Case Study: Century Management Services, Inc. April 15, 2019
Profile
Century Management Services, Inc. is New York’s preeminent property management firm, managing approximately 11,500 co-op, condo, and rental units in the New York metropolitan area.
The Challenge
With approximately 11,500 co-op, condo, and rental units, Century was relying on administrative accounting staff to track its Accounts Payable (AP) operations and coordinate with multiple vendors, secure invoices for services, scan, and sync each with financial reporting. The manual processes were labor intensive and cumbersome and also lacked the transparency needed to provide detailed reports and assurance to clients and year-end auditors. The company had no way to track when or how an invoice was received.
Century’s Accounts Receivable (AR) operations were also handled by onsite staff who fielded incoming checks and manually entered data, often traveling to
a bank to make deposits. There was no centralized location for data visibility as each payment method was segregated. The AR tasks, too, were time intensive and inefficient.
The company sought technology solutions that would create efficiencies and reduce costs associated with managing its AP and AR operations. The solutions needed to promote transparency with customers and auditors. Michael Catanzaro, Century’s Chief Financial Officer, had witnessed first-hand the benefits of automating AP/AR earlier in his career, and knew that finding solutions that to automate invoice and payment processes and create transparency to earn trust was essential to modernizing Century’s business.
The Solution: Automation Provided by AvidXchange and ClickPay
Century automated its AP and AR processes by implementing solutions from AvidXchange, the leading provider of AP and payment automation solutions, and ClickPay, the industry-leading platform for automating real estate receivables. AvidXchange and ClickPay partnered to help accelerate payment processes in the real estate market. Through this partnership, real estate businesses like Century Management now have access to the most innovative real estate payment solutions to improve cash management. Deploying AvidXchange and ClickPay allowed the company to simplify and streamline the large tasks of collecting 100 percent of resident payments and processing payable invoices. Automating its processes also provided the transparency its business demanded.
AvidXchange
AvidXchange Invoice and Pay allows Century to automate once manual AP processes to track invoices electronically and streamline workflows. The solution provides a central repository of invoice data that enables extensive management reporting and complete visibility of invoice status. AvidXchange’s payment application enables Century to pay its suppliers electronically while maintaining its banking relationships and its current approval workflows.
ClickPay
ClickPay provides Century with a customizable, integrated platform to bill and collect all types of resident payments, including paper checks and money orders. The industry’s only solution to collect 100 percent of resident payments also provides a centralized dashboard that joins electronic and paper payment for management reporting and daily visibility. With a single login, Century can seamlessly manage all payments across the entire resident lifecycle.
The Results
Century has experienced 30-50 percent time- savings and has saved an estimated $100,000 in labor costs—accrued evenly on both the AP and AR sides—since automating AP with AvidXchange and AR with ClickPay.
With AvidXchange, one person can now manage AP processes that previously required four employees, freeing Century staff to focus on higher-level, strategic tasks. The AvidXchange solution also eliminated the need for additional staff hiring as they grew.
“The more efficient you are, the smarter you work,” said Catanzaro. “Using AvidXchange, we can enable staff to concentrate on more complex work associated with high tenant turnover in managed co-ops, rentals and condos. With the frequency of new people coming into our buildings and new leases starting, it’s important that we make a good first impression by getting billing done right the first time,” said Catanzaro.
With ClickPay’s integrated payment services, Century also increased operational efficiencies and enabled profitable growth. Time-sensitive tasks such as managing payment exceptions, manually scanning checks, and answering resident payment inquiries are now completed by ClickPay. ClickPay’s solution saved Century nearly $50,000 by not requiring them to hire additional headcount as the company scaled.
“Our people are now able to focus on the more intricate part of their work and allow ClickPay to do its job without worry—receiving payments, going through an API and posting to accounts,” said Catanzaro. “It’s amazing.”
Century’s relationship with residents has also been positively impacted since its automation with ClickPay. Residents can easily review their accounts by logging into their ClickPay portal to see payment history and schedule recurring or one-time payments. They can also directly call ClickPay’s resident call center, reducing the number of calls to Century.
“Automation has freed up my time and made my life a lot easier,” said Catanzaro.
About ClickPay
The complete platform for real estate billing and payments.
As the industry-leading platform for automating real estate receivables, ClickPay accepts all payment methods, including paper checks, e-checks (ACH), cash, and credit & debit cards. ClickPay delivers integrated print and e-bill presentment and payment services to increase operational efficiencies and enable profitable growth. Shaping the future of real estate billing and payments with innovative products and services, ClickPay provides property management companies with customizable solutions to connect with their tenants, residents, and homeowners. To learn more, go to https://www.clickpay.com.
About AvidXchange
AvidXchangeTM revolutionizes the way companies pay their bills. Serving more than 5,500 clients throughout North America, AvidXchange is an industry leader in automating invoice and payment processes for midmarket companies spanning multiple industries including Real Estate, Financial Services, Energy, and Construction.
AvidXchange has been recognized as the top software company in North Carolina by the North Carolina Technology Association, one of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the Charlotte area for six consecutive years, ranked among Deloitte’s Fast 500 this past year, and
was recently named the top 100 technology companies in North America by Red Herring. In the midst of record growth, AvidXchange has remained true to its most valued competitive advantage — its people. AvidXchange has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Charlotte for eight consecutive years. AvidXchange’s automation specialists would be happy to schedule a customized demo for you. Call us at (888) 918.2843 or email our sales team directly at sales@avidXchange.com.