Inside: 3 / What is ApprovalPlus 4 / Achieving Success with ApprovalPlus
ApprovalPlus Case Studies 6 / IHC 8 / Z Energy 10 / Councils
12 / Marley 13 / Juken 14 / NZ Fire Service 15 / Ravensdown
Article 16 / Who is stealing your money?
ApprovalPlusBy FUSION5
ApprovalPlus supports leading practice across the Procure to Pay process enabling organisations to prove both to themselves and their auditors that tight financial controls are evident.ApprovalPlus can streamline processes and procedures, reduce paper work and reduce non value add activities – allowing organisations to do more with less. It delivers a quick and efficient Account Payable process to the organisation.
Strengthen Financial ControlsApprovalPlus will allow you to tighten the controls on organisational spending. This includes the ability to set delegated authorities per business unit, authorise purchases before placing the order, and allow for separation of duties.
Enhance Audit ComplianceWith ApprovalPlus you can track who has authorised invoices, monitor changes in delegated authorities, ensure each invoice has been compared with delegated authority checking rather than a sample check, and have a strong audit trail for transactions.
Accurate Commitment TrackingKeeping Track of your company’s purchasing commitments is easy with ApprovalPlus. Use the standard reports to see what is in progress, or to accrue commitments at month end.
Process AutomationRemove the manual pushing of paper around your organisation, avoid losing paper in the internal mail, or lost on manager’s desks. ApprovalPlus
also automates the communication to remind users of tasks, and triggers the completion of a process automatically when someone in the business completes a task.
Remove the Paper MountainHandling large numbers of paper invoices often means storage boxes, shelves with files that have to be put away manually and often high costs to send away or retrieve information. ApprovalPlus allows for online storage of your invoice documents, saving time and money, as well as providing easier access to information for your business users.
Reduce Risk of FraudHaving tight controls, clear audit trails, better visibility of information and allowing for checking of other’s work reduces the opportunity for fraud being initiated.
Other Benefits• Provides quick, online access to invoices for all approved users in your business.
• Requires minimal staff training.
• Decreases paperwork and on-site storage requirements.
• Provides transparency at every step in the process.
• Comprehensive view of invoice status.
• Accrual provides accountability.
• Information at your fingertips.
• Can be integrated with most financial systems.
ApprovalPlus Key Benefits
ApprovalPlus is an innovative workflow solution that enables tight control of an organisation’s Procure to Pay process. With improved controls, appropriate delegated authorities and more visibility across the Procure to Pay process, businesses can have improved confidence that correct staff actions are being carried out with fewer errors, greater efficiency and less opportunity for fraud.
• Forwardinvoicesintheinternalmailforapproval?
• Havemultiplestaffinvolvedincodingandapprovalofinvoices
• Requirestafftohand-writecodesandsignaturesonsupplierinvoices?
• Operatefrommultiplelocations?
• Haveanout-of-datedelegatedauthoritieslist?
• IfyouansweredyestooneormoreofthesequestionsthenApprovalPluscouldbeanidealsolutiontosupportyourbusiness.
Does your organisation:
With ApprovalPlus you can:•Reduce the Risk of
Fraud
•Remove the Paper Mountain
•Achieve Process Automation
•Have Accurate Commitment tracking
•Enhance Audit Compliance
• Strengthen Financial Controls
Introduction to ApprovalPlus
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Other ApprovalPlus Modules
• ThepaperinvoiceisscannedandtheimagestoredinApprovalPlus(electronicinvoicescanalsobeloadeddirectlyintoApprovalPlus)bytheinvoiceoriginator.
• TheApproverorApproverseitherapproveorrejectthisinvoice.ApprovalPluswillwaituntilallapprovershaveapprovedtheirpartoftheinvoicebeforetheinvoiceisconsideredapprovedforpayment.
• Allapprovedinvoicesarebatchedreadyforexportingtothefinancesystemforpayment.
• ThePreparerassignstheinvoicetooneormoreGLcodeswithintheirdelegatedauthority.OnlyGLaccountsthathavebeenauthorisedforthisbusinessusercanbeused.Optionallytheinvoicecanbecodedtooneormoreproject,assetorsub-accountdependingontherulesdefined.ThebusinessuserthenselectsoneormoreApproversfromalistofvalidApproverswhohavetheappropriateauthoritytoapprovethisinvoice.
ApprovalPlus Invoice Module
ApprovalPlus Purchase Order Module• The purchase order is entered by the Purchase
Order Originator and coded to one or more GL codes within their delegated authority. The purchase order lines can be quantity based (for products) or amount based (for services). Optionally the invoice can be coded to one or more project, asset or sub-account depending on the rules defined. The Purchase Order Originator selects one or more Approvers from a valid list that have the delegated authority to approve the purchase order.
• The Purchase Order Approver or Approvers either approve or reject the Purchase Order.
• The Purchase Order Originator places the order with the Supplier. Email, fax, phone or by post are valid methods of communicating a Purchase Order to the supplier.
• The supplier delivers the goods or performs the service.
• The delivery of the goods or performance of the service is recorded in ApprovalPlus by the Receiver (either the Purchase Order Originator, or an inwards goods store person).
• The invoice is received from the Supplier – this can be in paper or electronic form.
• The paper invoice is scanned and the image stored in ApprovalPlus (electronic invoices can also be loaded directly into ApprovalPlus) by the Invoice Originator.
• The Invoice Originator matches the invoice to one or more purchase orders and receipts (usually the purchase order number(s) will be listed on the invoice, however searching for a purchase order is possible also). If required additional lines can be entered that are not matched to a purchase order (e.g. Freight/insurance, or additional items for which a purchase order was not raised). ApprovalPlus will perform ‘3-way matching’ by matching the invoice, receipt and purchase order.
• If all invoice lines match (within tolerance) to the purchase order(s) then the invoice will be marked as approved and will be batched and exported to the finance system. If tolerances are exceeded, then this invoice will be sent to the original purchase order approver(s) to approve or reject any variance. Additional (non-matched) lines will also be sent for preparation and approval.
