Paperless Perks

LumaCorp loves Procure to Pay

By Lee Ann Stiff on Feb 8, 2018 in People

Are you feeling energized for 2018? It’s a new year, bringing fresh challenges and opportunities. And while every January can inspire a list of resolutions, for every real estate business one goal is likely to top the list year after year: reduce costs.

When it comes to lowering operational expenses, going paperless for as many tasks as possible is smart. And here’s some great news: it’s easier to do than you might think, and the benefits are big. For Dallas-based apartment manager LumaCorp, centralizing and automating procurement and payables processing on its mobile Yardi property management platform using Yardi Procure to Pay has not only reduced costs for the company, but also saves its staff valuable time (in addition to sparing more than a few trees). And in just three months, by eliminating the cost of transporting invoices by courier, Procure to Pay paid for itself.

Better Buying and Bigger Discounts

LumaCorp manages 24 apartment communities with more than 6,000 units. According to Larry Orth, LumaCorp’s controller, the company’s maintenance, repair and operating supply costs fell by 4 percent the first year after adopting Yardi Procure to Pay, an end-to-end, paperless procurement and invoice processing system that’s part of the Yardi Multifamily Suite full-business platform.

Orth said, “For me, the great thing about it is the time efficiency, both at the properties and in the accounting department. We are a full service Procure to Pay client, so the processing is handled by Yardi, which takes a lot off our onsite people’s hands. All told, Procure to Pay has reduced by up to 40 percent the time our team spends on the payables process. And it’s a paperless system, which obviously also benefits the environment.”

LumaCorp has also gained savings from the negotiated pricing across its portfolio by using Yardi Marketplace catalogs within the Procure to Pay platform. “We increased the discount from 3.5 percent to 5 percent with our largest maintenance supplier. Procure to Pay has driven a reduction in overall supplies expense of approximately 4 percent,” Orth said.

Painless Processing and Approvals

Procure to Pay also minimizes risk by providing total visibility into spend and preventing duplicate orders and payments. Orth elaborated, “In addition to giving us better pricing, Procure to Pay provides automated workflows that help us incorporate procurement policies corporate-wide.  This keeps us from creating a purchase order after the product or service has already been received or performed, for example.  The mobile application also helps us because we invariably need approvals at the last minute.” In 2015, LumaCorp’s online processing of purchase orders totaled a value of two million dollars.

Emily Short, director of business intelligence for LumaCorp, also sang the praises of Yardi’s paperless solutions that enable the company to focus on its residents. “Our goal is to run as efficiently as possible. When we close on a new property, we want to walk in and hit the ground running,” said Short. “Procure to Pay’s approval workflows and the fact that an order doesn’t get released until it’s approved really got our expenses into line,” she added.

LumaCorp also uses Yardi solutions for marketing, leasing and resident services to meet its customer service standards and earn industry accolades in the process, including Top Rated Property Award for 14 of its properties by apartmentratings.com in 2015. “We’re a great story of a small client that uses Yardi’s suite of products to be efficient and profitable,” Short added.

Learn more about Yardi Procure to Pay and the Yardi Multifamily Suite to reduce costs and energize your operations.