Receipt Bank Training
It can be quite daunting starting a new job and changing things from day one. Along with our accountants we had identified some weaknesses in the processes around purchasing that we wanted to tighten. Our accountants suggested using Receipt Bank which they used with other clients and as soon as I saw how it worked I knew it was a great fit. With a background in purchasing I could see improvements could be made but didn’t want to spend all of my time doing data entry so Receipt Bank was ideal for us.
Gemma Regan, Airbourne Colours Ltd – www.airbournecolours.com
Business Name: Airbourne Ltd
Commencement Date: March 2018
Nature of Job: Setup and configure the integration of receipt bank and xero, automatically push supplier invoices and receipts into xero, train staff on the systems and procedures.
Systems Used: Xero and Receipt Bank
- Multiple sites so invoices being sent to different addresses
- Missing purchase invoices and credit card receipts
- Manual processing of purchase invoicing in Xero
- Bookkeeping resource being reduced and work being absorbed into other position
- Lack of internal controls and segregation of duties
- Time consuming supplier payment run process
Referral from accountant who understood the needs of the business but wanted external expertise to setup and train client. Upon review of the company’s current purchase invoicing process it was obvious that the current systems would not cope with reducing the internal bookkeeping resource and were already error prone. This was highlighted as a key area to discuss with the client. At the meeting, this issue was discussed, including the fact that the company needed to change processes and systems to ensure a smooth transition for new the member of staff. Upsetting suppliers could result in deliveries being delayed.
To assist the company in addressing these key issues, we worked alongside the client and their accountants to understand the key processes and responsibilities in place. These sessions helped to help identify whether the objectives and systems were aligned. The key outcomes of these sessions were:
- There was a need for easy, quick access to the purchase invoices and they needed to be centrally located regardless of delivery address
- Manual bank payments needed to be completed by more than one person to avoid errors and omissions
- Month end supplier payment run needed to automated so there were no keying errors when making payments
- There was a need to remove as much of the labour intensive work as possible to enable the work to be absorbed into another role
- For quality control purposes all data in relation to a purchase i.e. purchase order, delivery note and invoice needed to be stored together
Because of these issues, we then completed thorough research of the options available. As the client was using Xero there were only a few options available which made this a relatively simple job. Client was trained on how to use Receipt Bank and how to get the most from batch payment files in Xero.
- Work has been absorbed into new position without the requirement to replace the bookkeeper
- Payment errors have been reduced as new payment process implemented
- Upgrade to online banking with segregation of authority and processing
- Manual data entry removed from the purchase invoice entry process
- Bank Reconciliation automation enabling accurate, fast purchase payment allocation. Batch payment functionality means only one payment to allocate and not every supplier paid
- Written process documents provided so job can be covered when sickness and holiday occur
