Sierra Nevada

Challenge

As demand for the craft-brewed beer grew, Sierra Nevada grew too. To meet that demand, the firm had to expand physically by increasing the size of its brewery and added a restaurant component while also growing internally. The ongoing growth put a strain on the firm’s accounting system which comprised mostly of manila file folders. “We were using a traditional filing system with vendor files stuck in manila folders,” recalls Bill Bales, Chief Financial Officer. “Employees were constantly looking for invoices from a document retrieval point of view. Invoices would end up staying on individuals’ desks or turning up lost. It was disorganized and quite challenging.”.

Solution

After years of dealing with lost invoices, errors and other issues that disrupted its two accounting employees’ workdays, Sierra Nevada decided to replace its paper-based system with DocLink which is integrated seamlessly with their back office financial system, Microsoft Dynamics GP.

By doing so, the firm eliminated the need for one full-time file clerk. Using just two AP clerks, despite continued growth, the firm is reaping the benefits of quick document retrieval, fast access to invoice copies, and integration of DocLink with its existing general ledger system. The benefits have resulted in improved customer service, time savings, and streamlined workflow processes.

Benefits

Sierra Nevada’s DocLink implementation has eliminated the company’s need for a file clerk, thus reducing payroll expenses and allowed the company to seamlessly track accounts payable.

Overall customer service practices have also improved as a result of the new, automated system. Bales says Sierra Nevada’s accounting staff has experienced significant time savings and maintained its size despite company growth. “We’ve seen the greatest benefits on the AP side, where we used to have a full-time file clerk. Thanks to DocLink, we no longer need a file clerk.”