South East Water Limited is a State owned company providing water and sewerage services to 1.3 million customers in the south east of Melbourne. South East Water’s achievements have been recognised by a number of business excellence awards, particularly the Australian Quality Council Gold Award for Business Excellence. This award focuses on best practice across key business areas.
In line with improving business processes, South East Water sought ways to automate their Accounts Payable process to reduce the manual effort involved and gain control over the entire payment cycle.
Some of the challenges that faced South East Water were that invoices were not tracked, so they could be lost or misplaced; invoices were manually distributed for sign-off, processing and filing; invoices were difficult to retrieve – all of which could lead to unhappy vendors and inefficient practices.
The solution for South East Water was to implement Expense Cycle Management (ECM) from AXS-One®. ECM integrates workflow and imaging technologies to streamline the invoice processing and approval process so that every stage of the payment cycle, from invoice receipt through to payment and beyond, is completely managed. ECM links the image of the physical invoice to the electronic voucher within the Accounts Payable module, which enables all users of the financials modules to inquire on any supplier transaction and view the image online.
Going live in July 2003, tangible benefits already being realised include time savings for staff, better information access, improved Accounts Payable flow, and superior invoice tracking.
“ECM has enabled invoices to be tracked from the mail room through to the payment and then to be accessed with ease, online, for later inquiry,” said Jeff Olle, Systems Accountant, South East Water. “This improves customer service to our vendors, increases staff productivity and provides clarity in determining the expenses incurred for particular projects.”
For further information contact Gilly Hen-Boisen at AXS-One on 1300 887 663 or contactus@axsone.com.au
* Copy supplied by AXS-One Pty Ltd