Credit Card ModuleThe ApprovalPlus Credit Card module allows the import of credit card transactions from your card supplier for coding, description entry and approval for payment.
Project Management ModuleThe ApprovalPlus Project Management module allows for approval of project / capital spending, through to management of Purchasing against an approved fund, and finally reporting comparing approved amounts to actual invoices.
Staff Expense ClaimsThe ApprovalPlus Staff Expense Claim module allows your staff to generate claims for allowances or receipt based purchases, attach copies of receipts and route for approval. Having set rates for claim types, default General Ledger codes for each claim type and default business units per user makes it simple for your business users to get coding correctly entered. Use the Staff Expense Claim module to automate what is traditionally a paper based, and messy process.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)OCR information can be imported into ApprovalPlus to automate the load of invoices or Purchase Order matches. Even the default of the person to prepare, the General Ledger code and the Approver can be defaulted for you. A third party service is available for the physical receiving of mail, scanning and OCR with information loaded to ApprovalPlus automatically, PO matches attempted, or invoices routed automatically. This is automation at its best!
E-Bill module Takes a set format from a supplier for invoices. This module is used where you have a large number of invoices from key suppliers, or invoices that have a large number of invoice lines to be entered. The E-Bill module allows for the mapping of data, for example cell phone numbers on a bill, to user names and default GL codes when importing the supplier data. This activity is all done in an automated process, with no involvement or entry required other than approval.
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Achieving success with ApprovalPlus
Mitre10 has started down the path of using ApprovalPlus in their head office, currently processing the non-stock requirements of running their organisation, and will subsequently be looking to interface with Kofax OCR, roll out Purchasing, Expense Claims and utilise the E-Bill functionality of ApprovalPlus. Also on the cards for the future is making ApprovalPlus available to the chain of Mega stores we all visit for our DIY requirements.
With more than 400 fire stations and 9,700 firefighters across New Zealand, the NZ Fire Service has a complex set of requirements to manage for the procurement of goods and services and payment of suppliers. The NZ Fire Service utilises ApprovalPlus Invoice, Purchase Order, Projects, Expense Claims and E-Bill modules to manage their processes. The NZ Fire Service is one of the greatest supporters of ApprovalPlus and often host prospective customers for site visits. The NZ Fire Service has been very successful in controlling the procure-to-pay process with ApprovalPlus.
Auckland Airport is New Zealand’s biggest airport and has a varied business including international and domestic flights, retail and distribution, property management and rentals, as well as management of the organisation’s requirements from customs, airport safety, taxis and freight. The Airport has a complex and important function across procurement and supplier payment. Auckland Airport has been using ApprovalPlus Invoices now for several years, and last year moved to using ApprovalPlus Purchasing.
Statistics NZ has used a previous version of ApprovalPlus known as AP-EAS since 2005 and upgraded to ApprovalPlus in 2012. As a central government department and New Zealand’s national statistical office, Statistics NZ is a major source of official statistics and leader of the official statistics system. With around 1000 staff and many more temporary staff at census time, Statistics NZ has a significant volume and diverse range of invoices, purchase orders and staff expense claims to manage – all through ApprovalPlus.
Hunter Douglas is the leading manufacturer of custom-made window fashions in both in North America and Australia. The Australian division of Hunter Douglas uses ApprovalPlus Invoices and Purchase Orders to manage the running of their business and have been using the system for the last two years after upgrading from the previous Fusion5 AP-EAS system that they used for four years.
APPROVALPLUS IS AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION CREATED BY FUSION5 TO MAKE THE PROCESS OF PURCHASING OR APPROVING SUPPLIER INVOICES MORE EFFICIENT AND BETTER CONTROLLED.
IN THIS ARTICLE, WE PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE 40 CUSTOMERS USING APPROVALPLUS ACROSS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. AS YOU CAN SEE, THESE CUSTOMERS RANGE IN SIZE FROM LARGE TO SMALL AND SPAN NEARLY EVERY INDUSTRY SECTOR. APPROVALPLUS CAN BE USED BY ALMOST ANY ORGANISATION, PROVIDING IMMEDIATE VALUE BY REDUCING THE TIME AND COST OF HANDLING INVOICES AND PURCHASE ORDERS, AS WELL AS IMPROVING AUDITABILITY AND REDUCING RISK.
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Customer Stories
Achieving success with ApprovalPlus
ApprovalPlus is currently in place at three councils. With the use of Invoice and Purchase Order modules ApprovalPlus has proven to be a great fit for the needs of both city and regional councils to help them control purchasing and manage approval of supplier invoices.
Marley, and its sister companies, utilise one instance of ApprovalPlus to serve four separate organisations owned by the same multi-national group. Having one system to oversee the spending of the whole group has been a valuable asset. The group has gone from processing all supplier invoices to implementing purchasing and staff expense claims across the group.
Z Energy is a successful New Zealand owned and operated organisation supplying fuel to retail and large commercial customers such as airlines, trucking companies, mines, shipping companies and vehicle fleet operators. Z utilises ApprovalPlus Invoice and Purchasing modules to manage the day-to-day operations of the organisation, and this is one of the systems that help facilitate the organisation to change and become the success that Z is today.
Toyota, another great name that we all know and love, is one of the most successful automotive manufacturers ever. Fusion5 is proud to provide service and support to Toyota New Zealand across many applications that help their operations to run efficiently and smoothly, including ApprovalPlus where Toyota utilise the Invoice, Purchase Orders and Projects modules.
Tranzit is the largest family owned and operated coach company in New Zealand. Operating for almost 90 years Tranzit is a major player in the bus industry with 600 staff and 600 vehicles in the fleet, covering many locations across the North Island. Tranzit implemented ApprovalPlus Invoices and Purchase Orders this year to help manage the spending for their expanding business.
