In this interview with BILL, David Miller, director of Consulting Services for Outsourced Finance & Accounting at Armanino LLP, details the firm’s BILL ROI.

What makes your firm unique?

Armanino LLP is the largest California-based CPA and consulting firm and one of the top-10 fastest-growing accounting firms in the United States.

How do you use BILL?

BILL is one of the best technologies for bill pay.

If a client wants us to pay bills, they must work with BILL. We implement and integrate it with their software. Now, there are no paper invoices and checks on desktops. Bills can’t get lost. We get approval and send payment online. It has helped the department regulate work days and workflow. BILL moves the process along.

What ROI has Armanino achieved through BILL?

The complete process for accounts payable includes setting up vendors, processing the bills, printing and mailing the checks and responding to client and vendor questions.

Prior to using BILL, we spent an average total time of 15 minutes to complete the accounts payable process. Using BILL, we reduced that time by an average of 30% or closer to 10 minutes per bill.

Using BILL, the processing time for each bill, decreased from 3.67 minutes per bill to 2.33 minutes or from 1,032 hours a year total based on an average of 1,400 bills a month to 648 hours per year – the equivalent of 9.6 work weeks.

How have your clients responded to your usage of BILL?

Between the firm and BILL, our nonprofit clients now have better internal controls. Many times in these organizations, one person would handle the whole process and even have the bookkeeper sign. BILL enforces a separation of duties.

What tips would you give other firms looking to improve their business?

Cloud technology is where everything is moving. If you continue to do things manually, you’ll be left behind.