How Curtin Heritage Living used AP Automation to enhance their Care offering
The Vision Of Curtin Heritage Living
Curtin Heritage Living is a unique not-for-profit provider of residential care and retirement living services in Western Australia. For over 45 years, they have been dedicated to serving seniors and are committed to redefining the sector.
"Our goal is to create exceptional experiences for individuals, welcoming them into our thoughtfully designed environments. We strive to create contemporary, modern, and comfortable spaces that surpass traditional care expectations. We invest significant resources in crafting beautiful gardens and furnishing our facilities, and we aim to redefine the perception of care and provide a truly remarkable atmosphere."
- David Cox, Managing Director, Curtin Heritage Living
The Challenge
Heritage Living depends on fixed funding by the government and that it usually doesn’t cover finance or admin costs. With small margins, every penny of spend must be wisely allocated. Since the care industry is so highly regulated, record keeping is essential. For Heritage Living, the challenge is that there are thousands of invoices, often on paper or in email threads.
The process of manually scanning, entering and filing them was once incredibly laborious, error ridden, prone to delay and paper intensive. This manual work wasn't even providing the finance department with the data needed to drive the business forward.
Heritage Living rack up over $100,000 a year in costs for just one industry specific product. Without invoice automation, they had limited visibility over exactly where this resource was going or how it could be better managed. The absence of real-time data resulted in misinformed decision-making, as the team then lacked insight into company spending trends and patterns.
Manual processes were just so time-consuming that reception staff were supporting the AP function by manually entering invoice data. Due to the previously mentioned funding constraints, Heritage Living couldn’t simply hire more AP staff to ease the workload. With this in mind, they recognised that “innovation and creativity" would be required to address financial constraints, improve operational efficiency, and enhance the working environment for their stretched staff.
"We needed a solution that was fast, accessible, cost-effective, and could seamlessly integrate into our existing business. Speed and efficiency were crucial, and Lightyear offered everything we were looking for."
- David Cox, Managing Director, Curtin Heritage Living
Lightyear became the chosen AP solution as the finance department needed a system that was fast, accessible, and cost-effective. Since they couldn't afford to hire additional AP staff, finding an efficient, easy to use solution was essential.
Lightyear's ability to integrate seamlessly with Heritage Living’s existing finance software was ideal. The compatibility allowed the team to implement quickly and without disruption, which was vital as they couldn't afford to divert staff from day-to-day operations for too long. David notes that “researching the solutions out there took longer than the actual implementation, which only took about two weeks.”
The Results
"Lightyear changed the way we manage food and activities. Now, we can dive into specific details, track every bite served, and address the diverse needs of our residents with precision and efficiency. Lightyear is ushering in a new era of streamlined operations and informed decision-making."
- David Cox, Managing Director, Curtin Heritage Living
Heritage Living has seen remarkable changes since adopting Lightyear.
The business is currently navigating a $165,000,000 redevelopment project, which equates to a lot of invoices. Without Lightyear, the finance team would be under significant pressure to keep up with the demands of growth. Heritage Living’s residential home care business has also doubled in the past three years, which would normally increase workload for the accounts team. However, thanks to Lightyear, David shares that “we’ve not actually expanded our accounts team who can manage the workload” but still remain busy.
Automation technology has not only freed the finance team from tedious labour, but also allowed the reception staff to focus on their client-facing role and to contribute further to the Curtin Heritage Living vision.
Significant Cost Savings And Real-Time Data
"We've actually managed to cut down on about 50% of the time we used to dedicate to AP tasks. This boost in efficiency has freed up our schedule significantly, allowing us to allocate our time more effectively. It has allowed us to see the true potential of many of the roles within our organisation."
- David Cox, Managing Director, Curtin Heritage Living
AP automation led to notable cost reductions. By reducing manual work, fewer resources are now needed to complete simple but laborious financial processes. This saves time and reduces overhead. With streamlined invoicing and purchase order processing, the finance team can allocate the money saved to serve the organisation's wider needs, such as additional nurses and frontline staff being brought in to support residents who really need them.
AP automation provides more than just time savings and error reduction. It provides valuable analytics, allowing the finance department to “drill down into specific details on invoices” that drive informed decisions and the power to negotiate better terms with suppliers.
Faster Payment Cycles
Lightyear's technology extracts line item data with 100% accuracy in seconds, reducing manual data entry and eliminating the need for human intervention. According to David, “We were worried if we would actually save time or whether we would be going in and manually correcting data. However, we very rarely have any input on any invoice now.” This has drastically reduced invoice processing time from days to minutes. Faster payment cycles mean improved cash flow and supplier relationships.
Improved Security And Regulation
Now, the invoice approval process for Heritage Living is faster and more rigorous. Because everything is tracked in Lightyear, auditors can view the process from start to finish. David states that “this has been super valuable for us because we're in a highly regulated environment. When it comes to audit time, we just hand over a password for Lightyear and that’s it.”
The finance department's audit timeline has dramatically reduced, with audits completing in July rather than October.
In terms of regulations, operations are now more secure than ever before. Rather than paper sitting on a desk, financial data is secure in the cloud. Supplier bank details are checked and updated regularly by Lightyear, meaning no incorrect payments are made.
In Conclusion
Curtin Heritage Living experienced a significant shift in its financial operations by leveraging AP automation solutions. The success of AP automation is a testament to the potential impact of technology in the care industry. By leveraging AP automation, Curtin Heritage Living has enhanced financial stability, improved operational efficiency, and continued to provide residential care that goes above and beyond the industry standard.
"The faster that care providers get away from paper invoices, the better for them and for their clients. It's amazing how quickly people actually jump onto new technology when they realise it's saving them time. So I wouldn't be scared about going in and launching into something that looks new and looks foreign. It’s the sort of thing that, really quickly, you can actually get used to."
- David Cox, Managing Director, Curtin Heritage Living
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