CHICAGO-Paying invoices used to take time that Alliant CU wanted to spend serving members instead.
"All accounts payable invoices were walked around the credit union to collect signatures," explained Heather Lally, senior manager, business process improvement, at the $8-billion CU here. The invoice information was repeatedly entered into multiple systems.
That changed in November 2011 when Alliant converted the manual accounts payable process to an electronic workflow within its enterprise content management system (ECM), Lally said. The ECM and workflow software are provided by OnBase, from Hyland Software.
The workflow has reduced AP processing time by more than 70%, Lally said.
"Now we scan the invoice at the beginning of the AP process into OnBase, and the workflow automatically gathers the approvals necessary to complete the process," she continued. "It's so easy to click the e-mail link that takes the manager directly to the invoice in OnBase to approve or deny payment."
Permissions for viewing and approving invoices are controlled through single sign-on in Microsoft Active Directory.
If the workflow doesn't register an approval in due time, the system automatically escalates the request for approval to the next level, Lally continued. "That reduces late fees from an invoice potentially sitting too long on someone's desk."
Alliant enters the invoice dollar amount, the GL number and the cost center into the ECM system, which feeds the information directly to the CU's core system, she said.
"We enter the invoice information only one time," explained Lally. "When the invoice is fully approved, we run a batch process daily that updates all appropriate systems and runs the check process with minimal manual intervention."
'Huge Time Saver'
By automating signature collection and sharing invoice data between systems, the new accounts payable workflow is a "huge time saver," Lally added.
Alliant believes that it can continue to grow if the organization operates most efficiently-hence the AP workflow project, suggested Lally. "We still have other manual processes. We want to create more efficiencies, increase accuracy and lower our costs through structured processing. This allows us to continue to move quickly to provide great service to our members."
Workflows give Alliant an opportunity to reexamine current processes, she said. "We map out each process and reengineer it according to Six Sigma strategies and how the process could be improved electronically. A workflow programmer builds the process into OnBase, and we test it."
The accounts payable workflow is one of three workflows that Alliant rolled out in November, the first set of many to come, Lally said.
A contract management workflow alerts managers when one of Alliant's 300 third-party contracts is up for renewal. Each point in the process of renewing or initiating a contract is tracked in the workflow, including due diligence, request for proposal and contract negotiation, she said.
An employee lifecycle workflow records each system that each employee has access to, as well as who grants the access. When an employee leaves, the workflow verifies that access is removed for that employee.
