Electronic Document Management
Case Studies:
Managing Invoice Approvals
Since 1916, Danis Building Construction, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, has been privileged to manage construction of some of the most distinguished and high-profile commercial buildings and industrial projects in the tri-state region including Central Ohio, Southwest Ohio, Southeast Indiana, Northern Kentucky and Northeast Florida. Danis is a versatile company offering a wide array of services including construction management, design/build, & general construction. With its steady growth, Danis experienced increasing “pain” in the Accounts Payable area, particularly with managing the invoice approval to pay process. Invoices were previously received in the central office and sent out to the job sites for approval. However, at times the invoices were lost, or simply not approved in a timely fashion. Vendors would call for payment information, and Danis had limited ability to respond with concise information.
In 2002, Danis turned to docuVision for help. Jim Milam and Jeff Bergman analyzed the needs, which were clearly outlined by CFO Jim Fuller and Controller John Melaszus. In response, docuVision proposed the Documentum ApplicationXtender suite of products, and customized the applications to fit Danis’ requirements.
Approximately 40 construction project managers now electronically approve subcontractor and vendor invoices in the field. All invoices are scanned upon receipt in the central office, and a few pertinent indexes are applied, including the job number. The Ascent Capture scanning software uses this number to access the AS/400 applications to bring back the Project Manager & Project superintendent IDs as additional automatic indexes. This drives the access by the Project Managers in the field, and insures that they are looking at only the open invoices that pertain to their jobs. They can approve as invoiced, partially approve, or “route” the invoice to the project superintendent for consultation. When approved, the invoices are immediately available to accounting for inclusion in the payment process.
According to John Melaszus, “vendor and subcontractor relations have vastly improved.” Not only can Danis personnel immediately access any invoice that has been received, they can also relay the exact status of the invoice in the approval and payment process. In addition, revenue & cash flow are better managed as Danis is able to bill percentage of completion jobs in a more timely fashion after receipt of subcontractor invoices. The docuVision solution, centered around Documentum ApplicationXtender and Kofax Ascent Capture, has permanently improved this vital function in the construction accounting area. Danis has now moved on to other “paper-burdened” areas of the business, after seeing the ROI of this vital application.