Hull College to Automate Authorisation of 30,000 Invoices Each Year with Version One's Technology

February 2008

18th February 2008 - Hull College - one of the largest colleges in the UK - is automating its purchase invoice approval processes with Version One's document management and imaging technology (www.versionone.co.uk).

With Version One's software tightly integrated into Hull College's Distinction QL accounting system, invoice approvers will be automatically notified when there's a purchase invoice for their authorisation. They will then be able to view the scanned invoice via an Internet browser directly from their PC and accept, reject or query it within seconds. In time, Hull College will roll-out Version One's technology to other areas of the finance department and will also look to incorporate it for electronically storing and circulating non-finance documents, including personnel and student records.

Richard Hudson, Hull College Procurement Manager says, "Currently, our purchase invoice approval processes are far too time consuming and paper-dependent. Up to 30,000 purchase invoices are posted around the college for approval every year. With hundreds of authorisers based at ten college locations and with many also working from home, the approval process is very complex."

Hudson continues, "By its very nature, paper-based invoice approval is prone to lost and mislaid documents. Not knowing exactly where an invoice is and what, if anything is being done with it, makes managing supplier payments more time consuming and costly."

By automating invoice approval it will become virtually impossible to 'lose' invoices and the finance team will know exactly where invoices are in the approval chain. Using an i160 Kodak scanner and Version One's software, all invoices arriving into Hull College will be scanned centrally and then instantly stored in the Version One archive (accessible via Version One's web browser or by drilling down through Distinction QL).

Hull also wants to make the practices and processes it uses as sustainable as possible. The electronic archive minimises any requirements to photocopy invoices. This provides a win/win in reducing both its carbon footprint and costs.

The authorisation software will automatically notify the relevant approvers that there is an invoice requiring their attention. Once an authoriser has approved, rejected or queried the invoice, depending upon the rules built-into the system, it will either be forwarded to the next approver in the chain or returned to the finance department where it will be paid or disputed.

Hudson says, "Version One's software will dramatically streamline purchase invoice approval and ultimately cut costs. It will also provide us with far greater control over how and when we pay suppliers."

Hudson added, "By electronically storing all our purchase invoices, we will also be able to free-up storage space and quickly and easily access invoices from the desktop, helping to resolve queries in a timelier manner. When we roll-out the software to other parts of the finance department and to other areas of the business, we look forward to even greater efficiency improvements and increased time and cost savings."

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