2013 saw two new ApprovalPlus implementations in the tertiary sector at the Open Polytechnic and Universal College of Learning (UCOL). Controlling spending and doing things more efficiently has become even more important in past years for tertiary institutions. The Open Polytechnic has integrated its online marking system with ApprovalPlus to generate orders and invoices automatically. For UCOL, ApprovalPlus Projects will be utilised to help curb spending and along with the Invoice, Expenses and PO modules, will cover the entire spending and procurement area.
FUSION5’S PROCURE TO PAY SOLUTIONAPPROVALPLUS IS AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION CREATED BY FUSION5 TO MAKE THE PROCESS OF PURCHASING OR APPROVING SUPPLIER INVOICES MORE EFFICIENT AND BETTER CONTROLLED.
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Customer Story
IHC is New Zealand’s largest provider of services to people with intellectual disabilities and their families. This not-for-profit organisation has history that reaches back over 60 years to a group of families who set up an association to lobby for a better deal for their children.
IHC remains firmly committed to the values these early parents represented – the inclusion of all people with intellectual disabilities in their local communities.
Controlling PurchasesIn line with many organisations IHC was keen to tighten its control around the Procure to Pay process. IHC was looking for a software solution that would replace its manual processes and allow visibility to managers of all transactions taking place within their cost centres.
With offices across the country, IHC needed a system that would integrate its purchase and invoice processes to ensure visibility of transactions from all their sites. The need to match invoices to Purchase Orders and gain approval only by those with the authority to do so was key to increasing control of IHC’s accounting practices.
Leading Edge SolutionMark Rowe, General Manager of Corporate Services for IHC, “One of my team searched worldwide for a suitable and cost effective solution. In the end we found one right across the road, with Fusion5’s ApprovalPlus.”
Before the implementation took place, Fusion5 undertook a number of workshops with IHC. The workshops focused on the current processes and looked into ways to move the manual processes to electronic ones. “ApprovalPlus ticked all the boxes” comments Mark.
Enthusiastic ResponseThe ability for ApprovalPlus to integrate with IHC’s existing accounting software, JD Edwards, led to a smooth implementation. “Fusion5 was responsive to our requests for changes, which ensured the quick uptake of ApprovalPlus by all users. Staff found the system easy to use and
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this meant minimal downtime with only a couple of hours required for training, allowing us to focus on our priorities of looking after our service users.” mentions Mark.
“With up to 50,000 invoices per annum, the Purchase Order module has become an invaluable part of our procedures; with employees and volunteers spread throughout the country the need for frontline managers to track all expenses was extremely important. The Purchase Order module allowed us not just to track these orders but also offered the safeguard of requiring approval by those with the authority to do so. Our Frontline Managers now have full visibility of our expenses around all our sites.”
ApprovalPlus can be configured so that every approver is given a limit up to which they can approve Purchase Orders; this means staff no longer have to refer to pieces of paper. ApprovalPlus automatically controls whether a person has the necessary authority to approve expenditure and only allows those who do to be selected. IHC now utilise the Purchase Order module for the majority of the spending within the organisation, allowing for tracking of committed spend, ensuring authority has been followed for each purchase, and that the process has a solid audit trail for review.
Post Implementation ReviewIHC’s internal audit team has completed a review of the new system controls and design. The report showed a number of examples of best practice that the system has created:
• Thereisappropriatesegregationofdutiesbetweenoriginatingandapproving purchase orders.
• ApprovalPlussystemset-upallowsPurchaseOrderapproverstoonlybe selected as the approver if they have the appropriate delegation for the area, facility and financial amount.
• TemporarydelegationsareloadedinApprovalPluswithaspecificenddate of the delegation
• EveryactiononaPurchaseOrderorinvoiceisloggedinahistoryshowing who completed the action
• WhereinvoiceamountsareabovePurchaseOrdertolerancelimitstheinvoice is automatically sent to be reapproved.
• ApprovalPlusinterfaceswithJDEdwardstoautomaticallyexportallcompleted invoices to the General Ledger.
“We are fully satisfied with the tightened controls introduced by ApprovalPlus and the time saved by moving away from the manual processes.” Mark Rowe
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Z Energy
In 2010 Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund purchased Shell New Zealand’s downstream business. The operating company was renamed Greenstone Energy. In 2011 after surveying 17,000 New Zealanders, the company decided to rename itself Z Energy and brand its service stations simply as Z.
Pumping with ApprovalPlus
Z Energy owns and manages:• a 17.1 per cent stake in the New Zealand Refining Company• a 25 per cent stake in Loyalty New Zealand who run Fly Buys• over 220 service stations• about 100 truck stops• pipelines, terminals and bulk storage terminal infrastructure around the
country.
Customer Story
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Opportunity for ChangeZ Energy took the opportunity to review its processes when it took over Shell. A major area of focus was around the Procure to Pay process and Purchase Order generation in particular. After a full review of the current processes, a number of key areas of improvement were identified.
Purchase Order (PO) procedures were different across all teams with business units choosing to adopt their ‘own way of doing things’. For some units this meant using a combination of Access databases and physical POs to send to suppliers. For other teams it was a manual PO book and for the rest there was no such thing as a PO.
When the invoice was received there was no consistency as to whether the PO was revisited and matched to the invoice. The use of different systems compromised the audit trail and there was never an overview of the purchase commitments.
Utilising Fusion5’s Range of SolutionsFusion5 had an existing relationship with Z Energy through the ‘re-implementation’ of their JD Edwards ERP software. During one of the meetings around the re-implementation project the Purchase process was raised. Bevan Wright, Sales Executive at Fusion5, demonstrated the New Zealand created ApprovalPlus system as a potential solution. Z Energy’s philosophy is to use out of the box solutions where possible and to select the simplest solution to meet defined business needs. ApprovalPlus fitted well with this philosophy. Nicola Hivon, Contract and Procurement Manager at Z Energy, explains the ease from implementation to uptake.
“The implementation of ApprovalPlus was very smooth; I was surprised at the ease and simplicity of the whole project. ApprovalPlus seamlessly integrated into our ERP system, JD Edwards. We were really impressed with the way that ApprovalPlus fits our Procure to Pay process.”
