How a leading transit construction project used Smartsheet to manage it's Accounts Payable process

Challenge:

The business and accounting team was facing the following challenges

• Lack of visibility: E-mail method for receiving invoices led to missing emails/invoices and slow processing times.
• Manual process: Manual approvals required physical signature on invoices caused delays and hours of finance team’s time tracking down paper invoices.
• Poor financial management: Lack of a central invoice tracking system resulted in reports with partial, missing or outdated information.

Solution

• Achievan implemented a simple intake process using Smartsheet forms to streamline process for suppliers and 3rd vendors to submit invoices.
• Forms ensured all required information is provided during invoice submission resulting in reduced follow-ups from finance team.
• Once the invoice request is received, workflows and automations use business logic such as invoice amount, approver/department and vendor type amongst others to route the invoice through an approval flow.
• The finance team reviews reports and dashboard to track progress of invoice approvals and follows-up with the approves as required.
• Management team uses dashboard to track, plan and forecast accounts payable, cashflow and payment status.

Result/Impact

• Improved visibility: Invoices are captured and aggregated in real time centrally in Smartsheet rather than in e-mails resulting in improved accuracy, transparency and improved processing times.
• Better financial management: Team members can now focus their time on analyzing and managing financials rather than spending time in manually collecting, tracking and following up
• Real-time collaboration: Each team member can view, update and action invoice status, accounts payable and cashflow in real-time using dashboards and reports resulting in improved collaboration.

For further information, reach out to us at curious@achievan.com