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About Vertical Bridge
Vertical Bridge is the largest private owner and operator of communications infrastructure and locations in the United States. The company owns, operates and master leases over 266,000 tower, rooftop, billboard, utility attachment and other site locations in support of wireless network deployments.
Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Vertical Bridge was founded in 2014 by key executives from Digital Bridge Holdings, LLC and former senior officers of Global Tower Partners. The senior management team at Vertical Bridge has over 200 years of collective experience in tower infrastructure and related sectors.
We spoke to Vidette Pires, the Senior Vice President of Information Technology at Vertical Bridge about their experience with CoreIntegrator Workflow for Enterprise.
The Problem: AP Processing Grew Organically
Like many AP departments, rather than being designed around efficiency and best practices, Vertical Bridge’s AP department had simply grown organically over several years. Invoices would come in and each paper invoice would be manually entered into their Microsoft Dynamics system and then pushed through a manual approval process.
But as Vertical Bridge experienced significant growth, its AP department’s resources were outstripped by the sheer volume of vendors, invoices and approvers involved in their AP process.
According to Pires, “Taking the time to figure out who an invoice was for, what approvals were needed for each invoice and then getting it processed was confusing and, at times, chaotic. AP staff were wasting a lot of time manually cranking invoices through a haphazard paper-based system.”
And the situation wasn’t much better for management staff who approved invoices. “Once a month, a huge stack of invoices would land on each invoice approver’s desk. These executives and managers had to figure out who each invoice was coming from and then go into their emails to make sure each was correct. Then they would initial each paper invoice with an ink pen and take the stack of paper back to AP where each invoice would be manually entered into our Microsoft Dynamics system as ready to pay,” said Pires.
Vertical Bridge’s management knew they had a problem.
They knew that simple repetitive processes should not take so much time and effort.
And they knew that if they didn’t solve the problem quickly, they would need additional manpower to keep from falling further behind in their invoice processing.
Some False Starts
Vertical Bridge’s first move was to bring in a major Accounts Payable automation solution provider. They assumed that going with a big name was the safest approach.
But after six months of frustration they realized that it just wasn’t a good fit. The company was attempting to provide a one-size-fits-all solution to Vertical Bridge’s unique AP process.
And, worse, that company wasn’t taking the time to listen to and understand Vertical Bridge’s specific needs and requirements.
So Vertical Bridge looked in the complete opposite direction: a completely custom-built solution built into their Microsoft Dynamics system that would meet their specific process needs. But, as Pires put it, “We are in the tower business. We don’t want to be in the software development business!”
The Solution: Partner with CoreIntegrator to Implement AP Best Practices, Including Automation
That’s when Pires called CoreIntegrator. And found not just a solution, but a partner.
According to Pires, “Rather than trying to fit our process into their specific technology solution as other companies had tried, the CoreIntegrator team sat with us and took the time to understand our process. They listened as we explained the way our process had evolved and took the time to understand our frustration.”
“And then something amazing happened: CoreIntegrator brought workflow best practices to the table,” she continued. “They shared the AP workflow best practices that they have learned from 20 years of experience. Not just around their workflow automation solution, but for the entire AP process from procure to pay. Our accounting, IT and business units learned a lot from that.”
“It was only after that knowledge sharing process was complete that CoreIntegrator described how their fully customizable solution could help us implement streamlined best practices. And unlike other AP software vendors, CoreIntegrator was willing to specifically customize their solution to our business process needs,” she said.
“They tailored an AP automation system for us instead of trying to force us to fit into a one size fits all package.”
CoreIntegrator Workflow for Enterprise Just Works
According to Pires, “The best thing about our CoreIntegrator solution is that it just works. Vertical Bridge continues to grow. And yet with CoreIntegrator Workflow for Enterprise we can process more invoices and scale the business without adding resources. In fact, we now have our AP personnel spend time on vendor relationship development – that’s how much time CoreIntegrator is saving us in our AP processing.”
“And while we used to sometimes fall 2 to 3 months behind in processing invoices leading to late fees, we are now on-time and can even qualify for early payment discounts.” “Our invoice approvers absolutely love the ability to review and approve invoices with a single click – on any device from anywhere in the world. CoreIntegrator saves our busy executives and managers an hour a day in reviewing invoices.” “Plus, we have total insight into invoice status.”
“And, of course, paper and filing cabinets no longer clutter our desks and storage rooms. CoreIntegrator stores all of our invoices digitally making them simple to search and find.”
Asked about her favorite aspect of Vertical Bridge’s CoreIntegrator solution Pires replied: “My personal favorite feature of CoreIntegrator is Smart AP robotic process automation. I love that CoreIntegrator memorizes how an invoice was processed previously. Once we enter an invoice once, the system just knows how to do it the second time. It knows exactly what GL code it needs to go into. Smart AP learns how to automatically process repetitive invoices. It’s really amazing.”
Conclusion – Partnering for Growth
At CoreIntegrator we are proud to be Vertical Bridge’s partner in growth.
Using industry best practices, we simplify and optimize everyday administrative tasks through process automation. Our goal is to make the lives of our customers' employees easier.
That's why we build a product that works perfectly within company's process and structure to deliver systems that meet the actual needs of each organization.
Find out how much time and money we can save your company or organization!