Broken Sound Club: saving green by going green

Saving Green By Going Green

Broken Sound Club

Challenge:

Eliminate paper from all accounting functions across departments.

Solution:

Iron Mountain® Electronic Invoice

Results:

Improved productivity by 25 percent and reduced costs 10 to 15 percent. Freed up 400 cubic feet of space and reduced overall carbon footprint.

Environmentally Responsible Outdoors And Indoors

Broken Sound Club is a year-round, private golf and country club community of 1,450 memberships in Boca Raton, Florida. Known for its elegance, warmth, and hospitality, it has received the ultimate recognition of club excellence as a five-star Platinum Club of America.

Equally, Broken Sound has drawn accolades for its strong commitment to the environment. It has made its courses greener with reclaimed water and composting and installed solar hot water heaters and solar collectors for its pools. In addition, the Club has been recognized by Audubon International and was the first club in Florida and the second in the U.S. to receive GEO certification from the global Golf Environment Organization.

Broken Sound’s environmental vision extended indoors as well. Building on an initiative to switch from plastic to biodegradable cups, the Club began to evaluate its various office functions.

Broken Sound Club functions, with all accounting transactions — invoices, vouchers, expense claims, requests for checks, and purchases — were manual and on paper, with storage onsite and offsite. Consequently, staff spent time searching for files for vendor inquiries, account reconciliation, and reviews and approvals — until Iron Mountain helped to end the paper chase.

Eliminating Paper

"With Iron Mountain as our partner, we have been able to fulfill our environmental vision in our operations as well as on our grounds."

JOHN CREAN, GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER (COO)

Because of a longstanding relationship with Iron Mountain for document storage, Broken Sound considers us "the paper company." So, during a discussion about destroying some old records, they were pleasantly surprised when Iron Mountain suggested getting rid of all the paper in their accounting functions - with an end-to-end invoice automation solution for accounts payable (AP).

This solution, the Iron Mountain Electronic Invoice, includes a virtual Shared-Service Center for centralized receipt of invoices via mail, faxes, and email; scanning and indexing of invoice data; smart routing of invoices to approvers; mobile access for "on-the-go" review and approval; and an online repository for archives. All of this is managed from a single dashboard with self-service for users, offering information on demand, an online audit trail, and workflow status and history - in short, "paperless accounts payable." The executives and the accounting team were "100 percent on-board from the get-go."

"Iron Mountain Electronic Invoice gives us the visibility and control we need to increase efficiency and reduce spending."

Because the Iron Mountain Electronic Invoice is a cloud-based or Software-as-a-Service solution, there was nothing to install or maintain. In just eight weeks from contract signing, it was up and running. Broken Sound Club’s accounting functions are paperless.

John Crean, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer (COO), comments, “Broken Sound Club is committed to being a leader in improving the environment. With Iron Mountain as our partner, we have been able to fulfill our environmental vision in all of our operations.”

Gaining Visibility, Accountability, And Savings

With the automated AP solution, Broken Sound hit a hole in one, unlocking the value of accounts payable as well as improving the environment. The Director of Accounting, Dianne Hart, and the Controller, Jennifer Chavez, explain: “Iron Mountain Electronic Invoice gives us the visibility and control we need to increase efficiency and reduce spending.” Tangible benefits include:

• 25 percent improvement in productivity. The Iron Mountain solution drives greater efficiency. Automation reduces processing time. Online, on-demand information eliminates time spent chasing paper, leads to catching mistakes, and makes users more conscious of approvals and amounts approved. Department heads gain more responsibility to accurately review and code their invoices. Improved reporting helps with account reconciliation.
• 10 to 15 percent reduced costs. Most important, with audit trails and better reports provided by Iron Mountain Electronic Invoice, users are able to get a clear picture of overall costs. Whereas in the past, when department managers signed off on invoice paperwork as it crossed their desks, they now pay closer attention to what they approve. As a result, management can spend more time negotiating better contracts with vendors and lowering costs.
• Real estate savings. The Club has eliminated onsite paper storage, freeing up 400 cubic feet of space. Plus, the Club accounting staff and members are enjoying the clutter-free environment in their accounting departments.
• Reduced carbon footprint. With “paperless AP,” Broken Sound Club eliminated the need to store records offsite, as well as pick-up and drop-off transportation for these records. This resulted in an overall reduction of the Club’s carbon footprint.

Because of this success, the Club is now considering additional steps to extend the benefits of paperless processing to other shared-services functions, such as human resources and purchasing, with similar solutions from Iron Mountain.

"Broken Sound Club is committed to being a leader in improving the environment."