“The uptake has been amazing, we have had numerous comments from our staff about how easy it is to use. The process is so intuitive that we didn’t do any training for the approvers, we just gave them a simple cheat sheet and left them to it. Staff who prepare invoices and raise purchase orders were trained in about an hour and are able to pass on that knowledge to others.”
The ResultsZ Energy is a very diverse business with numerous areas including Corporate functions, Retail, Commercial and Chemicals. “ApprovalPlus works across all areas of our business. It gave us the consistency we were needing,” said Nicola.
Z Energy currently has 230 employees throughout the major centres and smaller regions of New Zealand. While most staff work from the office there are a number who work from home as well as territory managers who are often on the road. ApprovalPlus is an online process that enables all of Z Energy’s staff access, no matter where they are.
Another key benefit of the software was the management of delegated authorities. A list of delegated approvers can be set up in ApprovalPlus to ensure controls around purchase order and invoice approval.
“The authority is very clear; it is set up with a delegated list of approvers right in the system. There is no need to look up who the appropriate approver is as it is all there. The tracking ability is great, at any point we can see where in the process the Purchase Order or invoice is. Additionally we can trace an invoice back through the process and see who has done what” Nicola goes on to explain.
“A feature that has saved us a lot of time is that all invoices are scanned into the system. This makes it quick and easy to look up past invoices. Before we would have to hunt through folders of paper invoices to find the right one,” comments Nicola. “When an invoice is received at Z Energy it is scanned into ApprovalPlus. Accounts Payable then attempts to match the invoice to a PO; if successful, it is batched to JD Edwards for payment. If a match cannot be made then it is sent off to a preparer to code.”
“It’s been great to see how a manual process can be streamlined and automated so smoothly,” concludes Nicola.
“It’s been great to see how a manual process can be streamlined and automated so smoothly.”
• Fast implementation
• Integrated seamlessly with JD Edwards ERP
• Streamlines Procure to Pay processes across multiple business units
• Intuitive to use, leading to fast staff uptake
• Connect from anywhere
• Delegated list of approvers within ApprovalPlus
• Scanned invoices makes it easy to retrieve past copies
• Trusted relationship with Fusion5
KEY BENEFITS:
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Dunedin City Council (DCC) wasthefirstcouncilonboardtheApprovalPlussystem,andhasbeenahappyandsuccessfulApprovalPluscustomerforseveralyearsnow.ForDCC,akeyJDEdwardsuser,thefirstareaofimprovementwasaroundtheprocessingofsupplierinvoices.
Need to control your spending?
ApprovalPlus is the Procure-to-Pay solution created by Fusion5 to assist Australian and New Zealand organisations control, automate, and improve efficiency in the area of procurement and accounts payable processing. ApprovalPlus can be implemented with any finance system and configured to suit the way the organisation wishes to control its processes.
ApprovalPlus is now in use at more than forty organisations ranging from local and central government to manufacturing, education, utility companies, as well as not for profit entities. To date we’ve had some great success within councils; we are shortlisted for further discussions at a number of councils across Australia and New Zealand, and ApprovalPlus is already proven and operating well within councils in New Zealand.
The challenge
Keeping one of New Zealand’s largest cities running involves dealing with many suppliers and in turn a large volume of invoices, at times over 3,500 per month. Processing a large number of invoices is a very time consuming and labour intensive process.Prior to implementing Fusion5’s ApprovalPlus solution, DCC’s approval process required invoices to be captured in DCC’s finance system by data entry staff before physically being sent to each department for approval prior to being returned to the finance department for payment and filing. As Graeme Souter, DCC’s Expenditure Manager explains, “the council was looking at ways to considerably speed up approvals and monthly processing of invoices as well as clear desks of paper invoices that seemed to be ever present”.
Impressive results
DCC’s impressive results speak for themselves. The Council’s target of an eight day turnaround for their invoice approval process prior to implementing ApprovalPlus, (which typically became eight to ten days per month) has been dramatically reduced to just three days per month.Added benefits
The benefits of ApprovalPlus for DCC are many, including the ability for the finance team to extend their monthly approval cut-off date. This has allowed DCC departments a bigger window for approvals, enabling larger volumes of supplier invoices to be processed each month, ensuring suppliers are paid on time.DCC’s Accounts Payable users are really enjoying ApprovalPlus. Invoice and processing backlogs are now a thing of the past and all invoices are now scanned and entered on the same day they are received. ApprovalPlus has reduced DCC’s data entry staffing requirement by 1.5 people, allowing these staff to move to alternative roles.
User feedback
User acceptance has been exceptionally high. At the follow-up user meeting six weeks after go live there were no unexpected issues identified. Graeme says that he “was delighted and surprised that the reaction from users was so unanimous and positive“.In each department, those responsible for coding and approving invoices greatly appreciate the new ability to view current and historical invoices online enabling them to answer enquires immediately. There is no longer a delay as copies of old invoices are requested from Finance, a task that had historically been a real issue.Due to the sheer volume of invoices being processed, no more than 12 months of invoices could be stored on site at any one time. The time and resources that were once required to locate old invoices is no longer a problem and the reduced paper clutter is not missed at all.
Customer Stories
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Napier City Council isanotherCounciltoimprovetheirpayablesprocesseswithApprovalPlus.NapierCitywaslookingforwaystomanagetheapprovalsofsupplierinvoicesacrossanorganisationwhere,likemostcouncilsinNewZealandandAustralia,staffaredispersedacrossmultiplesites,andwheretherecanbeasignificantnumberofpeopleinvolvedintheprocessofcodingandapprovingsupplierinvoices.ApprovalPlushasbeenoperationalforaroundayearnowatNapierCityCouncil,andfeedbackfromstaffhasbeenverygood.
ApprovalPlus is connected to the Napier Computer Systems (NCS) solution created for and in use at many councils around New Zealand. The integration work to get NCS and ApprovalPlus talking to each other can, of course, be re-used. If you are an NCS user – get in touch with us now!
