Welbeck Estates

Centralising Processes

Welbeck Estates opted to implement the Invu Document Management system. Goodwin confirms, “Invu offered two key benefits. Firstly, the powerful search function which enables users to locate data very quickly. Secondly, the integrated workflow enables the company to transform the purchase-to-pay process.”

Traditionally, invoices had been provided by suppliers direct to each department at Welbeck Estates as well as to the sites in Northumberland and Caithness. Processing up to 100,000 invoicing documents a year through a manual, primarily paper based process, the company found it difficult to track the progress of each invoice, and risked both duplicate invoices arriving in the finance system and invoices being misplaced during the approval process.

Welbeck Estates worked with Agilico to centralise invoice processing and exploit the workflow functionality. Invoices are now all received centrally at Welbeck – either electronically to the finance department email, or paper based, where they are immediately scanned and loaded into the Invu Workflow which is directly integrated with the finance system.

Realising Value

The centralised model has reduced the purchase-to-pay process by 50%. It now requires minimal input from the purchase ledger clerk, which has enabled Welbeck Estates to redeploy the clerk to other duties. The company has also significantly reduced the amount of space required for paper storage – a fact that enabled a shift to a smaller office during the recent redevelopment of the commercial space.

Furthermore, information management has been transformed. Thompson says, “If Welbeck Estates receives a query from a supplier or a particular budget holder the information can be retrieved in seconds. In the past that process could take up to ten minutes to locate the correct file and any supporting information.”

Users also appreciate the ability to search for documentation in different ways, either against the document index or the document content. Thompson confirms. “Combined with good change management and a positive information management culture, Invu’s ease of use was key to achieving good user acceptance.”

Surveyors, for example, will routinely use the system to check whether or not a tenant has paid a bill and access relevant associated documentation. The next move will be to consider the value of adding non-finance information, such as property leases.

Integrated Model

Simon Thompson, Financial Accountant, Welbeck Estates Company, explains, “To realise the value of the investment in document management it is essential to avoid rekeying invoice information into the finance system. Using the Invu Workflow and integration to the finance solution, there is no need to rekey.”

In addition to removing the errors that are typically associated with the rekeying process, Invu automatically checks invoices for duplication, using supplier name, invoice number and amount to minimise the risk of duplicated invoices arriving in the finance system.

The implementation has created a far more robust invoice authorisation processes: each invoice is reviewed by three people and it is no longer possible for paper documents to be processed without the correct authorisation. Furthermore, the company has complete visibility of the invoice status in the process at any time. “In the past, when invoices went direct to the office in Caithness, for example, it was difficult to respond to supplier queries or effectively manage the process,” says Thompson.

Having realised the original vision of improved information retrieval within finance and far more effective purchase-to-pay processes, Welbeck Estates is now assessing how best to expand the use of Invu to include other documentation. The system has already been extended to include information on credit control and VAT returns and expanded to 35 users, including non-finance users, such as the property department.