About Appalachian Mountain Club
The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) has been promoting the protection, enjoyment, and wise use of the mountains, rivers, and trails of the Northeast outdoors since 1876. As the nation鈥檚 oldest outdoor recreation and conservation organization, AMC has 90,000 members that maintain over 1,500 miles of trails, including nearly 350 miles of the Appalachian Trail in five states.
With twelve chapters stretching from Maine to Washington D.C., AMC employs a team of over 450 full-time and seasonal staff and more than 16,000 volunteers. The finance team is responsible for processing more than 500 invoices and payments each month. But with a geographically dispersed team, getting invoice approvals was no easy feat.
The Challenge: Difficulty Tracking Invoice Approvals
As the Accounting Supervisor, Mirzeta Mehuljic is responsible for overseeing the entire Accounts Payable process. She ensures invoices are processed on time, approvals are received, invoices are posted back to the appropriate general ledger account in Microsoft Dynamics GP, and vendors are paid on time to avoid late fees or benefit from early pay discounts.
The previous accounts payable process was plagued with manual entry, approval delays, and never-ending amounts of paper. AMC received invoices from their vendors via email and postal mail, making the approval process very tedious.
Invoices that were physically mailed to AMC鈥檚 headquarters required the Accounting Specialist to print, fold, and mail that invoice to the appropriate approver at multiple business locations. For electronic invoices, the Accounting Specialist would forward to the appropriate manager and await approval. Both processes were inefficient and difficult to manage.
鈥淲e were having trouble keeping track of when invoices were sent to approvers and who had actually given their approval. Not to mention the time it took to consistently follow-up with approvers via email,鈥� recalls Mehuljic. And the lengthy approval process was hurting relationships with vendors.
The Solution: Automated Approvals and Virtual Card Payments
AMC knew the process they had in place was inefficient. And they knew there were AP solutions out there that could solve their problems.
鈥淲e looked at other solutions that integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP to see what they offered and which would work best. 名媛直播 had the most robust approval workflows, a real-time, API-level integration, and allowed us to earn cash back on eligible vendor payments,鈥� stated Mehuljic.
As a nonprofit organization, AMC was excited about earning cashback through SilverPay, 名媛直播鈥檚 virtual card platform. And of course, reducing all that paper mean saving some trees.
鈥溍轮辈� took care of the entire vendor match and enrollment process 鈥� we didn鈥檛 have to do anything,鈥� recalls Mehuljic. An in just one quarter, Appalachian Mountain Club has earned thousands in rebates on an annual basis. And these rebates alone are covering over 30% of the total cost of 名媛直播.
The Outcome: Centralized and Paperless Accounts Payable
Beyond the rebates, Appalachian Mountain Club鈥檚 accounts payable process is now streamlined, efficient, and paperless. All invoices, whether they are mailed and uploaded or emailed directly, are stored in one centralized location. The team no longer has to worry about invoices getting lost in inboxes or mailboxes. New invoices are automatically sent for automated capture where header and line item information is extracted. Then the invoice is automatically routed to the assigned approver. How does this work? Through 名媛直播鈥檚 invoice approver workflow rules. 鈥淲e set up vendor profiles in 名媛直播 with default approvers in place. All invoices go to the appropriate approver saving us a lot of time. Now, when we look at an invoice, it鈥檚 already approved,鈥� says Mehuljic.
For AMC, having electronic approval workflows and tracking was critical. In the 名媛直播 interface, the accounts payable team sees when approvals were sent out and automatic reminders are sent after 3 days of non-response.
鈥淪ince implementing 名媛直播, we save at least a day鈥檚 worth of work each week,鈥� says Mehuljic. AMC no longer keys in invoice data, sends invoices around for approval, tracks emails or sends reminders, or prints and mails paper checks.
Beyond that, 名媛直播 enables the AMC team to approve invoices and process payments remotely. 鈥淥ur team is dispersed across the northeast so it was absolutely necessary that the solution be easily accessible and easy-to-use,鈥� says Mehuljic.
名媛直播 has positively transformed the accounts payable and payment process for Appalachian Mountain Club. 鈥淔rom the support team to our dedicated Customer Success Manager, 名媛直播 is there for us whenever we need them. It鈥檚 great to see a leading company form partnerships with their customers and listen to their feedback,鈥� says Mehuljic. To learn more about 名媛直播 can help with non-profit AP automation, contact our team today!
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