Improving accounts payable with a customized workflow.
CarDon & Associates is a leading provider of inspired living and compassionate, long-term health care for seniors in Central and Southern Indiana.
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15 locations
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Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana
The Challenge
CarDon had an accounts payable person at each center that handled invoice approval and data entry for their location. The corporate office wanted to centralize these operations to better handle growth and reduce operating costs. Corporate also took this opportunity to streamline their accounts payable process and take it paperless. Imaging Office Systems was given the challenge to create a workflow that could handle over 4,000 vendors with ties to each individual location, centralize all operations and move CarDon’s accounts payable to an electronic invoicing system.
Nancy Liggett, Accounts Payable Manager notes,
“Going beyond the technology, IOS made sure this system was easy to understand, easy to implement and easy to use. What could have been an intimidating project was made simple and their work in “translating” the technology made a me comfortable every step of the way.“
Why did CarDon choose IOS?
“We picked Imaging Office Systems for this project because they immediately impressed us with their capacity, controls and ease of use. Now that we’ve worked with IOS, we are blown away by their service. They have given us tremendous service along with a system that has brought a return on investment in less than 18 months.”
Nancy Liggett
Accounts Payable Manager
The Solution
Phase One of the project focused on electronic invoicing. All vendors were given a location-specific email at which to submit invoices (a small percentage of invoices sent by paper were scanned). Those invoices were then captured and using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) the data entry requirement was reduced to confirming data with a few clicks of the mouse.
Phase Two took those invoices into a workflow process designed by the IOS Professional Services Group. After simple point & click entry, each location reviews, adds details and approves the invoices. The system then runs a batch import into MAS200 to submit the invoices for payment. When the invoices are paid, the workflow updates the check amount, date, and number giving all parties a quick, easy way to research invoices and forward details to vendors when needed. Key features:
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Invoices are captured and controlled on receipt – what used to be someone’s full time job is now almost completely automated.
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Integration with MAS200 eliminates redundant data entry and the OCR eliminates manual keying.
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Reporting is available to each location and corporate office for instant access to status updates, overdue approvals, and month-end processes.
The Bottom Line
The electronic invoicing and accounts payable workflow created by Imaging Office Systems has freed up both staff and space. People who before were overwhelmed by data entry can now focus their time on improving and maintaining their senior-living communities. Space that was once filled with filing cabinets has been turned into offices and a training center. The return on investment from this easy-to-use system has been felt in multiple areas within the first 12-18 months.
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Electronic system improves processing and reporting speed and requires fewer staff people – freeing up employees for other critical jobs.
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Increased control brings improved accuracy: The new workflow tracks invoice movement including actors, action taken, dates, times and comments for over 55,000 invoices annually. The system triggers daily email reminders to keep all parties engaged in the process and ensure all invoices are moved through in a timely manner. Throughout the entire process AP can review details and workflow history.
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Easy access to invoice history means no one has to wait for information: Key parties can search the data on their own by key points such as vendor, invoice number, dollar amount, location etc.
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The customized workflow made a complex system easy: Minimal training was required to implement the new workflow because the system was designed with CarDon’s unique business requirements in mind.
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