Environment Canterbury wasthenextcounciltojointheApprovalPlususercommunity.Asweallknow,theCanterburyregionhasbeenthroughsometoughtimesrecently,andApprovalPluswastherehelpingEnvironmentCanterburydealwiththeissuesofstaffbeingdispersedtotemporarylocationsorworkingfromhome,andhavingalargervolumeofsupplierinvoicestoprocessthannormal.ApprovalPlusisconnectedtotheMicrosoftNavisionfinancesystematEnvironmentCanterbury.
Helen Sellwood, Finance Manager at Environment Canterbury provides some feedback on ApprovalPlus:“We could see from the initial earthquake that the community and our staff would be under extra pressure. We were already looking at the ApprovalPlus system and were impressed with the benefits. Once the earthquake happened we knew it was the right solution for us. Fusion5 was great and worked closely with us during a difficult time to ensure the implementation went smoothly.”
Environment Canterbury has implemented both the Purchase Order (PO) and Invoice modules. The PO module allows authorisation levels to be set and POs to be approved before purchases are made, when all details are at hand and fresh in the mind. Once an invoice is received, the invoice is matched to the PO; if it is within a predefined level of tolerance it is batched and exported to the finance system. If there is too much variation then it is sent to the business users for coding and approval of the additional spend. This process adds a strong level of control for Environment Canterbury.
Successful Staff Uptake
“The ApprovalPlus solution has meant minimal disruption to our processes and staff. Post-February the focus shifted from improving visibility on commitments to supporting staff who were now spread across Christchurch instead of being in a single CBD location. We wanted to make it easier to approve invoices and being able to scan them and have approval via ApprovalPlus was ideal. Visibility is still important but we allowed a longer timeline to achieve purchase orders for all invoices. “ApprovalPlus has proven itself; we are pleased with the efficiency it has brought to our processes. Staff uptake has been quick and there has been very minimal downtime for training,” praises Helen.
What is different about these three Councils to other businesses?Other than the fact that they have ApprovalPlus – nothing! Most businesses have the same same issues and constraints on budgets that all local bodies have. ApprovalPlus just gives them a helping hand in controlling spending and approvals, and allows them to face the challenge of “do more with less resources” that we are all exposed to these days. Any council, or any organisation at all, can benefit from ApprovalPlus.
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Fusion5 is making significant progress in the market with ApprovalPlus, our accounts payable / purchase order approval solution. In the last few months we have made
several sales to new customers and we have upgraded the majority of our AP-EAS (i.e the older version of the software) customers to ApprovalPlus. One customer who has recently upgraded from AP-EAS to ApprovalPlus is Marley. Marley products are household names, best known to us for their spouting, downpipe and rain harvesting solutions. Marley is also a leading supplier of a wide range of extruded and moulded PVC and Polyethylene products to the Plumbing, Building, Rural, Civil and Electrical markets. Marley is part of the Aliaxis group that encompasses leading plastics manufacturing and distribution companies from around the world with core competencies in moulding and extrusions. These companies include Dynex (Manufacturers of Plastic extrusion solutions), RX Plastics (a leading manufacturer of irrigation products, water storage tanks and effluent disposal systems) and Dux (Manufacturers and Distributors of Plumbing products).
Gaining Control of Group SpendingAs a result of a direct marketing campaign run by IBM and Fusion5, Marley identified they were a good fit with the AP-EAS system (predecessor to ApprovalPlus). Upon reviewing the brochures and looking at all the sales material Marley identified with the list of pain points that AP-EAS was designed to resolve such as lost invoices, late payments and drowning in paper.
In 2008, Marley and Fusion5 began the implementation project. Together the two companies implemented AP-EAS across the organisation, and revolutionised the supplier payment approval process within Marley. Looking to keep up to date with new technology and to take advantage of additional functionality, Marley then upgraded to ApprovalPlus in 2009. The upgrade from AP-EAS to ApprovalPlus went very smoothly, both from the system perspective and in the uptake of the new functionality by users.
With ApprovalPlus being so well accepted within Marley, momentum quickly built to deploy ApprovalPlus into more companies within the Aliaxis family. The next companies to deploy the solution were Dynex and RX Plastics, with Dux due to implement ApprovalPlus shortly.
ApprovalPlus is seen as the right fit for the companies, and has been very well received at every step. Managing supplier invoices for several companies has its complexities however using ApprovalPlus allows Marley to have one instance of ApprovalPlus to manage invoices for all three separate finance systems. Sarah Peagram, Financial Controller for Marley NZ explains “ApprovalPlus is what has made the transition to a central management of Accounts Payable much easier; we couldn’t have done it without this system”.
Handling Accounts Payable for Multiple Companies
Fast RolloutApprovalPlus projects are quick and painless. In Marley’s case the implementation effort by Fusion5 was only around six or seven days, and in total the initial project spanned just three weeks. Staff training requirements were low, and feedback from the users has been extremely positive.
Moving ForwardWhat’s next for Marley and ApprovalPlus? Sarah explains the plan “We saw the implementation of the ApprovalPlus Purchase Order module as the next logical step for Marley. The Purchase Order module will allow us to gain even more control on our spending, as well as enabling monitoring of what is committed within our group of companies”. The Purchase Order module project commenced in mid October this year and will deliver new benefits across the organisation as it is rolled out to all users.
Marley and Fusion5 have worked together to improve the functionality of ApprovalPlus, and have provided a great way forward for the Accounts Payable and Procurement teams.
Visibility of InformationApprovalPlus allows for visibility of invoices throughout the lifecycle of an invoice within Marley, from the time an invoice arrives into the company in the mail, throughout the approval cycle and after invoices have been processed. “We no longer have invoices lost in the manual approval process, and we don’t waste time digging through boxes of invoices to recover an invoice for one of our companies to review.” says Sarah, “This capability allows our business users to access invoices when they want the information, and we pay our suppliers on time.”
