The Company

With more than 37,000 units under management, LEDIC Realty Company LLC of Montgomery, Ala., is one of the largest affordable property management companies in the country. LEDIC delivers housing management services for multifamily properties of all types in the U.S.

The Challenge

Undefined Workflows

Before Yardi procurement solutions, LEDIC staff members manually created payables from invoices for utilities and other charges, often without corresponding purchase orders. This resulted in data entry errors, unauthorized or unnecessary purchases, inadequate approval processes and no insight to budget implications. “We lost the ability to control our expenses,” recalled Jennifer van Arcken, director of business applications for LEDIC.

The Solution

Yardi PAYscan & Yardi Marketplace

LEDIC adopted elements of the Yardi Procure to Pay Suite, a centralized, end-to-end platform that delivers spend visibility, streamlines invoice processing, centralizes MRO purchasing and simplifies vendor onboarding. Yardi PAYscan scans invoices into electronic transactions and automates workflows across the approval process. Yardi Marketplace is an online and mobile purchasing platform that automatically enters invoices into Yardi PAYscan.

The Story

Efficient Purchasing & Invoice Processes

The impact of Yardi PAYscan was akin to “purchase orders on steroids,” according to van Arcken. The solution’s automated workflows enforced purchasing policies and formalized the review process and criteria, which eliminated costly unauthorized purchases. LEDIC was able to add budget checks and delineate between routine purchasing and more expensive capital expenditures.

It also eliminated the need to occupy valuable space with filing cabinets. For example, if someone wants to review payments to a supplier over the past year, the invoice register dashboard brings up every relevant invoice. “That’s a true benefit of being paperless,” van Arcken said.

Yardi Marketplace’s comprehensive online catalog, preferred product designations, customizable workflows and detailed spend analytics brought clarity to LEDIC’s purchasing operations. Maintenance staff members in the field can use Yardi PAYscan Mobile to order items from Yardi Marketplace, which automatically generates purchase orders and initiates review routing. Immediate approval results in faster repairs and inspections, enhancing resident satisfaction. Maintenance workers can also receive new job requests for nearby units through Yardi PAYscan Mobile and address them immediately instead of returning to the office first.

“The last few years have seen vast improvements in our procurement, budget and maintenance processes. Yardi Procure to Pay has definitely been a success for us,” concluded van Arcken.