Infrastructure Experts Improve Accounts Payable Processes

Mears, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quanta Services, is an industry-leading energy infrastructure solutions provider offering engineering, construction, and maintenance services to the oil and natural gas, electric transmission and distribution, telecommunications, and wastewater industries.

Mears began as a family company committed to delivering unparalleled services to clients, customers, and shared communities. And they have held to their roots by building the energy infrastructure that keeps America energized and connected.

CHALLENGES AND GOALS

Mears receives over 30,000 vendor invoices per month through mail or email. Such large numbers meant they needed an efficient and precise processing system. They previously utilized accounts payable processing as part of a shared service from their parent company. Then, they decided to implement Tungsten Automation's (formerly Kofax) TotalAgility for their organization to have full access to the system and align their processes for updates and business requirements.

A common challenge was that invoices were getting lost in the system, which meant vendors weren’t getting paid. Accounting clerks would have to take dreaded calls from vendors several months past due about outstanding payments. This became a poor vendor relations issue and a loss in productivity.

Between time spent on the phone and the research required to rectify the issue, clerks were getting distracted from the current responsibilities of handling tasks from previous months. They would spend a significant amount of time searching through an entire batch to find the invoices that didn’t get processed, make sure it was put into the accounting process manually, and see to it that the payment was submitted, all while having to put current tasks on hold.

There were other environmental challenges since the servers were hosted by their parent company and they did not have full visibility and access to the Kofax environment to troubleshoot issues.

SOLUTION and RESULTS

After realizing the time, funds, and relationships were impacted, Mears made the business decision to re-implement TotalAgility and bring it into their own environment. This gave the organization full access to the system and the opportunity to align its processes for updates and business requirements.

The Mears team selected Genus Technologies to set up the new TotalAgility platform and assist with migrating and building the accounts payable automation processes within their new system. Since TotalAgility has been re-implemented, the issue of lost invoices has been eliminated, saving a significant amount of staff labor, assuring timely payment to vendors, and overall improving morale.

FIND THE RIGHT PARTNER

Finding the right consultants for migrating and implementing the accounts payable process was essential to Mears and the project’s success. They needed a consulting partner who could understand their business processes, configure and improve workflows, work well with their team, and be certified experts with TotalAgility.

“We’re pretty happy with Genus, and the consultants we worked with were all of exceptional quality,” said Sri Iyer, Director of IT. "We would 100% recommend Genus and TotalAgility to other organizations.”

"We're pretty happy with Genus, and the consultants we worked with were all of exceptional quality."
– Sri Iyer, Director of IT, Mears

Leveraging the Platform to Improve Processes

Not only has TotalAgility transformed its Accounts Payable department, but Mears also continues to find new ways to expand the use of intelligent automation across the enterprise. They have set up development, quality assurance (QA), and production systems to stage the implementation of future application changes. This goes beyond what the organization thought initially possible and helps them capitalize on their critical investment.

SUMMARY

Mears, a leading energy infrastructure solutions provider, faced challenges with its accounts payable processing, receiving over 30,000 invoices monthly, resulting in lost invoices and poor vendor relations. They decided to re-implement Tungsten Automation's TotalAgility to gain full control of the system and streamline their processes. Partnering with Genus Technologies, they successfully eliminated lost invoices, saving time and ensuring timely payments to vendors.

Choosing the right consultants was crucial to the project's success, and Mears was highly satisfied with Genus and the quality of their consultants. TotalAgility not only improved their Accounts Payable department but also enabled Mears to explore new ways of leveraging intelligent automation across the enterprise, expanding its capabilities beyond initial expectations. This investment has proven to be a valuable asset for Mears, contributing to improved efficiency and productivity.

In summary, Mears overcame its accounts payable challenges by re-implementing TotalAgility with Genus Technologies, eliminating lost invoices, improving vendor relations, and discovering new opportunities for automation within the organization.