Approval automation for a B2B provider of language services: a spend optimisation success story
From purchasing equipment to new hires and travel expenses: find out how GLOBO uses ApprovalMax stand-alone workflows as well as a purchase order approval workflow for QuickBooks Online
About GLOBO
GLOBO, based in Philadelphia, offers language support such as translation technology and interpretation services. By eliminating language barriers GLOBO helps organisations across the globe to make access to their services simpler, in over 250 languages.
Bringing accounting back in-house and introducing approval automation
Having used outsourced services for some time, GLOBO decided to bring their accounting back in-house. That’s when it became clear that a formalised digital purchase order approval process was necessary, as the company continued to expand. But apart from sorting out their policies, they had to find a user-friendly tool to support them in automating their approvals.
With a relatively simple set of approval processes in mind GLOBO wasn’t looking for a complicated and expensive solution. The goal was to find an affordable, easy-to-use solution that would streamline their approval workflows.
When they found ApprovalMax, the roll out was simple. Key stakeholders appreciated its intuitive interface that required very little training. Creating, and approving, approval requests is now easy, transparent, quick, and always in line with internal policies as well as external requirements.
Stand-alone workflows for hiring, travel expenses, and more
Stand-alone workflows are approval workflows that are not connected to an accounting system. They can be used to authorise any type of document or request, such as legal agreements or travel requests.
GLOBO established several ApprovalMax stand-alone workflows for a variety of purposes. For business travels, employees submit an approval request stating the purpose of the trip and whether it’s in the budget or not. They have a margin calculator for new clients and a particular approval workflow to consider individual pricing; after all, it might be a strategic customer where pricing is not the main focus. When it’s about changes to current salaries or the hiring of new people where an offer is to be made, the respective workflow takes care of collecting the necessary approvals – first from HR, then from the CEO.
Purchase order approval automation for QuickBooks Online
Additionally, GLOBO uses a purchase order approval workflow that’s connected to QuickBooks Online. For clients such as hospitals, for instance, they regularly purchase equipment for the provision of language support services. When the purchasing team intends to buy something, they first have to get an approval from operations, then from finance.
ApprovalMax makes it easy to both create and approve purchase orders, always in line with the internal purchasing policy and without delays or manual interventions. Having clear, easy digital approvals has achieved transparency, efficiency, and significant time savings.
Another major benefit is that ApprovalMax allows GLOBO to limit purchase order requesters in terms of what they can order from which suppliers. The approval process can have as many steps as required and is flexible enough to facilitate individual rules for routing purchase orders to the responsible approver based on class, location, vendor and other QuickBooks Online data. It’s also possible to automatically email purchase orders to the vendors after full authorisation.
Last but not least: simplified audits
Every year, GLOBO has an accounting audit. The external auditors want to see who approved when what and why, they check the policy and verify that it was followed. ApprovalMax allows to export the approval workflow description with just a click so that the auditors can compare it to the policy and see that everything’s been done by the book. Of course, the audit trail and audit reports make the auditing process a lot faster as well.
All in all, by establishing fully automated and transparent approval processes with detailed audit trails, ApprovalMax helps GLOBO to follow their now efficient processes and procedures while saving time and money.
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