Vibrant and sustainable residential retirement communities

Family owned since 1989, Berwick Retirement Communities builds and manages retirement homes in British Columbia, Canada. To operate its seven homes, the company employs over 1,700 vendors and processes about 1,000 invoices a month for catering, housekeeping, personal care and nursing supplies and other essentials.

Streamlining invoice processing

With seven retirement homes to operate and another scheduled to open in 2022, two head offices in different locations and one construction company, Berwick had a complex process of vendor invoice approvals and payments. To collect the necessary signatures and approvals, the invoices had to circulate between different offices, in paper or email form. Often, several copies were made in different locations adding unnecessary redundancy and complexity. Staff had to call different offices to locate the invoices and ensure all signatures were collected. Sometimes when vendors called to inquire about payments, Berwick personnel weren’t able to locate specific invoices and had to contact other offices to track down the missing paperwork.

Processing invoices through DocuWare allows Berwick to store and recall invoices for billing, audits and job costing. “We would end up having several copies of invoices in mail or email form”, says Jessa—but that still did not mean that the invoice would be easy to find when needed. “Sometimes a vendor would call and ask, ‘Where is my payment on this invoice’, and we didn’t know where the invoice was. We needed to improve our workflow process.”

Easy switchover and a dedicated DocuWare support person

The company purchased DocuWare in 2018 and switched over in November that year. Due to Berwick’s specific requirements, the DocuWare accounting module had to be customized to fit the company’s data entry needs. DocuWare specialists helped Berwick build their customized version of the accounting system. The training and switchover process was smooth and easy. The company also values having a dedicated DocuWare support person who is responsive and knowledgeable. “I feel like I know him personally,” Jessa says. “He is always there and he responds to my emails usually within a day.”