Document Management Drives Efficient Accounting Processes Across 21 Current Transportation Locations

Family owned and operated, Kobussen Buses LTD is a renowned transportation business with over 80 years of experience serving the communities of Wisconsin. Kobussen Buses specializes in providing charter services for every type of event, including sporting events, shopping excursions, weddings, conferences, church outings, and student transportation.

Maintaining a history of high standards and flexibility, the people of Kobussen Buses are knowledgeable and proud to take a personal responsibility in delivering excellence for every passenger. Since the company began back in 1938 with one red, white, and blue school bus, Kobussen Buses has continued to experience extensive business growth. In the last five years alone, the company has doubled in size! Today, Kobussen Buses has a fleet of over 800 school buses, 29 motorcoaches and currently 21 locations throughout Wisconsin.

Yet with their unfaltering growth, the Kobussen Buses team was experiencing several roadblocks with their document-driven business processes. The sheer volume of payables increased to a point where it was difficult for the Kobussen accounting team to keep up with the additional vendor invoices. There was a constant worry of missed payment deadlines and missed invoices. Kobussen Buses knew it was time to look for a solution to automate their accounts payables processes. Kobussen Buses implemented Square 9’s GlobalSearch document management software to drive their manual processes forward through the power of business automation.

GlobalSearch document management eliminated the need to physically store mailed invoices, which not only saved Kobussen costs but also made audit processes more efficient. Before GlobalSearch, each Kobussen Buses location was mailing their invoices to the main office for processing, taking up time and storage space. Now through GlobalSearch’s easy to use browser-based platform, each location is responsible for entering and uploading invoices to be paid. All documents are then securely stored in an organized digital database for immediate search and retrieval across locations. This provides staff at the main office more time to focus on other business-critical tasks.

Best of all, GlobalSearch integrates seamlessly with the specialized software systems Kobussen previously had in place, making it easy to implement GlobalSeach without completely changing the way employees work. Plus, the GlobalCapture document capture platform has helped Kobussen automate the capturing of documents so that staff members do not waste too much time by the scanner or manually entering data. The KeyFree Indexing tool allows staff members to simply point and click to enter data into the system – no typing required!

Overall, GlobalSearch has helped steer Kobussen Buses through a growth period by building a paperless accounts payable process from the ground up. Kobussen has saved money on the basics like paper and printing costs, but even more, GlobalSearch has allowed the company to avoid hiring additional staff, saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars annually as they have added new locations.

To learn more about Kobussen Buses LTD, please visit www.kobussen.com.

Interview: Jane Christenson, Accounts Payable Administrator, Kobussen Buses LTD

Q. What criteria did you have in mind when searching for a Document Management solution?

Jane Christenson: In the last five years our company has doubled in size. The volume of payables has increased and that is what led us to look at document management systems to automate our manual processes. Previously we had a system where individual locations mailed in invoices to be paid. This was time consuming and inconvenient to say the least! Technology is an ever changing factor and we needed a document management system to replace paper storage and make audit processes more efficient. I began looking for document management systems that could integrate with the systems that we had in place, because the software used by a bus company is very specialized. After some research on different document management systems, we identified five potential document management systems. With GlobalSearch, we saw a range of products from basic storage of our files to built out systems that could involve many different departments of our company. We knew it was the right solution for us.

Q. How is your company leveraging GlobalSearch and GlobalCapture? Which departments are using it daily?

Christenson: We really enjoy the cool features of GlobalSearch, including the KeyFree Indexing tool and GlobalCapture. We use GlobalCapture to scan out invoices into the GlobalSearch system so that they are digitally stored. We then can shred the paper files which has helped us reduce our paper storage. Once in GlobalSearch, KeyFree Indexing allows us to enter document data quickly, efficiently, and accurately. We find the data on the document, hover over it, and click to gather important information without manually typing anything. Although mainly used in our Accounting department, we are currently training people from other locations to be able to add, enter, and approve documents.

Q. How has GlobalSearch document management software positively made an impact on your business?

Christenson: We have saved money on the basics like paper and printing costs, but this system has also allowed us to avoid hiring additional staff, while doubling our locations in the past five years. We grew from a company that had one person doing accounts payable, to making each individual location responsible for entering and uploading invoices to be paid. GlobalSearch has helped us through a growth period and we feel confident that we will be able to continue to grow efficiently thanks to the products from Square 9.

Q. Would you recommend Square 9’s solutions and why?

Christenson: Definitely! Luckily for us, we had a fresh face to the organization which helped to steer us to GlobalSearch document management based on systems used at their former employers. I have truly enjoyed having far less paper to file and building a more efficient accounts payable process from the ground up. As we grow larger, we look forward to adding some additional Square 9 products and services. I have enjoyed working with the Square 9 Professional Services team, and all those that helped in implementing GlobalSearch at Kobussen Buses.