ULS Technology

Webexpenses Case Study: ULS Technology

“Just get online, just do it,” exclaimed ULS Finance Manager Jane Matthews when asked about her recent experience switching to Webexpenses Expense Management and Invoice Processing. “Just get it automated; no need to hold back anymore!”

ULS Technology, an online property services and solutions provider has been in business since 2003. But their business spend management was still manual, paper-based, and time-consuming. To solve a host of issues regarding expenses and accounts payable processes, they implemented Webexpenses Expense Management and Invoice Processing.

Before automation

Before ULS decided to automate their business spend, they had a manual approach to expense management and invoice processing. Traditionally, ULS manually managed cash and credit card expenses.

Jane stated, "It took four days and a lot of Tippex. By the end of it, I was close to tears".

Historically, ULS’s process of claiming expenses and invoices was as follows:

• Printing off physical copies of spreadsheets
• Stapling receipts to spreadsheets
• Signing off spreadsheets by the line manager
• From here, the cost would be reconciled - with the added step of matching POs to invoices for invoice processing

Digital transformation

During the last few years, the world has seen a huge increase in digital transformation. 54% of companies worldwide are prioritising digital transformation (2021). ULS were no different. Webexpenses offered the ability to have everything within one place; with centralised communication and a user-friendly system for both users and admins.

One of Webexpenses' key selling points for ULS was the integration into Sage 50 and Sage 200. Once they knew that the solution was capable of this, they were sold.

Lost receipts

Before moving into an automated process with Webexpenses, ULS’s number one problem? Lost receipts. Their manual process often saw receipts unattached to claim sheets. This created a lot of problems when it came to submitting expenses. With Webexpenses, Jane can now see that receipts have been attached. She stated, "I won't let them submit without a receipt".

Going paperless and remote

The move to AP automation has been perfectly timed for ULS due to the pandemic and the rise of working from home.

Webexpenses Invoice Processing system allowed ULS to go paperless. It has enabled ULS to store and organise invoices in a much more efficient way; especially when dealing with thousands of supplier accounts.

Jane explained, "It needed to happen, and it made the accounts department pretty much paperless. The rest of the business had become paperless and Webexpenses has brought us up to modern times with its efficiency and document management. I'm really glad we did it, especially with the pandemic and the change in the working environment".

Auditing remotely

Another key benefit of Webexpenses' Invoice Processing system for ULS was the practicality of having an audit solution online.

When it came to auditing, prior to using Webexpenses invoice processing, the procedure of having to find individual invoices, photograph them, and then email them to the auditors made a much lengthier task. With Webexpenses, ULS has saved time and increased efficiency by removing previous manual processes including continuous emailing back and forth.

Jane states, "With everything moving online the last few years the accessibility of Webexpenses Invoice Processing and the fact that you can screen share on team calls, find invoices that the auditors are looking for, who approved it and the time it was approved - makes maintaining records and providing information for the audits much easier".

Final thoughts

By automating their business spend, ULS have saved time, money, and become more efficient. Even though ULS weren't looking for AP automation when they joined Webexpenses, the success they had with their expense management solution encouraged them to automate further. With the continuous growth of the company, there was no better time for them to make that jump.

With high-value Invoice’s rising from 100 to 200, they wanted a solution that could document, formalise and have senior management sign off the process.

The combination of expense management and invoice processing for ULS has been a success through and through. Jane says, “It has changed my life and halved the amount of time spent on managing expense claims and invoicing”.