Automating Business Payments Was an Easy Win During the Pandemic for Art Jetter & Company

Automating Business Payments Was an Easy Win During the Pandemic for Art Jetter & Company

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Art Jetter & Company (AJCO), an insurance marketing firm in Omaha, Nebraska, struggled to continue writing paper checks due to their finance team’s transition to a work-from-home environment. To address this challenge and streamline their payments process, AJCO turned to FNBO to implement an automated payments solution. The result was a simplified payments process that could be easily managed from any location.

The Challenge

Prior to COVID-19, AJCO was manually entering bills into an accounting system and paying them by printing and mailing checks each month. “When the pandemic hit, our accounting department began working from home and we suddenly didn’t have access to our check signers,” said Sarah Jones, Controller at AJCO.

Routing physical paper checks to approvers to be signed became a challenge. On top of the already manual approval process, bills had to be entered into the company’s accounting software and then checks would have to physically be printed and mailed each month. This paper-based payments process was not only inefficient for staff, but it led to longer payment cycles and payments were difficult to track. Seeking a way to better manage their payments, AJCO worked with the team at FNBO to identify a solution that would meet their needs.

"We save so much time not printing checks, finding signers and tracking down uncashed checks. We’ve also saved money by not having to use paper checks, ink and postage."

Sarah Jones, Controller, Art Jetter & Company

The Solution

When reviewing AJCO’s payments challenges, FNBO considered converting their check payments to ACH but this would only solve for part of the problem, as bills would still need to be manually entered into their accounting software. FNBO’s automated payments solution PayMaker was then identified as a solution to improve the company’s manual process.

AJCO was able to easily implement PayMaker in a matter of days and once up and running, the company was able to automate their entire payment lifecycle.

“With PayMaker, we were able to set up bill approvals and send out all our bill payments through the system. Not only that, but it connects to our accounting software, so we don’t have to enter payments into two systems,” Jones said.

When using the new solution, a quick scan of an invoice starts the payment process and eliminates the need for paper filing. Once a digital copy of the purchase order or invoice has been entered into the system, it moves automatically to the proper employees for approval. Authorization is easily granted with a click of the mouse.

Additionally, PayMaker continues to track the status of the invoice. As soon as approval is received, PayMaker securely sends an electronic payment to the vendor. These payments are then automatically matched to the correct invoice. No more hunting down original purchase orders or invoices and matching to cashed checks.

Because of PayMaker’s security controls, AJCO can pay vendors with ease knowing payments are made without sharing identifiable information, safeguarding accounts and reducing the risk of payment fraud.

Outcomes

Since implementing PayMaker, AJCO’s payment process is efficient and easy to manage from any location. The company was able to convert over 50 monthly check payments to ACH and is now using PayMaker to collect payments.

 “We save so much time not printing checks, finding signers and tracking down uncashed checks. We’ve also saved money by not having to use paper checks, ink and postage,” Jones said.

Now that the company’s payments process is efficient and automated, the accounting team is able to focus their time on other key aspects of the business that drive growth.

About PayMaker
PayMaker makes it easy to pay and get paid from anywhere. When using PayMaker, businesses can make payments and get paid with speed efficiency and security. Learn more about PayMaker or sign up for a free trial today.