Jackson Land Development
"AvidXchange brought our AP processes into this century. We have a faster processing time and we’re more organized with less chaos. I highly recommend it."
Jackson Land Development
Jackson Land Development is a Pompano Beach, Florida-based business that delivers underground construction services, including excavation and finish grading, to residential and commercial land developers. The company’s mission is to be an industry leader, providing ultimate value and satisfaction to its customers.
Jennifer Garten is a project coordinator and accounting assistant for Jackson Land Development’s accounts payable (AP) team.
Confusion and Inefficiency Run Rampant Amidst Manual AP Processes
Jackson Land Development was wasting time and resources with a completely manual AP process involving invoices coming in by snail mail and even some vendors dropping them off in person. Without a consistent system for receipt and data entry, invoices (sometimes as large as $100,000) were frequently misplaced or duplicated.
There were stacks of invoices all over the back office, with handwritten notes acting as the only tracking system. Garten and her team chased down colleagues for approvals and hunted through siloed filing systems for related paperwork – activities she called “time-zappers.”
The company’s AP process was inefficient and disorganized, often leading to late payments and rush requests, which put a toll on vendor relationships. As a trusted leader in their industry, Jackson Land Development needed an AP automation product that was on its level.
“Sometimes vendors would threaten to close accounts, so we had to rush to cut checks or pay with a credit card. Losing invoices was huge. It was embarrassing to have to call vendors and eat crow, telling them we lost their invoice,” said Garten.
Accounting Department Levels Up by Utilizing AvidXchange’s Purchase-to-Pay Automation Solution
To automate AP operations, Jackson Land Development implemented AvidXchange’s solution for construction businesses. It was an easy choice because the product seamlessly integrated with Jackson Land Development’s existing accounting system, Sage 300 CRE, to build automatic data flow and update master file information.
Additionally, AvidXchange offers credit card reconciliation, enhanced optical character recognition (OCR) for automated coding, lien waiver management and other features to boost efficiency and deliver better visibility into financial data and project statuses.
“After 20 years of doing the same thing, the staff here was very resistant to change. I think it’s so fun to watch now because they love it. Everybody loves the solution and it’s so much easier,“ Garten said.
Organized, Efficient Processes Lead to Cost and Time Savings
Since implementing AvidXchange, Jackson Land Development’s AP team has reduced the time they spend on cumbersome manual tasks like rummaging through piles or digital folders to find specific invoices. Instead, they use the product’s vendor invoice query to locate the invoices they need at a much faster rate. In addition to time savings, they experienced a reduction in costs associated with paper-based AP processes, including toner, storage and postage fees.
Programming invoices into the system is quick using the OCR feature that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to automate data entry. But Garten and her team find the most value in the reporting features – she regularly creates reports to see which vendors need to get paid each week, ensuring the business avoids late payments. “I have the data I need at my fingertips,” she said.
With AvidXchange, Garten and her team have become much more organized, a byproduct of the elimination of duplicate payments and lost invoices, which in turn has greatly improved supplier relationships. In addition, Garten estimates the new streamlined processes save at least 25 hours per week, allowing her team to focus on enhancing other areas of the business to continue to provide the best value and satisfaction for their customers.