Having a CFO who is in charge of multiple companies means that in normal circumstances he/she would have to access multiple Finance Systems. ApprovalPlus allows for an overview of spending, as well as allowing for routing of key or high volume invoices for approval, all on one instance of ApprovalPlus. Importantly, ApprovalPlus allows businesses to correctly manage those invoices that can’t be matched or are outside approval limits.
Reduced costs
Increased efficiency
Improved control
Improved supplier relationships
Quick online access to invoice
information
Minimal staff training required
Decreased paperwork
Transparency at every step
Comprehensive view of invoice status
Accrual provides accountability
Integrates with most financial systems
Key Benefits• StreamlinedAccountsPayable
process
• Tighteningofinternalcontrols
• Flexibilitytoallowmultiplefinance systems to be used
• VisibilityofInvoiceinformation
• Minimalstafftrainingrequired
• Easeofuse
• Lowcostofownership
• Costeffectivesolution
• ImprovedSupplierRelationships
Customer Stories
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Reduced costs
Increased efficiency
Improved control
Improved supplier relationships
Quick online access to invoice
information
Minimal staff training required
Decreased paperwork
Transparency at every step
Comprehensive view of invoice status
Accrual provides accountability
Integrates with most financial systems
Key Benefits• StreamlinedAccountsPayable
process
• Tighteningofinternalcontrols
• Flexibilitytoallowmultiplefinance systems to be used
• VisibilityofInvoiceinformation
• Minimalstafftrainingrequired
• Easeofuse
• Lowcostofownership
• Costeffectivesolution
• ImprovedSupplierRelationships
Centralise
Based on identified cost savings, JNL’s long-term plan was to centralise its Finance function located at four mills and three forests to its Auckland Head Office. The implementation of JD Edwards Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) was a driver in the decision to centralise. Recently JNL relocated all processing and finance resources to Auckland including the Accounts Payable function.
Graham Maples, JNL’s Chief Financial and Chief Information Officer, felt that with centralisation there was a real concern about the loss of visibility once invoices were sent back to the mills for approval and that invoices could fall into a “black hole”. When Graham and the team at JNL saw an ApprovalPlus* demo they immediately recognised the value and potential of the solution particularly with the ability for ApprovalPlus to integrate with JNL’s ERP solution, also supported by Fusion5.
JUKEN GIVEN TRANSACTION CLARITY AND VISIBILITYJuken New Zealand Limited (JNL) is a forestry and wood products company with forests and mills located throughout the North Island of New Zealand. The mills produce reconstituted wood panels, peeled & dried veneer, and sawn lumber. JNL’s combination of technology and innovation, provides an extensive range of engineered wood products for both local and export markets.
JNL has a long-term commitment to the New Zealand forestry and processing industries and in 1990 purchased major Crown Forest licenses in three regions of New Zealand resulting in a total productive area of 41,400 hectares. Today JNL provides employment to more than 1000 New Zealanders.
It's so intuitive and easy to use that users required only a few hours of training.
Impressive Results
Initially JNL felt it might have been necessary to duplicate its Accounts Payable resources at the mill and forest locations in the newly centralised finance team.
JNL was not confident that the volume of work and necessary follow up would be reduced; instead, JNL anticipated that it may actually have to increase staff on site to follow up with approvers.
Instead, ApprovalPlus improved processing to such an extent that JNL experienced a 35% reduction in its Accounts Payable resource requirements. JNL attributes the saving directly to the implementation of ApprovalPlus. “I don’t often get excited about new solutions but I am really excited about ApprovalPlus and what it has done for our business. It’s a great solution” says Graham Maples.
Ease of Use
JNL’s ApprovalPlus users find the software very easy to use. “It’s so intuitive and easy to use that users required only a few hours of training. Managers love ApprovalPlus, particularly those who travel frequently, they receive emailed approval requests, can log in and approve remotely. Alternatively they can easily delegate their approval while they are away”.
JNL’s ApprovalPlus users are impressed at how easy it is to access information, particularly old invoices with a scanned copy available immediately to be viewed/printed. Before implementing ApprovalPlus, locating old invoices involved a physical search through paper files stored in unaccessible locations.
As scanned invoice copies are available at their fingertips, the need to store old invoices offsite has been removed. This has resulted in significant savings in handling and storage costs which quickly add up when large volumes such as JNL’s 60,000 invoices are processed each year.
Improved Processes
JNL’s Auditors find the approval levels and information ApprovalPlus provide is invaluable. Clear status and approval information allows total visibility of transactions as they progress through the approval system. This feature has proven to be invaluable in identifying any bottlenecks and easily answering supplier enquiries. Invoices which may have been put on hold can be viewed immediately and suppliers advised of the status and reason for the hold with the use of the comment functionality.
Other added benefits JNL has taken advantage of include visibility of who has coded transactions to the General Ledger, a feature which is useful when identifying and correcting errors. The need to decipher an approver’s signature is also no longer a problem with electronic approvals and information capture. JNL have now added staff expenses and the Kofax OCR tool.
Key Benefits…
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Key Benefits…Over 5,000 invoices
automatically processed by third party
Customised configuration between ApprovalPlus, Datam and JD Edwards
Automated system removes paper invoices from the internal mail
Visibility of current purchase commitments
Ability to set pre-determined rules relevant to The Fire Service
Able to add further modules to expand controls around the Procure to Pay process
The Challenge
The New Zealand Fire Service is one example of how many Australian and New Zealand businesses are structured. It has a National Headquarters and many smaller stations / offices distributed throughout many cities and towns. The Fire Service comprises both paid fire fighters and a large number of volunteers. Prior to implementing ApprovalPlus the Accounts Payable process was very decentralised and many purchase order and invoice procedures were handled by individual stations with the head office having a broad overview. With manual systems, there is always a chance of errors, through data input, loss of a paper invoice or invoices being paid twice. While manual systems have been the way for many businesses in the past, most are now looking to move to an automated system where the business has greater controls in place and greater visibility of transactions. In 1854, the first New Zealand volunteer fire brigade was formed in Auckland with nothing but buckets and water. Today the New Zealand Fire Service is comprised of five regions with around over 400 stations and 9,700 fire fighters nationwide.
