Mears consolidates Bacs payment data to reduce manual input, speed-up transaction processing and improve visibility across multiple UK sites
London UK, 14th July 2009: One of the UK’s leading social housing repairs and maintenance providers Mears Group has replaced its existing Bacstel-IP software with Bacsactive-IP Enterprise from Accountis Europe Ltd, a Fundtech company (NASDAQ: FNDT) and leading global provider of secure financial document exchange and payment systems.
Bacsactive-IP Enterprise with Workflow Module enables Mears to automatically collect payment data from multiple finance packages and create Bacs submission files, a process that was previously done manually. Authorised Mears users from any UK office can now access this payment data securely via a user-friendly Bacsactive-IP website to view, seal, sign and send payment files to Bacs. Payments made by Bacs include payroll, subcontractor payments and large key suppliers.
Ben Westran, Financial Controller at Mears said “Due to a period of rapid growth, including a number of acquisitions, we operated many disparate Bacs packages. Processing data manually in each system was time consuming and expensive. Bacsactive-IP provided a single cost-effective alternative. It sits alongside the finance systems we already have, automatically collects the data, and then presents it online for quick and easy processing.”
The Bacsactive-IP Workflow module was customised to meet Mears’ payment processes requirements, thus enabling them to introduce further efficiency savings. For example, authorised users at various stages of the approval process are automatically notified by email that a new file is ready for viewing, thus speeding up the submission process significantly.
“The flexibility of the Workflow module really made Bacsactive-IP stand out from its competitors” said Ben Westran. “Bacsactive-IP fitted into our existing infrastructure seamlessly and with minimum disruption. We worked with the Accountis development team to map out our complex business processes and they delivered an easy to use front-end solution.”
For further automation Mears also used the Account Validate module. This module eliminates errors when preparing payment data by cross-checking bank account details with the latest industry databases. Account Validate was set-up to check Mears account databases automatically overnight so that any errors were highlighted each morning. This process saves valuable time as it reduces the likelihood of payments being rejected by Bacs and slowing down the submission process.
Ifor Williams, Sales Director at Accountis said, “Mears is a technically innovative organisation and we have enjoyed working with them. Bacsactive-IP is a powerful web-based system that enables organisations to increase productivity and lower costs. This project has highlighted many of its key benefits, including seamless integration, customisable workflow and multi-site access.”
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