The System That Pays for Itself Within Months

Organizations don’t want to spend money on proper operational systems. A software platform is an expensive annual bill. What they are less likely to see is that an inadequate system is already costing them far more in wasted staff time, errors, compliance risk, and the inability to operate at all. The only question is not whether you can afford to improve your infrastructure. It’s whether you can keep operating the way you are for very much longer.

The payback period for proper systems is likely in the months rather than years once organizations take stock of what they are spending on their current approach. The time saved on admin-related operational processes, the errors prevented, and the capacity freed up for growth-related efforts all add up to significant value very quickly outstripping any tech costs.

Estimating Time Savings With Real Value

Time saved on repetitive admin tasks has the most visible return. Systems that can spare staff from repetitive tasks, not have to enter the same data multiple times, and save them the need to generate reports rather than the system doing so for them save staff a massive amount of time.

A training organization that processes student enrollments manually might take 30-45 minutes per enrolment and multiple staff members. With 200 enrollments a quarter, that’s between 100 and 150 hours of admin work a quarter just to process enrolments. With systems, it can take one person 10-15 minutes by eliminating the need for repetitive data entry and automating who needs to be informed of an enrollment. That saves 75-100 hours a quarter, which is not an insignificant amount of time over a year.

The same applies to taking attendance, submitting progress reports, assessment records, and reporting in general. Every area where administrators are still doing manual processes rather than systems can save organizations this much time. Organizations that measure this usually find they save around 15-25 hours a week with their staff combined.

Error Costs With Real Value

Errors also cost organizations time to fix. They need to fix data entry errors. They need to correct documentation errors picked up in audits. They need to resolve billing errors, which can have huge cash flow implications. They need to fix errors in assessment records that can impact students’ qualifications. Each error costs organizations time in identifying, checking, fixing, and verifying.

Systems that enforce proper entry of data and required processes eliminate most manual errors before they occur. Organizations will probably still spend 5-10 hours a week on errors that should have been avoided by having proper systems in place.

The time needed to rectify compliance-related errors will be even more valuable to organizations bound by compliance regulations. One audit can result in thousands of dollars’ worth of consultant and management time to fix a finding. Australian training organizations currently facing AVETMISS reporting and student data handling requirements can benefit from VET specific platforms like Cloud Assess, for example, preventing the reporting and documentation gaps that cause compliance headaches.

Value Added by Compliance Confidence

Operating with confidence that processes are compliant, documentation is thorough, and reports are up to scratch has value too. Organizations no longer need to spend time preparing for audits by maintaining ad hoc compliance with applicable regulations when they have systems doing this for them. Management can spend their time better looking to improve the organization’s approach rather than struggling with the inefficiencies of a lack of infrastructure.

The cost of dealing with compliance failing risks has monetary implications too. Non-compliance with your regulating body can easily run into the tens of thousands in financial penalties or remediation work, depending on what it is. Consultant fees can also add up fast if you have to pay someone and use your management’s time dealing with, instead of practicing what they are trained in. Systems that keep your reporting in order prevent you from having to deal with this.

Turnover Rates Add Up to Value

Better systems also reduce turnover rates, which has its own value. Employees will leave if their workplace consists of hurdles they have to overcome rather than systems that make it easier for them to do their work. The cost of replacing an employee ranges from the equivalent of half of one employee’s annual salary to twice that amount, depending on the role in the organization.

If proper systems can save an organization one admin employee worth the latter figure alone, it adds up to value in its own right. The productivity boost an experienced employee not battling their systems with proper tools adds also has huge value.

Returns To Pay Back Investments

Considering these factors give organizations returns that pay back costs for the systems annually within six months to a year at most, and far less than that usually once organizations consider operational costs saved on a yearly basis, errors avoided, and the growth potential systems enable through streamlined processes.

These systems can also be paid back within the year organizations pay system costs annually for these systems, making these costs seem less daunting and more beneficial. A yearly investment that avoids tens of thousands of dollars in errors takes care of itself several times over in organizations’ first year alone once they calculate each return organization is likely to see from using systems rather than doing process work on an improvised system.

These benefits keep accruing every year while system fees remain approximately constant aside from inflation increases organizations can build into their budgets anyway. Organizations that have invested in these systems years back are currently seeing dozens of times their yearly technology costs in ongoing operational value.

The true cost of operating lacks proper systems to operate on rather than improvised workarounds that hinder the organization’s ability to use its resources effectively every day while preventing them from achieving as much as they could as an organization. Once people consider the full cost of not having proper systems to operate on, spending money on systems does not seem like an unwanted expense but one of the best investments they could make.