As Mike Praeger, CEO of AvidXchange, took the stage to introduce the final session of the two-day Revolution Conference held this week in Costa Mesa, Calif., he both cheered and encouraged the large audience. “A revolution has begun and you’re a part of it,” Praeger said. “Now we all need to take what we’ve started here together and evangelize it in the market.”
That we’re all in this together is what he meant and the audience responded. Praeger also suggested that with all the great learnings and takeaways from the conference attendees should, before they get stuck back in the office catching up from the time away, focus on taking action on one of the items and really working hard to follow through on it. With that he yielded the stage to his product team for a presentation that focused on Avidpay and the Avidpay Network and, more broadly, on Avid’s approach to support 100% of its clients’ payments—no matter the payment method.
Create-A-Check: Aiming to Simplify Paper Checks
Lynn Shimada, VP of Product Offerings at Piracle, an AvidXchange company since late 2014, began with a discussion of the capabilities of the self-managed Create-A-Check solution, which allows enterprises to print MICR-compliant checks onto blank check stock, thus saving money and time in the long run over using pre-printed checks. The self-service check-printing solution puts total payment control in the hands of the client, in addition to including Positive Pay services that reduce check fraud and account selection in a drag-and-drop interface.
Shimada also made the case that self-managed payments have several key benefits:
- The ability to generate an electronic payment file to submit to your bank
- Easy email remittance to your vendors
- EFT and wire transfer capability
- A robust payment approval process
Shimada demoed the automated check creation process that resulted in a paper check, including the ability to digitally sign paper checks and select different bank accounts from a drop-down menu, but what was interesting was when he was able to show the integration of the Create-A-Check solution with the AvidPay Network so the check creation process could generate electronic payments across the entire Avid Network. This is a critical capability, especially given Avid’s goal of managing 100% of their clients’ payments.
AvidUtility: Making it Easy to Pay Utility Bills
Next was Eric Choltus, senior product manager at AvidXchange, who began with a personal introduction by noting that he feels his purpose is to slow the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by cutting down on the volume of paper in the accounts payable process. Essentially, eliminating paper from the AP process will reduce waste and help save the environment, according to Choltus.
Part of that solution is Avid Utility, the AvidXchange solution that aims to simplifying paying utility bills. Choltus and Avid believe that utility bills are both similar and different to other bills, and while the process to receive, process, and pay utility bills is similar to other vendor invoices, what is different can be explained across four dimensions:
- Proportion (high volumes)
- Timeline (due on receipt or 10 to 15 days as opposed to net-30, etc.)
- Complexity (aggregated gauges that are hard to decipher)
- Risk (service can get shut off for lack of payment)
These dimensions are important when it comes to utility payments, given that they are distinct from standard supplier payments. Part of AvidUtility is a meter-monitoring service, which gathers data on usage as well as aggregates consumption data for further analysis later. In fact, the three reasons why enterprises adopt AvidUtility are peace of mind (from continuous monitoring), aggregated consumption data, and insights into usage.
Avid is not done yet making investments in AvidUtility. For the year ahead, they plan to invest in market research, reporting and analytics, electronic receipts, and Energy Star compliance … along with capture and exception logic. When it comes to electronic receipts, Choltus said Avid plans to use Urjanet’s big data solution to speed the invoice receipt process by 65%. These changes to AvidUtility are sure to benefit both current and future users.
AvidPay and the Business Network
The final speaker, Ann Andrew, AvidPay product manager, followed to discuss more specifically how payments flow through AvidPay and The AvidPay Network. The AvidPay process begins by selecting the payment in the accounting system for pay instead of for print. Payments are then approved (the PayControl featured in AvidPay enables different workflows based on approval requirements and allows approvers to approve multiple payments, add comments, and manage/view payment histories—search can also be done by batch or payment and results can be exported).
Money is next pulled from the bank account specified in the AvidPay workflow; users are able to change bank account on a per-payment basis, which is useful for multiple business units. Next, payment is made to vendor (either via virtual credit card, ePayment, or paper check). Payment reconciliation is done through the enterprise’s accounting system, which AvidPay ties into, and reporting features can be added, on a subscription basis, for easier reconciliation.
In the year ahead, Andrew said, Avid plans to increase partnerships with financial institutions as well expand into new markets—such as making payments in Canadian dollars. Avid also plans to provide accelerated payment methods for suppliers and facilitate faster payments, in addition to providing cleared check images (a crowd favorite).
Other Conference Notes
While at the conference in California, the news broke that Avid had acquired Strongroom Solutions—a Houston, Texas-based accounts payable solution provider—to further cement its position in the real estate space. Strongroom has historically focused on homeowners associations, and has served up AP automation solutions since 2007. The acquisition is Avid’s second in less than a year, and makes it abundantly clear that Avid is on a solid growth trajectory.
Earlier in the day, I presented the early findings from our upcoming ePayables 2015: Higher Ground while after lunch, I moderated a panel discussion with three executives including a CFO and VP/Controller. It was a very lively and interactive session and the three panelists were all strong advocates of Avid, having been customers for nine, 11, and 12 years respectively. Avid’s solution creates necessary visibility into enterprise data and processes, which can make the difference in making financial decisions for organizations of all sizes.
In truth, Avid’s “revolution” started more than decade ago, catching fire more recently with a few notable moves. This revolution may not be televised (after all, does anyone even watch TV anymore?), but it will be worth watching.
Check out these related articles for more:
Payables News Weekly: AvidXchange Acquires Strongroom Solutions; Banks Approve Same-Day Payments
How Cloud Infrastructure Simplifies AP Automation in SMBs
Payables News Weekly: AvidXchange Grows; Ocean Shippers Try Creating eInvoicing Standards
