Telecommunications Contractor Boosts Customer Service with Digital AP

Automated workflows enable organizations to use rules and business logic to improve control over mission-critical information, and flag errors and exceptions for rapid response. They also make information immediately accessible whenever and wherever it's needed. It’s easy to find what you’re looking for with a quick search — no more putting people on hold to dig through folders for paper copies of a document. These are just some of the advantages a regional telecommunications contractor that helps to build and maintain cell towers experienced when they digitalized their accounting processes.

Business leaders knew it was time to automate their accounting workflows, but the final push came when a large customer requested electronic copies of their invoices for materials. In addition, almost 90% of the invoices the company received were digital. It just didn’t make sense to continue to print and process invoices in a paper-based format.

The company wanted a solution that supported remote workers and was mobile-ready, easy to implement and cloud-based so it would not strain internal IT resource. DocuWare Cloud met their requirements. The document management system (DMS) was configured and implemented remotely allowing for a quick go-live date.

Saving 20 hours of staff time monthly

The new solution enables the company to offer better customer service because their AP department can email requested supplier invoices to their customers more quickly. The system is a huge time saver as well. It saves about 20 staff hours per month that had been spent tracking down accounts payable invoices that were out for approval. With DocuWare in place, approvers in the field on job sites can review and approve invoices on their mobile devices keeping accounting processes running smoothly.

Digitalizing their accounting processes enabled the company to increase the speed and quality of support for their customers and vendors. Using digital workflows instead of paper also resulted in greater transparency allowing management to monitor business processes in real time.

The company’s receivable invoice turnaround time has also been reduced by 2-3 days each month, creating more accurate cash flow predictions. With total transparency, better business decisions are made, and more customers can be served without taking on additional employees. DocuWare allows them to do their jobs a lot faster because of automated email reminders and management insight into where each invoice stands in the process keeps the system flowing.

Prevent errors before they happen

Prior to implementing DocuWare, any invoice under $1,000 was paid without a review. With the new solution in place, every invoice is routed through a digital approval process, confirming that the purchase is legitimate, the price is correct, and that the cost has been assigned to the right job number.

In the past, a lot of their invoices had inaccurate job numbers. With DocuWare, project managers can conveniently view every invoice, large and small, and make sure it is correct. If the job number is wrong, the approver simply makes a digital note requesting a change. Because costs are applied to the correct job immediately on review, the accuracy of their cost accounting improved by 90%.

5 ways a document management solution improves AP processes

1. A DMS automatically keeps track of payment due dates, sending reminders, routing invoices to the right approver and sending it to a backup person if an approver is out of the office.
2. Data can be shared between the DMS and accounting software or an ERP eliminating duplicate data entry. 
3. Automatic flagging of duplicates and overpayments takes human error out of the equation
4. The system can be customized so, for example, invoices under a specified amount or those from a certain vendor can be approved without human intervention.
5. AP staff can pull up invoices and related documents, like purchase orders and delivery tickets, immediately when, for example, a vendor is questioning a payment amount. These related documents can be retrieved in one click, even while an employee is working in other business software.

With automated workflows, DocuWare customers find a faster, more accurate way to complete daily tasks to increase productivity and, ultimately, create a more profitable, agile business. AP automation can also be a launching pad for process improvements in every department across an organization. DocuWare offers on-premises, cloud and preconfigured solutions that fit the business needs of organizations of all sizes. To find out more request a demo.