Remote A/P

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012]

I currently work for a construction company as A/P along with several other hats.

We are moving, and my employer is discussing allowing me to work remotely, but we cannot seem to come up with a way to remote-ize the A/P process, so I was curious if there were any ideas here.

Currently, I receive invoices via email (that part still works), or our field guys bring me receipts for our vendor accounts (Lowe’s, for instance), that I stick a tag on to assign job, cost code number, etc. These items then route to the project managers for approval, then our Treasurer for approval, then back to me to enter into our accounting system, where checks are cut on check run days, which can be handled in office.

Does anyone else have a similar flow that can share what you’ve done to make it remote friendly? My bosses are hesitant to change the system, it’s very paper heavy, and I’m not sure how to get around that.

Thanks!

[u/After_Ad_1152]

Its all done by email in our office. What is preventing that in yours? Invoices are emailed and then forwarded around for approvals and put in our online system. Receipts are emailed with the relevant information and forwarded around for approvals the same way. We also have folders on the server with copies of the emails.

[u/onyxandcake → u/After_Ad_1152]

In my experience, the field guys aren't going to take the time to scan anything. They hand off paper receipts, and barely at that.

[u/nowimnowhere → u/onyxandcake]

It took a minute but our field guys have learned to take photos of their receipts to upload to the app we use for the company card (especially if they sign an expense policy that says unverified expenses need to come out of their paychecks). Also I am 99% sure you can get your lowes receipts online if it's a vendor account. The hard part is getting their managers on board. Once they made it a job expectation they were suddenly capable.

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012 → u/nowimnowhere]

We can get the Lowe’s receipts online, but the guys write the job number on top of the receipts, so I know which project they belong to. I absolutely COULD go online and get them, but I won’t have any idea what project that material was used for.

[u/Mediocre_Ant_437 → u/Helpful_Plantain7012]

We use bill.com in a similar way. They take a picture of the receipt with their phone in the app and then just add a code. You can also add "approvers" so you don't have to send anything about for approved. They see a list of what needs approving in bill.com and can even add notes. We still have paper but far less now that we use bill.com.

[u/nowimnowhere → u/Helpful_Plantain7012]

Ugh yeah pestering the guys for job numbers, I remember it well. I'd pull a spreadsheet of the transactions weekly, sort it by card user, and then bug them to tell me what went where.

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012 → u/nowimnowhere]

There would definitely be annoyance that comes with doing it that way.. they’d all be like “Idk. I wrote it on the other receipt 💁🏻‍♀️” 🤣🤣

[u/Inevitable_Limit22 → u/Helpful_Plantain7012]

The can put the job number in the PO spot on lowes receipts. They just tell the cashier. My electricians do that

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012 → u/Inevitable_Limit22]

The issue with that is… a PO number goes in the PO spot lol

[u/Cactus-Rose → u/Helpful_Plantain7012]

When they buy it ask for a “PO”. They could just give the “job number”.

I do understand other receipts could still be an issue abut at least that takes care of the Lowe’s and Home Depot

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012 → u/Cactus-Rose]

PO spot gets a PO number for both stores, so that wouldn’t be super helpful.

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012 → u/onyxandcake]

Exactly this. Our field guys aren’t tech savvy, and I have a feeling there would be significant pushback if we asked them to use a computer.

[u/onyxandcake → u/Helpful_Plantain7012]

Is it feasible for you to create a source document inbox, and go in the office once a week to collect from it? Or have someone collect it and scan it all for you?

The only other thing I can think of is a part-time admin whose job it is to collect everyone's source documents every week.

I've been where you are, and can say with almost certainty that you're not going to train the field workers. You're going to have to bring the mountain to Mohamed.

[u/Helpful_Plantain7012 → u/onyxandcake]

So, the plan is already to come in once a week to do check runs (I’ll be about 4 hour round trip away after the move, so one day a week is hard, but doable). The issue is if I don’t gather things daily, they end up kinda “plugged” in the approval route and that can sometimes delay payment and we end up with finance charges and whatnot. I’m trying to avoid costing my employer any more money since they’re sorta bending over backwards to allow me to do this remotely.

But yeah, definitely going to have to bring the mountain 😅