OPOS list: How to take the fear out of the "custodian of open items"

The OPOS list provides information on the balance of your accounts: Where are there still outstanding debts, what is still to be paid? If anyone knows, it is the custodian of open items. It is essential that it is up-to-date and in an adjusted form. 

And that's where the balance tends to get shaky. In order for the OPOS list to serve its purpose, you need to have a sense of order and a nose for numbers as well as a good working relationship with your team and your clients. 

How can you ensure that the OPOS list does not become a time waster and that you no longer miss any open items? In this guide, we show you how seamless digital workflows can support you in dealing with open items. 

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What is an OPOS list?

An OPOS list records all open items of a company that have not yet been cleared. These can be credit items, i.e. receivables, and debit items, i.e. liabilities. The OPOS list therefore shows exactly what a company still has to pay and what it has to receive.

Problems caused by open items: bookkeeping as a balancing act

Regardless of whether the open items are receivables or payables: Omissions due to careless open item accounting can cost your company or your clients hard cash. If outstanding payments are overlooked and reminders are not sent, there is a lack of liquidity. If invoices remain unpaid, reminder fees can be incurred - which you could have saved yourself.

Carefully managing the open items list is therefore the best way to keep an eye on debit and credit. So much for the theory. In practice, however, it can be a real challenge, especially for tax consultants as external service providers, if, for example, you have to make an advance VAT return based on an incomplete OPOS list and realize just before the deadline that something is missing.

An open items list therefore needs to be properly maintained so that everyone involved understands it and can do something with it. Up-to-dateness and accuracy are the two magic words that are essential for a clean OPOS list. It only helps to get to the root of the problem: Missing receipts must be obtained in order to bring the OPOS accounting back into balance.

Overview & management: How to keep OPOS accounting in balance

The importance of OPOS accounting has certainly become clear in the meantime. Open items must be broken down so that you can keep an eye on liquidity. The open items list is important for both creditors and debtors, because after all, it's about cash flow in both directions. 

From cash flow to workflow: How can you as a tax advisor help to ensure that your clients' OPOS list is in order and that you have a solid working basis? 

Well, it makes sense to see the open items list as the result of successful collaboration between you and your clients. A tax advisor platform that captures and understands the context of your work processes, for example, can help you with this. 

With the IURIO Collaboration Suite, you have everything you need for digital tax advice at your fingertips - including effective tools to support your clients effectively with OPOS accounting as a financial expert:

• Get the receipts you need: Chasing after missing receipts is probably one of the biggest time wasters in tax consultancy and holds plenty of potential for frustration. With IURIO, you can send automated reminders to your clients: Simply set the desired interval and IURIO will take care of the annoying chasing up for you. 
• Minimize liability risks: Understandably, you don't want to have to answer for your clients' failings. That's why IURIO offers you a confirmation option for the less reliable clients: They must click that they are aware of the legal consequences of late delivery of documents. This reduces your legal risks. 
• Clarify responsibilities: In the Collaboration Suite, you can assign task steps and to-dos to those responsible without any doubt. Is it your client's turn and they still need to provide you with receipts? You assign the task to them and can provide instructions.
• Communicate clearly: When it comes to annual financial statements or advance VAT returns, for which you need the OPOS list, questions can always arise. Instead of letting them come at you via countless channels, you can bundle communication in IURIO for specific projects, for example with the chat function or a highly secure web conferencing tool.
• Save time: Thanks to the automated reminder messages, you save time, sure. The same applies to the archivable work steps: In IURIO, you can divide recurring processes into individual steps and archive them. You then have systematized project steps ready for the next annual financial statement, which you can use immediately.
• No more manual work: IURIO has a data sync to DATEV and BMD. This makes it easier for you to link the OPOS list with DATEV, for example, because IURIO takes care of the manual assignment and categorization of documents in the law firm software for you.
• Secure data transfer: Instead of packing the documents you have finally found into e-mail attachments or uploading them via external websites, your clients (and you) can transfer the documents to the project-related data safe in IURIO. Highly secure, of course, and all in one place.
• Increase traceability: Has the client now read your note on the OPOS list correctly, or does he still need a nudge? In the IURIO Collaboration Suite, unlike in emails, you can see exactly who has already read and edited what.

Balance instead of a balancing act: Efficiently achieving a clean OPOS list with IURIO

The open items list is a mirror of your clients' liquidity and an indispensable reflection of their financial situation. IURIO's Collaboration Suite offers you the right workaround to keep the open items list up to date efficiently and in a resource-saving manner. 

IURIO doesn't just focus on individual functions, but captures your complex workflows as a whole. With precisely timed reminders, efficient communication and automatic data synchronization instead of manual categorization of documents, you save valuable working time.

IURIO can therefore make an important contribution to properly maintaining the OPOS list. As a tax advisor, take advantage of digitization to benefit from the advantages of digitized accounting and position yourself as a modern financial advisor. 

Efficiency through automation: the OPOS list doesn't have to be a time waster! 

A clear and up-to-date OPOS list is the result of harmonious cooperation between you and your clients. However, a lack of organization and order on the part of your clients, time overlaps in communication and a lack of overview can turn the open items list into a real balancing act in accounting. 

As a tax consultant, you can provide support in exactly this area: Guide the processes sensibly and reach out to your clients so that they can clear up the open items. You yourself will benefit from the accurate OPOS list when you submit your advance VAT return at the latest. 

IURIO helps you to systematize and automate the numerous steps involved in the OPOS list so that you can devote your time to consulting. Would you like to know what else the Collaboration Suite can do for you? We'd be happy to show you - just get in touch!