Metro News To Save 40 Hours Of Staff Time Each Week With V1 Document Management Integrated Into Sage Accpac

Metro News, a leading distributor of newspapers, magazines and other printed materials throughout Canada, is to transform its accounts payable (AP) efficiency by implementing document management technology from V1 Document Management to process 100,000 documents each year. This technology, which will be seamlessly integrated into Metro's Sage Accpac accounting system, is anticipated to provide annual savings of $40,000 in addition to 40 hours of staff time each week.

Metro selected V1 Document Management's technology after it was recommended by its Sage re-seller, Bredet Services.

Richard Regan, Controller at Metro News, explains, "Bredet Services has been a trusted supplier for over 15 years and we really value their opinion. So when Bredet recommended that we look at V1 Document Management's solutions, we took their advice and we are so glad that we did. We have no doubt that V1 Document Management's solutions are the best fit for our business due to the product's excellent functionality and ability to tightly integrate into Sage Accpac."

Metro News' current AP processes involve the manual data entry of invoice information before passing the invoices around the organization for signatory approval. Once an invoice is approved, a check is raised and this, together with the remittance advice, is printed-out and posted. All paper copies of paid invoices are stored away in on-site filing cabinets

Regan says, "Our existing AP processes are very inefficient. Invoices circulated for approval sometimes go missing which results in a lengthy paper chase around the organization. As we require signatory approvals from two authorizers there is a greater risk of an invoice missing a check run, potentially impacting relationships with our suppliers."

The 100,000 invoices Metro News receives each year will be scanned centrally, tagged to the appropriate record in the Sage Accpac accounting system and electronically stored. V1 Document Management's optical character (OCR) technology will automatically capture purchase invoice data, significantly reducing manual data entry. Using V1's authorization module, approvers will be automatically emailed a link to the imaged invoice allowing them to approve, reject or query it directly from their PCs with just a click of the mouse, further improving efficiency.

Regan comments, "V1 Document Management's technology will considerably speed-up our AP processes, cut costs and free-up staff time. By no longer having to photocopy, post, manually file and retrieve documents, we anticipate annual savings of approximately $40,000 and up to 40 hours of staff time each week. This will enable staff to concentrate on more value-adding activities. Being able to track exactly where invoices are in the approval chain will also streamline the approval process, allowing us to improve communications with our suppliers."

Regan adds, "V1 Document Management's technology will make our financial processes so much more effective by giving us the information we need at our fingertips. Documents will never go missing and by no longer archiving paper copies of invoices we will save on storage space."

About Metro News
Metro News is a Toronto-based, multi-faceted marketer of information, entertainment and education products. Over its 100 year history, Metro has expanded its product scope to include magazines, books, newspapers, reference guides, audio and video media. Metro compliments its products with an expansive service matrix including wholesale distribution, sales and marketing services, retail merchandising and auditing, data management, national distribution, logistics, publishing and retail display fixture design and manufacturing. Its broad range of customers includes retailer, packaged goods manufacturers, publishers, libraries and consumers. Recently Metro News has added the Grün division. Grün is Canada's premier marketing and channel development company dedicated to high quality products that are innovative, useful and environmentally sustainable. For more information, visit www.metronews.org

About V1 Document Management
V1 Document Management is a successful USA-based provider of document management and imaging software. V1 Document Management's systems enable the electronic creation, scanning, delivery, authorization and management of documents. Tightly integrated into all major accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, V1 Document Management's solutions eliminate the paper-based storage, duplication and circulation of all types of document including invoices, statements and purchase orders. Using these solutions, mid-sized organizations can significantly cut costs, reduce staff time spent on administration, free-up document storage space and enjoy a return-on-investment within just six months. For more information, visit www.v1documentmanagement.com

V1 Document Management is an Advanced Computer Software Group plc company.

SOURCE: Metro News