NZ Fire Service – ApprovalPlus
The Steps Taken
After extensive research, the NZ Fire Service looked to ApprovalPlus to automate its Procure to Pay process. With over 5,000 invoices received per month, considerable accounts payable time was spent opening and processing paper based invoices. The Fire Service went out to tender and decided on a combination of a ‘scan and scrape’ service by Datam and workflow using ApprovalPlus provided by Fusion5. Datam is a third party service that receives the mailed invoice to a PO Box – electronic or physical - set up for the NZ Fire Service. Datam scans the invoice and, using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), loads the information automatically into ApprovalPlus. Once in ApprovalPlus a match between the Purchase Order and the Invoice is made (within predefined tolerance levels) and batch processed into the finance system. If a match cannot be made, it's outside the tolerance level or is an invoice without a purchase order, it is sent to a preparer in the business and then onto a delegated approver. This is the first time the invoice needs to be viewed by the Fire Service - automation is the key!
Throughout the implementation, Fusion5 worked closely with the Fire Service to configure ApprovalPlus to its unique needs. With a number of highly skilled consultants and developers, Fusion5 was able to configure a system to fit the company, rather than the company having to fit the system. An interface was set up between Datam, ApprovalPlus and JD Edwards, the Fire Service’s finance system. Currently the Fire Service has 500 plus users on ApprovalPlus. To bring greater control to the Procure to Pay process, invoice processing was centralised and ApprovalPlus provided the workflow to ensure that all financial transactions were processed in a timely manner and within designated business rules. ApprovalPlus has enabled the NZ Fire Service to be more efficient and effective in processing invoices, has enhanced the financial control environment and has assisted in improving the quality and timeliness of management financial reporting.
Going Forward
The New Zealand Fire Service is now in the process of expanding its ApprovalPlus resources with two additional modules. Firstly, the E Bill module which allows for automated import of invoices provided in electronic form by suppliers which means there is no manual input and easy processing of large volumes or complex invoices. The second additional module will allow employees and volunteers to generate expense claims directly in ApprovalPlus.
In the past year alone there were around 63,000 incidents attended by the fire service, but there’s more to the Fire Service than responding to emergencies; fire fighters spend time helping communities prevent unwanted fires through delivering education programmes and working with building owners. They also spend time involved in other community focused work.
Fusion5 is able to configure a system to fit the company, rather than the company having to fit the system
Customer Stories
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NZ Fire Service – ApprovalPlus
Supplier Invoice
Datam NZFS PO BOX/EBOX
Mail opened and scanned
Data batch sent into ApprovalPlus
ApprovalPlus looks to match invoice to a PO
Match
Sent to Finance for Payment
No Match
Sent to Finance for Payment
Sent to Fire Station (each station has a code referenced on the
invoice) for coding and approval
The system has a number of invoice templates that it can use to retrieve
the important information and arrange into a format for ApprovalPlus
No template match, it is manually entered and a new template set up
As part of the consolidation of the finance functions to the Christchurch head office, Ravensdown selected Fusion5’s ApprovalPlus product to streamline their Accounts Payable approval process, based on identifiable improvements to the inefficiencies of the existing manual approval processes.
Although the centralisation of these functions is still underway, process improvements have already been realised. Monthly business unit costs now reflect actual invoices received to date - when previously there was a significant time lag between the receipt of the invoice and having this reflected in the accounts, and often the cost would be allocated in an incorrect period altogether. The month end process previously included a degree of guesswork as to the accrual for invoices received, but not yet coded. With ApprovalPlus the guesswork has been removed from the equation. Month end speed improvements have also been realised.
Throughout the implementation process, Ravensdown found Fusion5 easy to work with and responsive to the inevitable issues that were encountered. Fusion5 worked closely with Ravensdown to ensure that must-have functionality was quickly developed and rolled into the base product in close consultation with Ravensdown to ensure requirements were met.
Now that they are live with ApprovalPlus, Ravensdown no longer has piles of paper filing to do, and particularly enjoys being able to see the processing history of an individual invoice quickly and easily. The immediate visibility into the virtual ‘location’ of an invoice allows for quick tracking of an invoice if any issues arise.
Even though the corporate wide rollout is only partially complete, immediate savings have been seen in storage requirements and postage/courier charges. Tracy Littlewood, Admin Supervisor at Ravensdown Head Office, said “We expected that it would make a difference [to costs], and it has already.”
ApprovalPlus at Ravensdown
“As one of our Company values’ states, “Ravensdown will fully utilise all available technology to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of staff”.ApprovalPlus is a workflow solution designed to streamline our accounts payable process, replacing the paper based system of invoices. This, to Ravensdown, has improved productivity and tightened control of our Accounts Payable system since installation in 2009. Staff comments on a recent feedback survey ALL mentioned how easy it is to use and how they like the fact that you can easily see the invoices during and after the process. Savings have already been made on postage and time, and we can now accurately report Expenditure in each financial period. We are now looking forward to fully utilizing the Purchase Order Module.”
On the coat-tails of the successful ApprovalPlus invoice module, Ravensdown is beginning to roll out the purchasing module throughout the organisation. This is expected to be a lengthier process than the invoicing module as more people within the organisation are involved. However significant downstream gain, internal control and accountability are expected.
Fusion5 has listened closely to user feedback throughout the rollout process, and while enjoying the immediate benefits of the features within the current release, Ravensdown is looking forward to enhanced functionality and new features being delivered in the future releases.
Ravensdown is the largest supplier of fertiliser products in New Zealand and has a fast growing presence in Western Australia.
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Recent studies have shown that the majority of cases
of theft from workplaces go undetected, with up to two thirds of cases going unnoticed. Searching for and finding cases of fraud can be very time consuming and costly.
By far the most effective way of saving your organisation from loss in this way is to have good internal controls and systems in place to deter staff from trying to take money, and by making it harder for them to do so.
