Washing Away Inefficiencies:
WhiteWater's Automated AP Function

Established in 2016, WhiteWater embarked on a mission to create high quality car wash services. With a clear vision of growth through leadership nurturing, they quickly expanded operations from a single location to a network of 108 units in the USA.

Amidst this rapid growth, they faced operational challenges, particularly with manually managing high volumes of invoices. In response, WhiteWater sought an accounts payable automation solution that would streamline processes, fully integrate with Sage Intacct and support the businesses long-term goals of expansion.

We spoke to Senior Accounting Manager, Jeanette Sumruld to learn about their AP Automation journey.

Introducing WhiteWater Car Wash

WhiteWater's journey began in 2016 with 3 founding partners and evolved to become a thriving multi-entity business across 6 US states, with the goal of reaching 150 sites by the end of 2024. WhiteWater not only invests in business growth, but also their people. Dedicated to fostering leadership skills in staff, they are not a car wash company, but a “leadership company that just happens to wash cars”.

“The thing that's near and dear to our hearts is being able to enable all of our team members to become better leaders. Not just leaders at WhiteWater, but leaders in life.”

The Finance & AP Department

Jeanette Sumruld, Senior Accounting Manager at WhiteWater explained that an 8 person team is tasked with overseeing the company's financial health. With this in mind, they recognized that a switch to a more robust accountancy software was essential. With the help of RKL Solutions, WhiteWater migrated to Sage Intacct in order to cope with the increased workload.

“We didn't quite realize when we were going through the migration process just how much we would need a specialist AP solution that works so well with Sage Intacct.”

Hours Of Manual Data Entry Into Sage

Despite implementing Sage Intacct, the finance function sought even higher levels of automation. With each site that was added, came more vendors and additional accounts with existing vendors.

This lead to unique invoice handling requirements for WhiteWater who needed to ensure that each account number could be correctly identified. Without a supportive automation software, managing AP processes manually was resulting in the duplication of work, data errors and headaches!

With employee satisfaction being vital to WhiteWater, they needed a solution that would make tracking invoice approvals simple for site managers who are always on the go serving customers. They also needed to enable the finance department to work faster and smarter.

An AP solution that integrates perfectly with Sage Intacct would soon be the answer.

Why Lightyear

Jeanette and the team looked at various AP automation providers, but they were costly, charging per approver, complicated to set up or didn’t have a modern feel. After finding Lightyear on the Sage Marketplace and getting an in-depth look at the product, they decided to go for it.

“I felt like Lightyears’ ease of use and the fresh look of the product, plus the fact that you had a mobile app where people could approve on the go was just perfect. The thing that I like the most about Lightyear is that you listen to the issues we’re having and to the customization's needed to make the product work.”

Recognizing that the transition can be daunting, WhiteWater handled the change with sensitivity, alongside support from their Lightyear Onboarding Specialist who made it “one of the fastest and most interactive onboardings” Jeanette had ever had. WhiteWater successfully demonstrated the value of automated processes to their AP team who quickly saw the positive impact on their roles. “Automation is not decreasing our team, we didn't lose anybody because of the efficiencies we gained. What it allows us to do is grow and be more efficient," said Jeanette.

There are always hurdles during implementation, so the value of an adaptable software is undeniable. WhiteWater came upon a stumbling block around posting dates, which Lightyear’s API with Sage Intacct wasn’t optimized for. Within a few weeks, Lightyear made product updates so that posting dates could be amended in the software.

Empowering Staff To Succeed

“Every Friday I give a Lightyear workshop. We require every new user, whether they’re a General Manager, Area Director or Maintenance Tech approving invoices to attend.”

Jeanette shows staff the Lightyear mobile app, explaining how it makes managing orders easier, helps invoices get paid correctly and keeps operations running smoothly. The teams in the field and finance department can easily get to grips with the software, making it easier to focus on providing the level of service that their customers rave about.

"We have two customers, our internal teams using Lightyear and our external customers that are washing their cars every day. By taking the admin burden off our staff, we enable them to spend more time doing what really matters."

WhiteWater can focus on their people and customers, but crucially, they have also seen a dramatic improvement when it comes to operational statistics.

The Results

“Being able to automate tasks so that you're not having to do double the work is the main thing- you can let the system work for you.”

WhiteWater has stricter controls on what spend is approved and can manage costs more easily. With over 2000 keyword automation rules in Lightyear, invoices go straight to the appropriate Site Manager, reducing bottlenecks that lead to payment delays. Using automatic product coding, the finance department can attribute specific costs to each location and obtain clear visibility, all without manual effort.

The biggest cost saving has been scaling without adding heads to the finance department. Instead, WhiteWater are leveraging software that grows with them. Then, there's the priceless value of time saved. WhiteWater is saving at least 50% on invoice processing times now that they no longer manually upload data to Sage Intacct.

Before, approval processes could take days working in Google Sheets. Now that the workflows are automated, it takes seconds. Time spent reviewing data and checking for errors has been cut by 90%, with Jeanette's payables team spending seconds checking things are as they should be before exporting to Sage. Even statement reconciliations are reduced to seconds with Lightyear.

WhiteWater's transition to robust, cloud-based accounting processes has supported them on their growth journey, whilst also empowering staff on the field to focus on leading teams and servicing customers. By prioritizing customer needs and providing unwavering support, Lightyear has equipped WhiteWater with a scalable solution AP so that they are ready for the continued success that lies ahead.