How Windmill NI, A Burger King Franchise Made 5 Digit Savings With AP Automation
With over 35 years in the industry, Windmill is Northern Ireland’s biggest Burger King franchise.
Founded in 1986 in Belfast as ‘Wimpy’, Windmill experienced remarkable growth after rebranding. It now operates 21 sites in Northern Ireland and 6 in the North of England.
Due to multiple cost centres and regular documentation influx for each restaurant, the business handles a high volume of invoices.
To manage the business’s growing accounts payable (AP) tasks, Bernie Simpson, Windmill’s Financial Controller, implemented automated invoice processing software. This saved her finance team countless hours of manual data entry.
Sage 200
accountancy software
2000
docs/mo.
Bernie Simpson
Financial Controller
The Challenge
A Mission To Manage Costs
‘'Most of the work involved opening envelopes, photocopying and filing stuff. Plus, we had an entire room purely for paperwork storage. It was manpower, and it was time,'' says Bernie.
''There's also the issue of ease of access. Somebody would set something down, and it wasn't maybe where you wanted it to be, and you know, it was very difficult.'
‘'Behind the scenes, I made it my mission to make sure that our costs are right. Lightyear has helped in that regard.’'
The Solution
Time and Cost Savings on The Menu
One of the standout benefits Windmill experienced with Lightyear was the significant reduction in time spent chasing invoices. The cloud-based system with a login portal allowed multiple team members to access it simultaneously.
Previously, Bernie and her team spent a lot of time manually entering invoice data into Sage 200. This led the team to often manage Sage’s suspense account for discrepancies due to data entry errors, causing unnecessary complexity and errors in cost allocation. However, with Lightyear’s automated keyword rule, the errors have been reduced, and the process has become quick.‘'Our Operations Director would need to look at something occasionally, which he can get now directly through Lightyear.’' highlights Bernie.
''I don't do many journals out of suspense anymore. A lot of the data that is exported to Sage is automatically and accurately populated by Lightyear.''
Bernie explains how automation has helped the business reduce labour costs while maintaining the necessary staffing.
‘'We're at a good point where the manpower is at an optimum level. One member of staff's wages could be £25,000, but for Lightyear, we pay only £500 a month. So there's a 5-digit saving.’'
Keeping Tabs on Every Pound
Keeping Tabs on Every Pound
After implementing Lightyear, Bernie’s team has a higher visibility of their spending.
''We can compare 27 stores at a glance and see who is spending too much and have a chat with them. You get a degree of that on Sage but not in the same detail.''
The reporting capabilities of Lightyear have turned Windmill’s data into profit-driving strategies.
"You can use invoices, sort it all out, and produce a report from Lightyear. We can group invoices and search any of the data, even by nominal codes.’'
Bernie further highlighted Lightyear's automatic price-checking ability.
As the supplier invoice arrives in the system, it recognises the product code, checks the prices against the agreed pricing and flags any variance.
‘'Within Lightyear, keeping an eye on supplier pricing is automated. Once the price list is uploaded, it automatically checks that we are being priced correctly,’' emphasises Bernie.
Additionally, to ensure that the finance team has received all the invoices from their suppliers, the team uses Lightyear’s automatic statement reconciliation.
Bernie stated, ‘'Just by looking at a statement, will we know we've got all the invoices.’'
Seamless Set Up & Support Served Hot
This level of support was invaluable, especially during the early stages when the team was still getting accustomed to the new system. With Lightyear’s dedicated customer service team at their side, the business quickly overcame any hurdles and began seeing the benefits of automation in action.
It's crucial to plan the setup of your invoice automation system before you dive in. Taking the time to ensure that everything is configured properly from the beginning pays off significantly down the line. “When set up properly, it's incredibly effective. I truly believe that anyone who embraces it will see clear, tangible benefits,” Bernie adds.
The Solution
Automation of 80% of AP Documents
Since implementing Lightyear, the business no longer faces the pressure of employee shortage. This eases the strain on resources and saves money in the long term.
‘'With people changing jobs, it takes the pressure off having to replace that person, and then we see the savings. We're talking thousands of pounds saving. Across 25 different restaurants for cost management, we could be saving them £500 every so often, which totals to £2500. And if you do that 10 times, that becomes £25,000.'' says Bernie.
