CHALLENGE
Paper Payments Late Payment Delivery Manual Process AAM had an extensive payments department that included 13 accounts payable coordinators. They were largely paper-based, processing vendor payments by paper check, and wanted to move to a digital system. The lack of an organized workflow and an efficient approval process, along with the cost of staffing and resources, encouraged AAM to look into automating their payments process.
Due to their paper-based payments, vendors often received their payments in two to three weeks on average. Getting the payments entered into their AP system, validated, and approved was a slow process. Despite the use of some technology, the process included several steps that were also prone to human error. This resulted in AAM paying anywhere from $250 to $500 a month in late fees to various vendors.
At first, AAM tried to automate their payments by building a system through a card program with their bank. But they quickly learned that creating their own solution required programming, finding their own banking partners, and enrolling vendors. While moderately successful the process proved to be too difficult without resources and the necessary expertise, particularly with vendor enrollment. Achieving vendor card program adoption rates that result in significant scale required a new approach.
SOLUTION
“We had experienced some success with our previous vendor card payment program. But the CSI program has exceeded that by a very wide margin, and we’re very happy with the volume and revenue opportunity it has created.”
AAM had no problems integrating CSI with their Village Management Software. VMS was eager to work with the CSI integration to enhance their system and AAM can process payments directly from the ERP.
The integration team made sure that auto reconciliation and data syncs were working. Additional customizations were put in place so that transactions on bank statements could be more easily identified and duplicate payments could be detected and avoided.
In addition to the expert integration assistance, CSI’s vendor enrollment team continuously reaches out to AAM’s vendors to maintain and improve their conversion rate. As a result, the additional revenue earned through virtual card payments is substantial for AAM.
“Quite simply, partnering with experts helps us provide the type of services to our clients that they expect. We have been very happy with this partnership and will continue to work with CSI to raise the bar in our industry. We’re very pleased with what’s been accomplished so far.”
RESULTS
AAM’s payment process is now vastly different. “With the help of CSI, we have greatly reduced the number of late and duplicate payments.” The $250 to $500 a month late fees have been reduced to less than $50 a year. Payments are approved and sent out in days instead of weeks, and vendors receive their payments quickly and securely. Vendors also have multiple payment options such as virtual card, ACH, and check. AAM’s virtual card conversion rate is 20% – 30%.
Matt has been able to cut AAM’s payables processing time in half due to the increased efficiency. That results in being able to reassign staff to more productive activities, which also saves money. “Converting to CSI has been a tremendous help to our organization. It has increased our efficiency and security and provided us with a trusted industry partner that brings expertise in payment solutions.
