it’s not that some industries are “irredeemable.”

Myth - Payment delays are because of slow customers - nothing we can do

Things to consider, according to the speakers:

  • When invoices are paid late, customers paying are effectively using you like a bank, interest-free.
  • You can change behavior. Start by avoiding AR where possible: deposits, auto-pay, and easy payment paths.
  • Be politely relentless. People pay the squeaky wheel.
  • If you’ve got aging invoices, be friendly but firm: explain the backlog, offer payment plans, and set new rules going forward.
  • Rolling changes is fine: start with new customers, then migrate existing ones.

On 💸 checks: Helina’s firm doesn’t let clients accept them. Check fraud is rampant, postal delays make things worse, and “the check is in the mail” is the oldest cash-flow stall in the book. Offer auto-pay; if a customer wants float, trade it for longer terms while keeping control of collection.


Demo: how AR can run without having to constantly chase clients

We walked through a quick demo of how Method handles the front-end of estimates, invoices and cash collection.

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  • Create an estimate, email or SMS it, and even require a deposit.
  • The customer portal lets clients accept and pay directly (with signature), and everything bi-directionally syncs with QuickBooks (Desktop/Online) and Xero.
  • The point isn’t one estimate—it’s standardizing the process across teams so Sales never needs to poke around in the accounting file, and Finance still sees every step.

AP: manual approvals aren’t “safer,” they’re slower (and riskier)

Attendee questions hit the usual headaches: duplicate bills, multi-page invoices, who approves what, and closing delays when suppliers are late.

Helina’s AP guidance (and a story):

  • Paper piles lead to batch “rubber-stamp” approvals. That’s not safer.
  • Use tools with receipt capture/OCR and duplicate detection (e.g., ApprovalMax’s capture).
  • Push approvals through rules instead of inboxes: by location, role, amount thresholds, class/project.
  • Add auto-approval for obvious, low-risk items (e.g., small recurring software).
  • Include an optional review step before approvals if needed.
  • Every action builds a full audit trail, and the documents + audit log flow into QuickBooks/Xeroauditors love this.

Harry’s AP war story: sacks of soggy mail, hand-coding hundreds of invoices, double-counting, and suppliers (like the window cleaner) waiting months. The bigger you get, the less acceptable that becomes.

Cash-flow considerations: Real-time AP avoids “$70,000 surprise due tomorrow.” Early visibility lets you plan, verify vendor performance/rates, and eliminate guesswork.


Reporting: what “control tower” visibility looks like

We should think about “reporting” as everything from basic month-end to multi-entity consolidation.

Harry’s Join walkthrough:

  • Build consolidation from multiple companies.
  • Flip reporting currency (e.g., to GBP for a lender); the tool handles the translation.
  • See company-level breakdowns and toggle eliminations to check intercompany lines before/after.
  • Use dashboards for cash and key metrics so you’re not waiting on a quarterly Excel marathon.

“Ecosystem,” not monolith

ERP monolith vs ecosystem based on QBO or Xero

Helina’s implementation view:

  • Keep QuickBooks/Xero as the core, and plug in robust apps (AR/AP approvals, reporting) as needed.
  • These aren’t six-month ERP migrations—many setups take about a day to pilot and prove.
  • As the business evolves (inventory needs, new workflows), swap components without ripping out the whole stack.
  • Compared to big ERPs she used in industry, today’s app ecosystem is more flexible, faster to adopt, and frankly does more for less.

Q&A highlight: budget vs. actuals (and forecasting)

A closing question nailed a common pain: aligning budget to spend so unapproved or unbudgeted costs don’t slip through.

Helina’s answer:

  • In high-growth, forecasting can be more useful than a static budget—review monthly, not quarterly.
  • Decision-makers need timely, trustworthy data to steer without guesswork.
  • ApprovalMax can do budget checks against QuickBooks budgets by project/class during approvals, so overages are flagged before spend goes out.

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