How Vanilla Blue Gained AP Control and Saved $115,000 Doing It
Vanilla Blue is a corporate catering and events provider serving businesses across Sydney. The business has spent 18 years building a reputation for high-quality, in-house-prepared catering — delivering 19,000 events and feeding more than 800,000 guests along the way. Delivering across 15 locations, 6 days a week, with a team of professional chefs and an extensive menu, they accommodate every dietary need. Vanilla Blue's promise is simple: They cater, you shine.
However, when Charmaine Chalmers joined as Financial Controller, she inherited a manual AP process that was costing the business far more than anyone realised. In addition, the business lacked internal controls, further straining the finance team. To speed up AP tasks and provide the business with the financial control it needed, Vanilla Blue turned to Lightyear.
Manual Processes, Mounting Errors, and Exposure to Fraud
Before Lightyear, Vanilla Blue's AP process was entirely manual. A dedicated data entry clerk was spending hours each week entering invoices into MYOB AccountRight, but still falling behind.
“Before Lightyear, everything was manual. When I joined, we had one person spending around 35 hours a week solely inputting invoices in our accounting software.” explained Charmaine.
Jonathan Rowley, the Managing Director, further added, “We also had high staff turnover, and even though some roles were meant to be 24 hours a week, they were stretching to 38. There just wasn’t enough time, and the accuracy wasn’t there.”
The problems ran deeper than slow processing. Without a structured approval workflow, invoices were being entered with incorrect due dates and misallocated GL codes.
“We needed controls in place to properly allocate food costs across different areas and to ensure teams could sign off on invoices, but the volume of invoices was overwhelming. I remember looking at it, thinking, how do we even know these goods were delivered?”
The lack of controls had created serious exposure for Vanilla Blue. They had previously experienced internal fraud, with manipulated supplier bank details and the generation of fake invoices under real supplier names.
“With around 1,300 invoices a month, you’re not scrutinising every single one. That lack of visibility and control exposed the business to fraudulent activity and financial losses,” says Jonathan.
Vanilla Blue selected Lightyear after evaluating a few automation platforms, choosing it for its deep familiarity with the hospitality sector and its ability to handle their invoice volumes.
“When we were making the decision, we liked Lightyear because it felt very aligned with the hospitality space. Our business isn’t particularly complex, and the Lightyear team made it look easy. The integration was straightforward, and the onboarding process just made sense from the start.”
There weren't robust internal controls, visibility into the invoices, or invoice accuracy.
Tightened Controls With Lightyear AP Automation
Lightyear addressed several of Vanilla Blue's core pain points at once. For the first time, Vanilla Blue had a documented, multi-stage approval workflow.
“Just putting in the framework of internal controls for the managers was massive for us, because we didn’t really have that before. Now, managers are actually approving invoices themselves, so nothing slips through.”
A Lightyear feature Jonathan specifically highlights is the bank details checker.
“One thing that Lightyear does that we really like is checking the bank account details. Lightyear flags any changes to it, providing exactly the kind of control that could have prevented the fraud we previously experienced.”
With the same supplier delivering to 15 sites, Vanilla Blue needed invoices coded by location and division. Lightyear handles this automatically, giving managers and finance accurate cost data by area.
“Lightyear's GL mapping correctly applies the GL codes. For example, if different beverages from the same supplier need to be separated, we could set up two different accounts with the supplier’s details and Lightyear still ensures everything is allocated to the right GL cost code.”
Just putting in place the internal controls for managers was massive for us, because we didn't really have that before.
Over $115,000 Annual Savings
“Before Lightyear, our AP team alone was costing us well over $130,000 a year. With Lightyear, we’re probably saving around $115,000 annually.”
Charmaine explained that the real impact has been the time saved on invoice import and mapping.
“Our external provider was working 20 hours a week. With Lightyear, they save half of that time. That’s just 10 hours a week, down from 20 previously.”
With accurate invoice data reaching MYOB, Charmaine describes it as finally having confidence in what's being paid, to whom, and when.
“Having trust in the numbers has been huge. When I handle accounts and supplier payments, I can be confident that by the time it reaches MYOB, it’s been reviewed at least three times. I know we’re paying the right amounts to the right company at the right time.”
When asked what advice Charmaine would give to other finance leaders looking at Lightyear, she said:
“From my point of view, I’d say just do it. Invest the time and effort to do it properly, and take the leap, because it’s truly been game-changing. Honestly, if a business doesn’t have software like Lightyear, they’d have to be fools not to.”
See how you can gain AP control with Lightyear
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