Document Management Software and Document Imaging

'Business Software Satisfaction Awards' Finalist 2007

Document management and imaging company, Version One is a finalist in the Paperless Office Software category of the Business Software Satisfaction Awards 2007.

Leading Leisure Management Contractor Automates Purchase-to-Pay Processes with Version One

SLM, the longest established leisure management contractor in the UK, is improving its purchase-to-pay processes with Version One's document management and imaging technology.

Purchase orders (POs) will be created, delivered and stored electronically and users will be able to access every PO’s corresponding purchase invoice with just a couple of mouse clicks, enabling the quick resolution of invoice queries. SLM is also looking to use Version One’s technology for the electronic storage of all its 40,000 membership records.

SLM, which manages leisure centres for local authorities across England including Cambridge City Council and Bristol City Council, is implementing Version One’s technology into its existing Microsoft Great Plains ERP system. With this technology in place, hundreds of SLM staff across sixty sites will be able to electronically create and deliver all its POs from the desktop. These will then be automatically stored in the archive and linked to all corresponding purchase invoices (imaged at the SLM headquarters using a Kodak i260 scanner). By drilling down through the Great Plains system or by using a web browser, authorised users will be able to retrieve POs and purchase invoices within seconds.

Tim Stooks, Financial Controller from SLM says, “With authorised managers having access to purchase orders and purchase invoices directly from their PCs, invoice approval times will be dramatically improved. Managers will also have greater control over cost reconciliation and the posting and faxing of purchase-to-pay documents between sites will be eliminated.”

In time, SLM will look at implementing other Version One solutions to further improve its purchase-to-pay processes, namely Version One’s automated data capture solution which significantly reduces manual data entry of invoice information. In addition, SLM is planning to roll-out Version One’s technology to other areas of the business.

“Going forward, we will look at electronically archiving all 40,000 leisure centre membership records which are currently stored in filing cabinets across our sixty sites”, says Stooks.

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Children's Charity Radically Improves Accounts Payable Processes with Document Imaging Technology

NCH, the leading children's charity in the UK, has vastly improved its accounts payable (AP) processes with Version One's document imaging technology, DbArchive.

By using Version One’s imaging solution, which is tightly integrated into NCH’s OpenAccounts eFinance system, NCH electronically stores 180,000 documents every year, significantly improving AP efficiency whilst making considerable costs savings.

NCH has around 500 project teams which work with over 178,000 children, young people and their families across the UK. Historically, these teams’ AP documents, including purchase invoices, staff expense forms, mileage claims and petty cash forms, were processed at NCH’s headquarters and then stored in onsite filing cabinets for the first couple of years. Older documents were archived at an expensive offsite warehouse facility. Any AP queries required the time-consuming location and retrieval of the documents being queried. These documents were then photocopied and the copies faxed or posted to the staff who’d requested them.

At NCH, authorisers are not necessarily located at the same site as projects, which meant that authorising AP documents by post and fax proved problematic. As well as being costly, this process was susceptible to mailed documents being lost in transit and was governed by delivery times.

Paul Addington, Finance Change Programme Manager from NCH says, “Before Version One’s technology, obtaining approval of an AP document and resolving an invoice query were both long and tedious processes. In fact, it could take many days for a simple invoice query to be resolved. These processes were also extremely costly in terms of fax and postage charges as well as staff time, and as a charity, these overheads were totally unacceptable.”

By implementing Version One’s imaging system, NCH has resolved the issues that used to plague its AP processes. With Version One’s imaging solution, each AP document arriving into NCH’s head office is affixed with a barcode and imaged using a high-speed i280 Kodak scanner. With the help of the barcode, the image is then automatically tagged to the appropriate record in the OpenAccounts system. The original paper document is eventually destroyed.

By drilling down through the OpenAccounts ledger or by using the web-based browser, users can view all imaged AP documents directly from their PC screen, putting an end to staff searching filing cabinets and warehouses full of archived paperwork. In addition, the imaging system has totally transformed the document authorisation process. Instead of posting and faxing documents for authorisation, staff can approve documents directly from their desktop regardless of where they are in the UK.

Addington says, “It’s now possible for AP queries to be resolved within seconds, freeing-up staff time. Purchase invoice approval times have also been cut, providing us with greater control over how and when we pay suppliers. All importantly, costs have been reduced by many thousands of pounds, freeing-up funds that can be used by the charity more effectively. In fact, we’re so happy with the technology’s return-on-investment that we’re looking to widen its use in the finance function and roll it out to other areas of the organisation.”

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Alaskan Airline to Reach New Heights of Efficiency with Document Management

Northern Air Cargo (NAC), Alaska’s largest scheduled all-cargo airline, is implementing Version One’s document management technology.

This technology, which will be accessible directly from NAC’s CedarOpenAccounts eFinancials software system, will improve invoice processing efficiency whilst eliminating $24,000 of document archiving costs every year.

John Eckels, Senior Director of Administration and Finance from Northern Air Cargo says, “We’re currently drowning in paper! When a purchase invoice arrives into the accounts department, it’s coded and then manually passed to two different managers for approval. These managers could be located in any of our three head office buildings. Once approved, the invoice is passed back to accounts and paid. The paper invoice is stored in an onsite filing cabinet and after two years, it’s stored in an offsite archiving facility. With thousands of purchase invoices being processed in this way every month, the time, cost and storage implications are staggering!”

NAC, which flies to 21 scheduled locations within rural Alaska, is implementing Version One’s electronic document storage, automated document delivery and form production solutions. With these solutions in place, NAC will replace its paper-based purchase invoice processes with more efficient automated procedures. All purchase invoices will be scanned and automatically stored in an electronic archive before being destroyed. By drilling down through CedarOpenAccounts or by using the web browser, managers will be able to access the archive and both approve and query the imaged invoices directly from their PC screens, within a matter of seconds!

Eckels says, “Version One’s technology will streamline purchase invoice processing, freeing-up time so that staff can do more productive jobs. Staff will also be able to query purchase invoices and respond to suppliers more efficiently, significantly improving relationships.”

In time, NAC will use Version One’s technology for storing other incoming documents such as credit notes. The technology will also be utilized for creating, electronically delivering and storing outgoing documents such as sales invoices and statements as well as a range of non-financial documents such as customer contracts and supplier correspondence.

Brian Moran, CedarOpenAccounts’ General Manager, North America says, “The plan is to roll-out Version One’s technology beyond just NAC’s finance department. It has the flexibility and scalability to be used for electronically storing, creating and delivering documents across the entire business, enabling NAC to further improve organization-wide efficiency and enjoy a rapid return-on-investment.”

Eckels adds, “By storing all business documents in the electronic archive and electronically producing and delivering all our outgoing documents, the cost savings will be phenomenal! The offsite archive will become redundant, saving us $24,000 each year and we’ll also cut costs through the elimination of pre-printed stationery. Getting sales invoices, statements and contracts to customers more quickly and being able to respond to customer queries in a timelier manner, will also improve cash flow and more importantly, our customer relationships.”

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Version One Wins Green Hero Award for the Second Year Running

Version One's document management and imaging software has once again won a Green Hero Award. Version One was presented with the award in recognition of the positive impact its paperless authorisation solution is having on reducing organisations’ paper waste.