Customer Story

How the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) went paperless across their finance accounts receivable (AR) processes and removed 1,200+ hours of wasted process admin time by automating simple 3-4 step manual processes.

In this customer story we explore how Flowingly was used to:

• Streamline and digitize SIT’s finance AR processes  
• Eliminate lost requests and improve accountability and compliance  
• Remove approximately 66 weeks of admin time from their processes, equivalent to 1.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions
• Reduce auditing time from a week to half a day  
• Empower employees with new responsibilities and career advancement opportunities  

The Organization

The Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) is a leading tertiary provider in New Zealand.   

We spoke to Dulari Jayasinghe, Senior Payroll & HRIS Officer at SIT, who was happy to share her insights and experiences around how Flowingly has revolutionized the way they work, highlighting the significant time savings they’ve seen and the newfound opportunities for personal growth and career advancement she has had.   

The Challenge

Dulari, the Senior Payroll & HRIS Officer at SIT, was responsible for generating invoices based on requests received from over a hundred staff members across 26 departments scattered across the country. 

There needed to be a clear process, with requests coming from everywhere, including internal mail, hand-delivered documents, and emails with attachments or information written directly in the body.  

For newcomers to the organization, Dulari found it challenging to navigate this dual system of paper-based and email requests.   

The handwritten paper-based requests were particularly challenging to decipher and track, given the need for more clarity regarding who had sent them, with some often just having a signature.   

The lack of clear identification on paper-based requests, such as missing names or email addresses, added to the confusion and made it challenging to attribute approvals or signatures correctly.   

Additionally, the physical documents sometimes got buried under piles of paper on managers’ desks, resulting in delays of months before they were processed.  

Overall, the existing manual invoice request process at SIT created numerous difficulties for Dulari and the finance team, leading to inefficiencies, delays, and a sometimes manual, time-consuming work environment. A solution was necessary to streamline and automate the process, ensuring clear communication, accurate documentation, and efficient invoice generation.  

The Solution

Upon discussing the new workflow process system with IT, Dulari had a conversation about a new automation solution SIT was looking into – Flowingly.   

As they spoke more about the software, Dulari realized it was the answer she had been seeking.   

In the past, when she had approached managers for a better system, budget constraints had hindered progress. However, IT’s mention of Flowingly meant that the solution had already been explored, eliminating the need for Dulari to initiate a budget request.  

What particularly appealed to Dulari about Flowingly was its versatility. Unlike other solutions focused on specific operations, Flowingly could be applied to any process within the organization.  

This meant that the investment made in Flowingly could benefit all departments, not just one specific area. Excited by the possibilities, Dulari approached her manager and discussed the potential implementation of Flowingly for their accounts receivable (AR) processes.   

After receiving approval from the CFO, Dulari collaborated with IT to automate a workflow with Flowingly.  

Initially, Dulari experimented with the workflow they had created, but she found it was still too time-consuming. However, when she expressed her concerns, she was encouraged to give it a try herself, with IT assuring her that Flowingly was easy to use and super user-friendly.  

Dulari understood the specific requirements of the process better than anyone else, making her best equipped to design a workflow that met her needs.   

By transforming from the previous process to Flowingly, using the customized flow she created, Dulari could streamline the invoice request process and overcome the challenges she had faced before.  

The Results

Implementing Flowingly has brought about significant improvements in SIT’s AR finance processes, resulting in some pretty remarkable outcomes.  

By digitizing and automating their finance workflows, SIT witnessed an impressive reduction in time spent on manual admin. This freed up valuable time for employees to focus on more productive tasks and less on following up on tasks and chasing approvals.   

Dulari Jayasinghe shared her experience, saying, “I never realized it would free up that much time in my role. That opened doors for me to take up new tasks, be more productive, and progress in my career. Yeah, I’m sitting here because of Flowingly.”  

Streamlining their finance processes has saved SIT approximately 66 weeks of administrative time to date, equivalent to 1.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.  

The previous manual process required the finance team to search thousands of paper documents for audit purposes.   

With Flowingly, auditors gained direct access to the relevant documentation, resulting in faster and more efficient audits. Dulari explained the improvement, stating, “Auditors would choose 40 to 50 samples out of 20,000 papers and request the relevant documentation and approvals… Now it takes half a day.”  

By embracing the capabilities of Flowingly, SIT transformed its invoice request processes, reducing manual effort, increasing productivity, and improving audit efficiency. This successful implementation empowered the institute to embrace digital transformation and optimize its operations for future growth.  

Transitioning to an automated system not only yielded significant time and cost savings but also created opportunities for employees to take on new responsibilities and advance in their careers. By leveraging Flowingly’s workflow automation solution, SIT positioned itself as a forward-thinking institution committed to driving efficiency and innovation.  

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