Wenger Manufacturing Cooks Up Success Through UMB with Paymode-X

100 Reasons to Automate Accounts Payable 

Each week, Wenger’s AP staff cut approximately 100 checks in a totally manual process. That was 100 checks to approve, 100 checks to print, 100 checks to sign, 100 checks to place in envelopes, 100 checks to add postage and mail weekly. 

Of greater importance, it was 100 payments that could be delayed in the postal service, which was happening more and more frequently. It was 100 envelopes that could be lost, which meant that the entire process had to be repeated. And it was 100 checks that could be intercepted by fraudsters, and those had been, thankfully, caught on more than one occasion before damage could be done.  

Mitchell Allen, Controller at Wenger Manufacturing, said that “replacing our manual AP activities with an automated process was paramount, as was moving as many of our customers as possible to electronic payment methods. We wanted to get away from checks as much as we could because of the time and the risks involved.”  

“We wanted to get away from checks as much as we could because of the time and the risks involved.” 

– Mitchell Allen, Controller at Wenger Manufacturing 

Security, Efficiency, and More  

Wenger looked to UMB Bank, their primary financial institution, for recommendations and subsequently interviewed several vendors. Standing out from the other AP solutions was Bottomline’s Paymode-X through UMB.  

Paymode-X offered end-to-end AP process automation with a user-friendly, intuitive interface, and the benefit of earning cash-back rebates on every virtual card and premium ACH payment made to suppliers. But the deciding factor was the cutting-edge, multi-layered security and fraud prevention that Paymode-X brought to the table. Paymode-X is the largest B2B electronic payment network with over $400 billion in payments processed annually with zero fraud to over 550,000 suppliers. 

Allen explains, “What really separated Bottomline and UMB from the other programs we looked at was the fact that our suppliers would be inputting all their data and bank account information into Paymode-X. Not only did we not have to shoulder the burden of data entry, but we would not have to retain any vendor banking information within our ERP system. From a security perspective, not having this sensitive data in our system was crucial. We won’t be in the situation where we need to reach out to our vendors and tell them that their information had been compromised.”  

“From a security perspective, not having vendor banking data in our system was crucial. We would, quite simply, never be in the situation where we would need to reach out to our vendors and tell them that their information had been compromised.” 

– Mitchell Allen, Controller at Wenger Manufacturing 

It took less than 60 days to implement Paymode-X through UMB. “The Bottomline implementation team was very helpful,” affirms Allen. “They interacted directly with our staff and built a custom export file for our ERP system. The QA testing and staff training was comprehensive, and they made sure that we fully understood and were comfortable with the new process. Additionally, Bottomline’s ongoing support has been superb: their representatives and experts are excellent to work with and very responsive.” 

Effortless Expansion 

Paymode-X and UMB have more than met Wenger’s goals. Manual AP processing is now a thing of the past. Swift, seamless automation is the order of the day, putting valuable time back in the control of the AP staff.  

Allen notes, “We are able to upload one file to pay our vendors by check, ACH, or credit card, whereas in the past we would have had to do check runs, enter ACH payments manually, etc. Now, we have a single download out of our ERP system and all payments are loaded within a few minutes, ready and waiting to be paid.” 

Wenger’s vendors have appreciated the change. More and more suppliers are taking advantage of the opportunity to select digital payment options, enjoy complete transparency into payment status, and gain rich remittance data to support their Accounts Receivable (AR) functions. The corollary to this vendor shift is that the cash-back dividend payments Wenger is receiving have far exceeded their expectations.  

Looking ahead, Allen states, “We are currently putting in place invoice automation to complement the payment automation we have already implemented. With a fully-automated invoice-to-pay AP process, we will be well-positioned to handle the increased workload we anticipate as our business continues to expand.”  

“With Paymode-X, we now have a fully-automated invoice-to-pay AP process and are well-positioned to handle the anticipated increase in AP throughput as our business continues to expand.”  

– Mitchell Allen, Controller at Wenger Manufacturing