BlueChain and EzzyBills’ Scan-to-Pay solution ticks all the right boxes
For owner operators, getting the workflow right on back-office tasks saves time, relieves stress, and allows them to focus on more strategic and important tasks. By implementing a Scan-to-Pay workflow using Bluechain and EzzyBills, Steve Hazell at NRS Couriers can process bill payments quickly and easily at a time that is convenient for him without cutting Xero or his bookkeeper out of the loop.
The challenge
Small business owners like Steve have a lot on their plate. Aside from the day-to-day operations of a busy regional courier business, back-office tasks, like paying bills, can easily consume time better spent building the business or relaxing with family.
NRS Courier started using the Bluechain app to avoid having to log into a bank portal to make batch bill payments, but Steve was frustrated with the time it took him and his bookkeeper to get them into Xero for payment. After changing bookkeepers, the issue came to a head. Steve wanted to continue to use Bluechain but needed a way to schedule or pay bills for the business when it was convenient for him.
“The best time to deal with bills is when they come into the business. I can assess them, action them, and then I don’t need to think about them again.”
Steve did not want to have to forward emailed or paper bills to his bookkeeper to be entered into Xero. Nor did he want to spend time manually entering bills into Xero himself. He also wanted to avoid the inefficiency of revisiting the same bill upon receipt, in Xero, and then again on payment.
The solution
After speaking with Bluechain about his issues, Steve downloaded the EzzyBills app and connected it to Bluechain and Xero.
EzzyBills provides an email address for Steve to forward supplier bills to. By including the email address on his email footer, suppliers can even email the bills directly into “Bills to pay” in Xero. The EzzyBills app lets Steve photograph paper bills to enter them into Xero where all the details, down to line items are captured.
Steve wanted to capture both receipts and bills using the EzzyBills app, separate workflows were created so that each type of document landed in the appropriate place in Xero.
Results
The integration between Xero, EzzyBills and Bluechain means bills are presented on Steve’s Bluechain app within seconds.
“I no longer have to wait for my bookkeeper to process bills in Xero before I can pay them. Bills come into Bluechain through the day from emails, or immediately when I scan them. I can then choose to pay a bill immediately or schedule for the due date.”
Linking bill scanning with payment automates multiple steps in the back-office process, but there are still checks in place. Steve can see the line-item detail on the Bluechain app to make sure everything is correct before he pays. And bills that are presented with different account details are automatically held to avoid errors or fraud.
Actions taken in the Bluechain app are immediately reflected in Xero so bookkeepers can see which bills are scheduled through the Planned Date field and which bills are paid through Bluechain. And the payment methods like credit cards and bank accounts in the app are mapped to bank feeds in Xero for reconciliation. Having solved the key issues, NRS Courier continue to look for ways to improve back office processes. Steve has extended his use of Bluechain to include his weekly payroll.
