Charlton Athletic Football Club Case Study

Charlton Athletic is a professional League One football club with a proud history. Founded in 1905, they’ve won multiple titles including the Football League First Division in 1937, and more recently Football League One in 2012. Find out how we helped them put P2P in the back of the net…

 

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ANALYSIS

With over 300 employees Charlton were looking to achieve maximum efficiency within all areas of their business. Due to the amount of time required to enter the invoice data, along with the procedural requirements for authorisation, Charlton were looking to find efficiency gains across PO generation, invoice entry, processing and within the accounts team. It had been estimated that employees spent around 8-10 hours per week manually entering, checking and authorising purchase invoices.

The accounts team were receiving and processing approximately 500 purchase invoices per month, from an average of 100 different suppliers. The current process was very time consuming. Staff had to manually enter the required purchase invoice data into Navision (finance system) and record the relevant data against the correct vendor record before it was passed to a manager for approval. Once authorised and coded, accounts staff would double-check the details before arranging payment to the supplier.

Streamlining processes
In addition to improving their Purchase Invoice process, Charlton wanted to streamline and automate how they generated Purchase Orders, replacing the multiple forms they were currently using. The existing process was a very manual one, with handwritten orders being completed and then matched to the right invoice.

Charlton knew that with the right technology in place, they could improve their processes, increasing accuracy, freeing up employees time to focus on core tasks, and strengthening supplier relationships by paying invoices promptly. Improvements in procurement would also lead to significant savings. 

“Because we were doing everything by hand, it was difficult to get invoices approved quickly and pay our suppliers on time, which was frustrating for us and them.”

Esperance Kabanyana, Bookkeeper & Credit Control, Charlton Athletic Football Club

 

YourDMS SOLUTION

The solution that YourDMS recommended combined Document Management, intelligent Data Capture and Workflow, and integrated directly with the existing Navision accounting software.

The procurement process would be streamlined using a one interactive Requisition form which would allow users from across the business to request goods and services quickly and easily.  

Abbyy Flexicapture would automate the data extraction process for the 500+ invoices the accounts department were receiving every month. The relevant data would be correctly identified and extracted before being automatically posted into Navision.

An Invu Document Management system would allow all purchase orders, invoices and related documents to be stored securely, searched, retrieved and shared with ease.

YourDMS would also undertake onsite training with the accounts team to enable them to fully understand and use the new system. 

The proposed solution would be flexible and scalable supporting future expansion throughout other areas of the Group.

 

The YourDMS Purchase Order Processing solution streamlines the ordering and payment process into 5 simple steps.

 

RESULT

The introduction of an interactive requisition form has simplified the procurement process across the business. The form is pre-populated with information such as approved requesters, approved suppliers, line item coding, and calculates VAT and gross totals automatically, enabling it to be completed quickly and accurately. Once submitted, an approval workflow is triggered, extracting the purchase order number and supplier and filing electronically, and notifying managers to approve or decline a request. Once approved, users are notified so that they can place the order. 

When the accounts team receive the related purchase invoice, data is automatically and quickly captured, recognised, interpreted and processed with little or no intervention. Staff only have to deal with any exceptions. Once captured, the invoices undergo a 3-way matching process. When an invoice matches the receipted amount from an order, and the invoice is fully accounted for and authorised, it is posted to Navision.

All orders and invoices are also stored securely in the Invu Document Management system with full metadata to aid searching, linking and retrieval. Invu creates an electronic audit trail for every document helping Charlton to meet strict compliance regulations.

Time to focus on core tasks
The solution has already reduced the amount of time Charlton spend on manual data entry and processing by 50%. In addition to reducing admin costs, improving accuracy and efficiency, and easing document distribution, the accounts team now have more time to focus on core business tasks. 

With all order, receipting and invoicing data easily accessible, Charlton now have full visibility of all purchasing activities, helping them to gain control of their financial obligations and identify areas where they can make further savings. 

Esperance explains: “The new solution is great, and removing the data entry and checking, has allowed us to be a lot more productive. And with all the documents being stored in Invu, it’s easy to search and find exactly what you are looking for when you need something. It’s a much better way of working.”

“Since we have started using YourDMS’s Invoice Processing solution, we are already saving around half of the time it used to take to process invoices. We have also reduced the time we spend on manual data entry allowing us to focus our attention on core business tasks.”

Chief Financial Officer, Charlton Athletic Football Club

 

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