Accounting is a tedious but essential part of any organization. Accounts Receivable (A/R) is the action that puts money into the pockets of your business, with Accounts Payable (A/P) being the driving force to help your business grow and develop (which ultimately leads to more revenue entering the business’s wallet). A/P and A/R are the lifeblood of an organization, and immense importance should be given on ensuring these practices are performed efficiently and effectively.

Think about the next 5 years – is business growth towards the top of your list? Probably! Well the only way to successfully grow in such a competitive environment is to have all hands on deck and have the focus of your key members solely on growth-generating activities. These activities could take the form of networking, collaboration, analyzing your current market, looking into tapping new markets, research and development, hiring, and even getting leaner.

Every business has their niche, their one strong suit. This one service forms the foundation of your business and is your optimal revenue generating activity. The best use of your organization’s time is to focus on this type of activity and leaving those tasks not in the sphere of your expertise to partners. Freson Brothers, whom we will touch on later, noticed the need to have their focus surrounding revenue generating activity and to have Business Process Outsourcing Partners use their expertise in areas of invoice automation. As such, Freson Brothers partnered with Consentia to provide Accounts Payable Solutions. This partnership has been incredibly successful for both parties for years.

Consentia is an industry leader in digital transformation. Our competency in document scanning and accounting is unmatched. However, just because we offer a great service does not mean that attention should not be paid towards business necessities. Human resources, proper training, corporate culture, all these are necessities than cannot be sacrificed for revenue. There needs to be a split focus between necessities and revenue generating activity for a business to grow. Think of it like gardening… revenue generating activities are the seeds and business necessities is the water!

Now to speak about our BPO Partner, Freson Brothers! Established in 1955, Freson Brothers has a long history of serving the Alberta market and operate 16 (soon to be 17) locations throughout the province. Freson Brothers was able to successfully grow their business organically, a feat that is rare in the grocery industry where a sharp emphasis to efficiency is required to maintain or improve profit margins. However, with this immense success comes the natural expansion of accounts payable volumes and the increased overhead costs of dealing with the increased paperwork and number of transactions.

Freson Brothers wanted a solution that met the following requirements:

  • Must be easy to use at stores
  • Would eliminate courier/associated costs
  • Would allow for faster processing times
  • Could be implemented/tested at a few stores before being rolled out
  • Must be easily scalable to accommodate adding more stores as Freson Brothers grows
  • Integrates easily with financial system
  • Built in ability to handle new circumstances or challenging invoices with ease
  • Reduced cost for processing invoices

After implementing Consentia’s solution, Freson brothers were able to successfully achieve the goals listed above. The implemented solution was immensely easy for Freson staff to use, and allowed for cost saving benefits through staff redeployment and elimination of courier costs. Through partnering with Consentia, Freson Brothers was able to successfully scale upwards by adding more locations and reducing the time it takes to process invoices once received. Lastly, Freson Brothers greatly favoured the web portal established as it provided them with a quick and easy way to deal with any exceptions that arose through the course of business.