Hull College today announced it has taken on new document management software and imaging technology to automate the approvals process for 30,000 invoices each year.
The college, which as one of the largest colleges in the UK had approximately 25,000 part-time and over 5,000 full-time learners during the last academic year, also has plans to extend the new software's functionality to managing other areas of its document-based processes.
Richard Hudson, Hull College's procurement manager, said: "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."
Using a Kodak scanner and the new software from provider Version One, all invoices arriving into Hull College will be scanned centrally and stored in an archive, which will be accessible via the software's built-in web browser or through Hull's existing accounting system.
The new software will integrate into Hull College's accounting system, enabling invoice approvers to 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 to accept, reject or query it.
Hudson added: "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."
The authorisation software will automatically notify the relevant approvers that there is an invoice requiring their attention. Once approved, rejected or queried, the invoice will either be forwarded onto the next authoriser or returned to the finance department where it will be paid or disputed, depending upon the rules built-into the system.
"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," said Hudson.
And once the e-invoicing process roll out is complete, the college also plans to use the software in other areas of the finance department and will also look to incorporate it for electronically storing and circulating non-finance related documents, including personnel and student records.
He 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."
