Celebrating over 130 years of service, the YMCA of Greater Nashua engages 35,000 people annually, strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.
With teams in multiple locations receiving invoices, and with the nonprofit requiring each invoice to go through up to three levels of approvals for accountability, the corporate office of the YMCA Greater Nashua has to manage over 25 approvers. The management of these invoices including scanning, tracking approvals, cutting checks, mailing and filing was becoming overwhelming.
The CFO wanted to find a cloud-based solution that would streamline back office processes and discovered BILL through a web search.
The accounting team saves at least six hours a week by automating the approval process and storing documents online which eliminates the time previously allocated to filing. The team is using this extra time to focus on strategic activities like annual financial planning, and determining how to maximize the programs offered to their community. Online document storage also provides cost benefits by reducing the amount of office space the team needs.
“Thanks to BILL, I just love my job! The processing and filing of our invoices was getting overwhelming. The introduction of BILL made an impactful difference to the efficiency of our operations, saving me and my team at least six hours a week, and making us all a lot happier!” — Trusha Patel, Director of Finance
Trusha Patel loves her job even more these days. A few months ago, the Director of Finance and her small team were responsible for manually processing over 75 invoices a week, each requiring multiple approvals from a pool of over 25 individuals. Not only was it impossible to track who had approved what, but Patel was spinning her wheels trying to find out why some invoices hadn’t been signed off. In parallel, it was taking CFO Mahesh Bhatia more time than ever to sign all of the paper checks and weekly check runs.
Desperate to stop the inefficiencies and restore order to the YMCA corporate office, Bhatia discovered BILL through a web search, and two months later the nonprofit implemented BILL. The team quickly saw tangible benefits: the Friday check run is down to a mere 30 minutes, approvals and notifications are now tracked and issued automatically, and anyone on the team can access and view bills. “As a nonprofit, we rely on a system of checks and balances, and require a large number of approvers,” said Patel. “The introduction of BILL made an impactful difference to the efficiency of our operations, saving me and my team at least six hours a week, and making us all a lot happier!”
The biggest difference to Patel’s day now that the nonprofit is using BILL? “I am so grateful for all the time I save not having to file paperwork,” said Patel. “BILL has really eased our weekly AP process, and month-end closes are simple and quick.”
Patel also really appreciates the security features BILL has in place. A colleague recently misplaced his phone and asked BILL support to update his phone number in the system. As a listed admin on the account, Patel received a call at 7pm to verify the colleague’s information. “We work hard to maximize the donations we receive, taking the time to spend them wisely. We are excited to know that BILL cares as much and has our back,” said Patel.
Patel is spending more time with her colleagues these days, brainstorming how to better serve the community across southern New Hampshire with relevant programs and services. “Our motto is ‘The Dream Starts Here’ and thanks to the extra time BILL has given us, we now get to make our community’s dreams come true!”