One of the areas where money is most commonly taken is in the area of a company’s expenditure. Money is already on its way out, as it is a normal everyday activity to pay suppliers, so fraudulent activity is easily masked.
Many Australian and New Zealand companies still have manual processes for handling invoice approvals. It is still quite common to have hand written purchase order books and, in many cases, these are never matched to supplier invoices. Most companies will have a delegated authority list, many with copies of managers’ signatures. Unfortunately often
Who is stealing
Fraud in the workplace is nothing new. The disturbing fact is that it is on the rise; the sums taken are getting bigger and fraud is being perpetrated by people in more senior positions than ever before. Unfortunately in times of economic difficulties, the frequency of these crimes rises even further. The latest fraud report from KPMG records the level of value of convicted frauds in 2010 at $172 million (in New Zealand alone), more than the value for 2008 and 2009 combined.
ApprovalPlus Article
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the control ends there, with many signatures never being compared to approved invoices. As well, invoices are often processed that are for an amount greater than a person’s delegated authority, often without question. Purchase Orders seem to be seen as a tool for placing the order, but have no place in the control of company spending.
Putting controls around expenditure will come down to having strict rules around the procurement and payables process, as well as a system that allows for compliance with the rules that you put in place.
So knowing this – why don’t companies have more controls in place? Over the years businesses have moved to processing more activities on computers thereby removing people from the process. Traditional processes have not kept pace with the systems that are being used leaving gaps that can be exploited.
Processes and systems need to provide for:
• Documentation of internal rules - for example which items should have a Purchase Order raised to tighten controls further, e.g. anything over $500.
• Enforcement of rules – each and every transaction, approval or amount should be checked, not a simply random sample or based on memory.
• Visibility of transactions and separation of duties – in general there should always be two people involved in any transaction and management should have the ability to review the affects afterwards.
• High levels of security - something as simple as adding a new bank account or supplier into your system should have security. Many ERP systems will have payee control where these changes require approval before use, but who reviews the reviewer? Best practice is to have a report sent around to management showing new suppliers, and who they are for. If someone in finance has added a bogus supplier then this entry should
be challenged by the relevant manager. This simple check and balance will help stop the new supplier being activated in the system, let alone invoices being processed and paid.
Fusion5’s Procure to Payment system, ApprovalPlus, fits in well with this area of security for any organisation. Strict controls are set up within the system along with in-built controls that prevent moving to the next phase until approval is given. Examples of controls gained from ApprovalPlus are:
• EachPurchaseOrderorInvoice is approved by a person with relevant authority then checked against a delegated authorities list.
• PurchaseOrderscannotbe sent to suppliers until approved.
• ReceiptofGoodsor Services must be performed before an invoice can be matched.
• OverspendagainstaPurchase Order will generate an additional approval request.
• Ahistoryofallinteraction with a document in ApprovalPlus is maintained, for example who approved an invoice, when an approver’s delegated authority was changed (and by how much and by whom).
Our Financial consultants are available to assist with a review of your current processes, and will provide a report detailing areas of improvement. We are very confident ApprovalPlus will help support many of the problem areas.
“Traditional processes have not kept pace with the systems that are being used leaving gaps that can be exploited.”
your money?
Kofax and ApprovalPlussaving time and money
Konica Minolta is a premium provider of Kofax Capture and Transformation software helping customers to save money, time and creating efficiencies within their business through the Kofax suite of products.
Kofax is the world’s
leading document capture and transformation software designed to replace manual, error-prone and expensive document sorting and data entry processes with automatic document classification, separation and data extraction functionality.
With Kofax software, the extracted data and scanned images can be delivered into financial/ERP systems, line of business applications, databases, and document management systems for further processing.
Areas where Kofax is
being used by Konica Minolta Customers include:
• Loan application processing
• Digital mailroom workflow
• Staff and customer on-boarding
• Accounts Payable automation.
Given that studies show 70% of all incoming mail is invoices, and 96% of invoice processing time involves keying data from paper, it’s no surprise that the demand for end-to-end accounts payable automation has risen dramatically over the past two years.
In 2013, Konica Minolta partnered with Fusion5 to offer a full end-to-end accounts payable solution. This solution sees Konica Minolta delivering the invoice data capture functionality and Fusion5’s ApprovalPlus software delivering the invoice approval and matching workflow.
Extensive work has been carried out to ensure the seamless interfacing of data between Kofax and ApprovalPlus to ensure all invoice data has been validated and corrected before entering the approval and payment workflow.
The opportunities for automation are huge, as are the potential cost savings for your organisation. As businesses grow or as they look to reduce operating costs in tight financial times, many organisations look to achieve more with existing resources. In most cases the return on investment for a Kofax / ApprovalPlus solution will be between 6 and 12 months, so it’s definitely a topical area for executives to consider.
If you would like to
find out more about invoice capture and see how Kofax and/or ApprovalPlus could benefit your organisation please contact Bevan Wright on [email protected]
For the past ten years Konica Minolta Business Solutions has been working with organisations throughout New Zealand to assist them in transforming their business processes from manual, paper-based processes into electronic, computer-based workflows.
Konica Minolta
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How it works
AucklandLevel7,3CityRoadPOBox106190AucklandCityPhone+6493790525
ChristchurchUnit6,15SirGilSimpsonDriveChristchurch8053Phone+6439434369
WellingtonLevel6,LambtonHouse160LambtonQuayPOBox10-111,WellingtonPhone+6444734552
AdelaideLevel1,155FullartonRoadRosePark,SA5067Phone+61882395700
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Brisbane110EagleStreetBrisbane,QLD4000Phone+61732153400
MelbourneLevel1660AlbertRoadSouthMelbourne,Vic3205Phone+61399225519
PerthLevel9,231AdelaideTerracePerth,WA6000Phone+61892033600
CONTACT DETAILS: For more information please contact us on one of these numbers or email
NewZealand:[email protected]
Australia:[email protected]
ApprovalPlus
Check us out on the web www.approval-plus.com
