TEA Winner: Boosting Efficiency With AP Automation

Organization Profile

• Industry: Municipal
• Location: Pickens County, Georgia
• Number of Employees: 350
• Population: 35,969
• Tyler Client Since: 2023
• Tyler Products Used: ERP Pro

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Challenges

Pickens County is more than just a place to work — it’s a close-knit community where everybody knows everybody. Collaboration thrives across county offices, the local school board, and cities. But while the community’s spirit of cooperation was strong, the county’s internal systems were another story.

Before implementing ERP Pro, Pickens County’s accounts payable process was cumbersome. “Our accounts payable process before we had ERP Pro was very dated and manual,” said Hollie Poole, accounts payable clerk for the county. “We essentially had an electronic filing cabinet, but that filing cabinet didn’t talk to our accounting software. That made it really challenging to make sure everything was accurate in both places.”

Additionally, visibility into the accounts payable system was limited across departments. “Finance had eyes on all of it, but the rest of the departments didn’t,” Poole explained. “They were constantly reaching out, unsure of what data we had. That made it challenging to work together in an effective way.”

Manual data entry also slowed the county down. “We would take the invoices — sometimes paper, sometimes digital — and manually enter every piece of data from that invoice. Invoice number, PO number, everything was manual,” Poole recalled. “It just really put a damper on your check run day because you’re trying to make sure all of that is correct. It’s just daunting — you have a pile of checks to process.”

These ongoing challenges and inefficiencies led the county to look for a solution that could modernize their financial operations.

Solution

The county chose Tyler’s ERP Pro software after reviewing multiple bids. “What stood out most was the fact that it was very prevalent, a lot of different organizations used it,” Poole recalled. “We reached out to them and found out pretty quickly what worked for people and what didn’t. There was a lot of positive feedback talking to those who use ERP Pro.”

The move to a cloud-based system also brought more flexibility for users across the county. Even staff who use the system intermittently find ERP Pro to be user-friendly. “They might be in there once a week or even once a month, but the cloud is very easily navigable for them. They can see right on their dashboard exactly what’s going on,” said Poole.

The addition of AP Automation and Invoice Capture, which automatically extracts key data from invoices, also brought dramatic improvements. “We can clearly see and show auditors that we are maintaining internal control with AP Automation,” Poole noted. “We issue a PO out of the purchasing module, go into AP Automation with Invoice Capture, capture those invoices, and send them out for approval. I can see at a glance where my hundreds of invoices are very easily.”

Results

With AP Automation, Pickens County’s AP process has been transformed. The results were immediate and impactful. “Our accounts payable process is now completely streamlined. It’s fabulous,” Poole said. “We’ve come to rely on Invoice Capture so much — it’s hard to imagine functioning without it.”

Now, instead of manual entry, Invoice Capture automates most of the process. Poole explained, “It pulls the majority of information correctly every time, so we’re just verifying that information and popping it into the queue for payment.”

This automation has proven to save significant time for the county. “We’re sending somewhere between 60 and 100 payments at a time,” Poole said. “That saves us a lot of time because those payments — whether checks or virtual credit cards — are processed and sent directly by the system. Our vendors especially appreciate the virtual cards because they receive payment instantly.”

ERP Pro has also brought departments closer together. “Now we can all look at the same software, the same real-time data,” said Poole. “Everybody’s getting scheduled budget reports weekly, and they’re able to look at that and identify a problem as soon as it happens.” This shared access to real-time information ensures faster decision-making, reduces errors, and helps departments collaborate.

Ultimately, Pickens County is able to serve the public more effectively. “We’re using taxpayers’ money and time more efficiently,” Poole explained. “We’re able to really provide better transparency with the software than we ever could have before.”