Customer Story
Montréal–Trudeau International Airport
Driving Scalable Growth & Efficiency with AP Automation
- IMPROVEDpayment terms by 8 days
- INCREASEDproductivity and staff’s focus shifted to higher-value tasks
- 90%of invoices being processed electronically through Esker
- ENHANCEDreal time visibility along with a complete audit trail
Between 2017 and 2018, the Montréal–Trudeau International Airport was experiencing tremendous growth in passenger numbers and, in response, was planning its largest investment programme in company history.
CHALLENGES: Automating AP processes to seamlessly handle growth
As the transportation company rapidly grew, it was starting to confront new, major obstacles regarding infrastructure capacity, human resource capacity and financial capacity. Some of the biggest challenges facing the financial services team included having to:
- Manually manage all supplier information and classification rules
- Send emails back and forth to obtain approval for payment
- Scan paper invoices and manually sort and classify invoices
- Manually validate, identify, and post receipts and invoices
In order to achieve the organisation’s goals of reducing processing times, increasing productivity and invoice traceability, and improving cash management, the Montréal–Trudeau International Airport shifted its focus to optimising processes and automating tasks across its finance department rather than increasing the number of clerks to complete the tasks. To do so, they chose Esker’s AI-driven Accounts Payable automation solution.
OBJECTIVES
- Reduce supplier invoice processing time to promote company growth without adding headcount
- Improve invoice traceability and visibility of processing status to facilitate better cash management
- Increase productivity and allow staff to shift focus to higher value tasks
SOLUTION: Eliminating Accounts Payable (AP) bottlenecks by automating manual tasks
After automating with Esker, the Montréal–Trudeau International Airport was then able to easily identify and address the upstream processes that caused invoice processing delays. The effectiveness of AP automation has allowed the organisation to do more with less, and the financial services team has been able to gain full visibility and control over the AP process, thanks to key benefits like:
- Instant access to invoices from any location, anytime
- Quick, accurate first-time recognition of invoices and identification of duplicates
- Automation of invoice approval process
- Intelligent dashboards that provide full visibility into invoice status and AP performance
- Automatic reminders to ensure invoices are approved as soon as possible
The team is very happy to work with a tool like Esker. They would never want to go back!
Esker’s system of reporting tools and efficiency boosting features have enabled the Montréal–Trudeau International Airport to accelerate invoice processing, grow without needing more resources, and analyse data to better manage cash and make more informed decisions. “The simplicity of the solution and its UX are making us consider expanding the use of Esker to other areas within Finance” says Lyne Gilbert, Assistant Director of Financial Services and Process Improvement.
We are more responsive to payment deadlines and accurately explain reasons for delays to our suppliers.
RESULTS: Improving cash management, supplier relationships and employee satisfaction
With Esker’s Accounts Payable solution, the Montréal–Trudeau International Airport has been able to achieve all of its automation goals, and then some. By eliminating manual AP processes, the company has been able to reduce the costs of keeping multiple copies of the same invoices on different user networks and gain valuable AP insights that have helped to improve its cash management strategy.
The enrichment of roles of the financial services team has been a noticeable achievement, as automation now allows staff to focus on performing value-added tasks and feel appreciated as a resource capable of recommending best practices, rather than just processing and settling urgent problems.
Montréal–Trudeau International Airport’s suppliers are also experiencing the advantages and convenience of automation. Because AP staff is more responsive to payment deadlines and able to pinpoint reasons for delays, the amount of calls from suppliers has greatly reduced. Esker has also made it possible to focus efforts on getting suppliers to pay electronically — leading to faster payment terms and more satisfied suppliers.
Our team feels more in control of the management of invoices. It’s much easier to spot whose hands they are in when pending approval for follow-up.
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