Automotive Dealership Drives Toward AP Efficiency with Payments Solution

The Business

A Fortune 150 automotive dealership was facing a number of challenges when it came to its payment capabilities. There were process inefficiencies, including the large number of paper checks used to pay suppliers, inconsistent supplier payment terms, difficulty tracking early pay discounts, and a costly ACH validation process.

The company saw an opportunity to transform its payment processes and created a list of must-haves when it came to selecting a solution:

The ability to quickly and easily convert paper checks to electronic alternatives
A detailed audit of all vendors, including payment terms and payment type for current vendors
A centralized payment network that incorporates discount tracking and execution and can integrate back into the accounting system
A system that accommodates a variety of payment methods
A robust 12-step ACH validation process that eliminates the cost and inefficiencies of in-house validations

Corcentric Payments checked all these boxes by automating and centralizing the company’s disbursements.

The Experience

With Corcentric Payments, the dealership has a fully integrated payment service that streamlines the Accounts Payable process and maximizes efficiencies. After the audit, all payment terms and payment types were consolidated into one record system. A total of 3,242 transactions were converted to electronic payments and 414 suppliers made the switch to getting paid electronically. With more payment options, suppliers have the flexibility of choosing from secure electronic payment options.

The following are some significant results the company saw from implementing Corcentric Payments:

An estimated savings of $22,701 in eliminated costs associated with paper checks
Over $60.9M in spend converted to electronic payments
$190,815 in annual net benefit generated within year one

The Future

Savings due to reduction in print and postage are one factor, but freeing up the team from the laborious tasks of manually producing and distributing statements has made for more efficient processes at Peak Cashflow.

The implementation process was completed within 2 months, requiring minimal input from Peak Cashflow’s internal IT team. Rigorous testing ensured the solution was refined for all eventualities, and hit the launch date comfortably.

Peak Cashflow were especially pleased with how Corcentric worked during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Jim said “If I’d had a team doing post and envelopes then that would have been a cost to bear, but Corcentric is a variable cost based on how much we send. That flexibility and the ability to easily switch from post to electronic delivery, supporting delivery preferences in lockdown, have been a great benefit to us.”

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