About BrightView Health
BrightView Health provides outpatient medication-assisted treatment in Ohio and Kentucky to help patients access effective treatment and support without uprooting their entire life or livelihood. Above all else, BrightView believes that anyone can achieve lifelong recovery with the help of its outpatient programs.
BrightView is committed to delivering effective addiction treatment that gives patients a chance to recover in a place where they are welcomed, encouraged, and respected. The company achieves this vision by personalizing its treatment programs to each individual patient and treating both the disease of addiction and the person suffering from it.
A Manual AP Process Threatens Business Growth
BrightView Health has experienced significant growth, expanding from four treatment centers to more than 30 in just two years. This impressive growth is perfectly aligned with BrightView鈥檚 corporate goal, which is to help as many patients as possible. Yet, as is usually the case, the company has experienced a few growing pains along the way, including with its finance and accounts payable processes.
When Controller Matt Santell joined BrightView two years ago, he redesigned the accounting structure from the ground up to support the company鈥檚 rapid growth. His first priority was to move the company鈥檚 ERP system to the cloud by implementing Sage Intacct. With that solid financial backbone in place, Santell next set his sights on improving BrightView鈥檚 AP process.
鈥淲hen I joined BrightView, our AP process was completely manual,鈥� Santell explained. 鈥淲e relied on a batch process where one employee manually entered invoice data, compiled 10-30 invoices into a single PDF, and then updated a spreadsheet to help find a specific invoice in those huge files.鈥�
At that time, approximately 65-80% of BrightView鈥檚 invoices were still being delivered by mail. This meant someone had to scan them and manually enter line-level detail into the accounting system, an effort that Santell estimated took between five and seven minutes per invoice. The approval process was challenging, too. Invoices were emailed to managers at various centers, which was timing consuming and could lead to delays or missed payments.
While BrightView was to process approximately 3,000 invoices a year using its manual AP process, the company鈥檚 growth had increased this number to more than 10,000鈥攁n unsustainable volume going forward. 鈥淚n order to scale the business, I knew we needed an automated AP solution,鈥� said Santell.
鈥淭hanks to the efficiency gained by using 91快活林, I can process approximately 150 invoices per day. 91快活林 is also very good at catching duplicate information, which saves me time and eliminates headaches.鈥�
-Erik Arwood, Accounts Payable Accountant
The Decision to Go with 91快活林 Pays Off
BrightView selected 91快活林, in part because of Santell鈥檚 past experience with it. What really impressed him was 91快活林鈥檚 overall ease of use and how simple it would be for field-based doctors, nurses, operations directors, and other employees to approve invoices. 91快活林鈥檚 proven integration with Sage Intacct was the final benefit that sealed the deal.
Now with 91快活林, the team has embraced a more automated approach to invoice management and approvals. 91快活林鈥檚 invoice capture capability uses optical character recognition (OCR) in conjunction with human review to accurately capture important data from each invoice, even those with many different line items. Erik Arwood, BrightView鈥檚 Accounts Payable Accountant, has been impressed with this feature鈥攁nd the benefits it has delivered. 鈥淚t has been astonishing to see just how accurate 91快活林 is at capturing the right data,鈥� he said.
Together, 91快活林鈥檚 invoice capture and AP automation functionality helped Arwood significantly reduce the time he used to spend on quality assurance鈥攁nd more time on the invoices themselves. 鈥淭hanks to the efficiency gained by using 91快活林, I can process approximately 150 invoices per day,鈥� he said. 鈥�91快活林 is also very good at catching duplicate information, which saves me time and eliminates headaches from dealing with issues.鈥�
A Payables Process Measured in Minutes
With 91快活林, BrightView鈥檚 entire AP process is much faster鈥斺�渕ere minutes,鈥� according to Santell. 鈥淎ll of the invoice data is one place, so we don鈥檛 have to look for it anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have a standing meeting with the CFO to review each week鈥檚 payables. It鈥檚 so easy to review and this new approach has improved our ability to do long-term planning.鈥�
Not only does this help the speed of each week鈥檚 AP run and improve employees鈥� productivity, but it has also streamlined the effort related to BrightView鈥檚 audits. 鈥淲e used 91快活林 to prepare for our most recent audit and it probably only took 20-30 minutes,鈥� said Santell. 鈥淭his would have taken us several hours in the past.鈥�
鈥淲e used 91快活林 to prepare for our most recent audit and it probably only took 20-30 minutes. This would have taken us several hours in the past.鈥�
-Matt Santell, Controller
SilverPay Becomes More than a Silver Lining
A key component of BrightView鈥檚 payment mix is SilverPay, 91快活林鈥檚 virtual card payment option. Using SilverPay, BrightView earns cash-back rebates for making virtual card payments. 鈥淲e were making these payments anyway, so the fact that 91快活林 helps us generate a new revenue stream from them is a huge win. It鈥檚 been great for the accounting team to show that we鈥檙e not just a cost center鈥攏ow we鈥檙e able to contribute to the company鈥檚 financial success, too.鈥�
Another benefit of SilverPay now has much better control over its outgoing cash. Santell is able precisely time payments to hold onto cash as long as possible while still paying suppliers within their terms. In fact, Santell notes that many suppliers have been willing to accept the virtual card option in order to get paid faster.
A Stable Solution for Company Growth
While 91快活林 has helped save time, increase efficiency, and even generate new revenues, perhaps its biggest benefit is how it has supported BrightView鈥檚 growth. 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown from four centers to more than 30 and from 3,000 invoices a year to more than 10,000鈥攁ll in just two short years and without growing our team,鈥� said Santell. 鈥淭here is no chance that we could do all of this without 91快活林.鈥�
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