The speed at which technology changes our world is dizzying and just continues to increase, especially in higher education. But fortunately, while it can sometimes feel like a full-time job just trying to keep up with all the technological shifts, innovation often leads to increased efficiency. When you remove tedious tasks from your workload, it can even have an impact on your bottom line.

The ability to more efficiently handle time-intensive manual tasks is a hallmark of the software advances that change our lives the most. With accounts receivable, using solutions that supplement your processes can reduce time spent on manual tasks and can offer improvements such as delivering communication or automatically posting payment to your SIS. You can even provide payment plan options to students who have fallen behind, ensuring both their success and a timeline for your recovery of the account.

Accounts receivable departments in higher education can quickly benefit from a two-pronged approach: utilizing technology to its fullest and approaching past-due accounts with a student-centric mentality.

The average Student Financial Services department is comprised of 12 full-time employees, according to the 2016 Student Financial Services Benchmarks Report by NACUBO. Each employee serves an average of 836 students, meaning one-on-one interactions are already limited.

As colleges and universities continue to try to do more with less, the need for a long-term, comprehensive solution has never been greater. Your time can be better spent serving and advising students who want to stay in school, rather than manually inputting data. After all, if students stay in school, they are more likely to graduate and become future donors.

You can’t alter the pace of technological change, but you can use it to save money while increasing your level of service.