With multiple locations around NSW, the organisation’s paper-based accounts payable processes were outdated and cumbersome. As Accounts Administrator Marg Grierson explains, “being a not for profit, ours was a fairly complex approval process, with certain policies and procedures to meet.”
In the existing system, each invoice needed to be signed off by cost centre managers, with invoices over a certain value also requiring sign-off by delegation managers. This was an extremely long-winded, not to mention paper-heavy process – and with multiple sites across NSW, documents had to be shipped, faxed and emailed everywhere, further increasing the probability of loss.
“Essentially, our accounts payable service was in need of an urgent upgrade so we could resolve these issues,” concludes Marg. “And because the culture of the organisation here means that change takes time, we needed a solution that could also be rolled out gradually.”
Marg and the team decided to initially roll out Cypher IQ Digital, for their accounts payable department, and the solution is also gradually being integrated into other business functions, including community payments, staff reimbursements and credit card payments.
The app provides accounts payable with an audit trail, so that nothing can be lost. As Marg explains, “It makes the approval process so much easier, because everything can now be logged and accessed online from multiple locations. We can see what’s in the system at any given time, along with who it’s with, and how long they’ve had it – which improves transparency and accountability, speeds up our approval processes and safeguards the quality of our records.”
“The solution itself is fantastic,” reports Marg. “It’s been 100% customised to fit our requirements, and it’s also scalable, which fits into our requirement for a solution that could be rolled out gradually. It’s also really easy to use – which was a top priority for us. If we’d introduced something that was too complicated, it just wouldn’t work, because everyone is extremely busy and hard-working, and there is literally no downtime to be able to get to grips with complicated new technology.”
Beyond the capabilities of the solution itself, Marg says that what most stood out about Cypher IQ Digital was actually less about the technology itself and more about the team behind the app. “We needed more than just a piece of tech,” she explains. “We wanted a provider who we could form an ongoing working relationship with. Because our requirements are quite complex, a lot of the competitor organisations didn’t quite grasp what we needed. What made the difference with Cypher IQ Digital was the level of skill, insight and support offered by the entire team. They just got it – and once they fully understood the details of our policies and procedures, they implemented everything and got us up and running surprisingly quickly, and with the minimum of fuss.”
Marg reports that there has been zero documentation loss since implementation. “Having an audit trail means that everything can be so much more easily and accurately tracked, cross-referenced, approved and paid than we ever could before.”
While the previous approval process meant that Marg could only process about 70 invoices a week, now she’s able to process around 70 per day. “It’s given me complete visibility, with staff being able process and approve invoices from anywhere, whether on their mobiles, at home, or in the office.”
Marg is also full of praise for the team behind Cypher IQ Digital. “They have been with us every step of the way, and made our journey to paperless easier than I’d ever thought possible. To be able to call them up anytime I have a problem has been a huge help. Nothing is too much trouble, and whenever there’s anything that needs fixing, it just gets done. Cypher IQ Digital do an amazing job, I really can’t fault them.”
