Back in 2008, Vulcan GMS began to see the benefits of paying its suppliers by ACH (Automated Clearing House) as a way to help control costs in the accounting department. The goal was to minimize the time it took to print, sign, stuff and mail checks to our suppliers. The side effect was to save money on the purchase of printed checks, envelopes, stamps and the time it took to file the paperwork.
What we experienced was even better than expected. As it turns out, suppliers like to get paid by ACH because they can see the payments go directly into their bank account the day after we process our payment. No more saying, “Check’s in the mail!” Also the procedure that was set up to process our ACH payment batch was significantly more efficient compared to the old process of printing more than one hundred checks per week.
As a result of these and a few other process improvements, we have been able to keep our accounting department at the same number of people despite increasing our accounts payable vouchers by 41 percent.
This is one of many process improvements initiated at Vulcan GMS in an attempt to keep our costs at the lowest possible levels while continuing to deliver the highest value to our customers.