FSN: Integrated Sage accounting and document management improve receivables and cash flow by £200,000

Integrated Sage accounting and document management improve receivables and cash flow by £200,000

6th November 2006
M Barnwell Services Ltd, a major distributor of sealing products, has improved cash flow by £200,000 and enhanced company-wide efficiency by implementing document management systems from Version One These systems, which are tightly integrated into M Barnwell's Sage Line 500 accounting package, are enabling the electronic design, delivery and storage of statements, purchase orders and invoices.

Cost savings and more effective use of staff time were the driving forces behind M Barnwell's implementation of Version One's document management systems. Tim Stanley, Financial Controller from M Barnwell says, "We needed to save money and also to make our staff more effective. Too much staff time was spent paper chasing which doesn't add value and so we wanted to free them up to do more productive and rewarding tasks like chasing payment. After assessing the different document management systems on the market, we realised that Version One's solutions were perfect for our needs. Not only are they easy to use and extremely flexible, they are also tightly integrated into our Sage system which is key."

With the new systems in place, M Barnwell produces statements, purchase orders, invoices and pro-forma invoices directly from the desktop. These documents are then delivered by automated fax and mail with just a 'click of the mouse' and at the same time, copy sales invoices and purchase orders are automatically stored in the electronic archive.

Now, instead of posting-out its financial documents, M Barnwell electronically faxes and emails them, impacting cash flow and making savings of both staff time and money. Stanley says, "With Version One's systems, we can send out statements immediately at month-end and with staff freed-up to chase debt far sooner, debtor days have been reduced by 5 days, improving cash flow by an incredible £200,000."

Stanley continues, "We produce over 1000 statements a month which used to take staff 4 hours to print out and a further 2 days to fold and put in envelopes. Now, emailed statements are delivered within minutes and faxed statements are automatically sent overnight, saving nearly 20 hours of staff time every month. When 10,000 purchase orders and 50,000 sales invoices every year are also taken into account, accumulatively we're saving huge amounts of staff time. We're also cutting costs by over £15,000 per year by dramatically reducing pre-printed stationery, envelopes and postage charges."

Purchasing efficiency has also dramatically improved. Within minutes of a purchase order being put on the system, it is in the supplier's email inbox or on their fax machine - all without the purchase requisitioner leaving their workstation.

Similarly, as copy invoices and purchase orders can be retrieved by drilling down into the Sage Line 500 system, authorised staff across the organisation can quickly view and electronically send these documents directly from the desktop. This replaces the need to search for copy invoices and purchase invoices in filing cabinets, photocopy them and mail them out to customers and suppliers.

"We are now more productive and efficient that ever before", says Stanley . "By having invoices and purchase orders immediately to hand, we can quickly resolve customer and supplier queries. Our credit control processes have also markedly improved and together with the savings in staff time, stationery and postage costs, our cash flow and bottom line are better than ever!"

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