Benefits of ImageNow Add Up for Avante Group's Accounts Payable Department

SHAWNEE, KANSAS — Perceptive Software, Inc.,announced that Avante Group, Inc., a Florida-based provider of nursing care and rehabilitation, deployed ImageNow® document management, document imaging and workflow solutions to expedite accounting processes. Avante Group operates 20 care facilities in four states. The organization offers short- and long-term convalescent and rehabilitative care services that are tailored to residents' individual needs.

With document traffic increasing to more than 500,000 pages per year, paperwork burdened Avante's accountants, whose work was disrupted by the time-consuming management of paper files. After analyzing several document management applications, Avante administrators realized that ImageNow was best suited to complement their innovative business procedures.

"At first, it was hard to believe ImageNow did everything Perceptive Software claimed it could do," said John Flamholtz, director of technical solutions. "After seeing a web demo, I was convinced that it could deliver great benefits for us."

ImageNow's seamless integration with existing and future versions of Microsoft Great Plains, the organization's accounts payable (AP) suite, enables Avante to maintain continuous business processes while eliminating paper inefficiencies. Guaranteed rapid, cost-effective and flexible integration with any application is a hallmark of the solutions developed at Perceptive Software, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

"ImageNow complements our Great Plains software without changing the host environment," said Flamholtz. "Third-party software is often not compatible with new versions of host applications, but this is not an issue with ImageNow. We can upgrade with confidence, because we know ImageNow works with everything."

Before ImageNow deployment, accounting staff would have to leave their desks and conduct a painstaking search through multiple filing cabinets to find invoices and other documentation. Slow document retrieval delayed responses to vendor inquiries and hampered the reconciliations process. ImageNow supports remote scanning from multiple locations and collocates the electronic images in a central repository. Employees have instant, single-click access to the documents from the convenience of their desktops.

"ImageNow makes it so easy to find invoices when vendors call with inquiries," said Anne Dobric, controller. "Users just pull up the image on their screen. This gives AP processors more time to focus on workflow responsibilities."

Avante takes advantage of ImageNow workflow functionality to streamline accounting procedures. Invoices are automatically routed to workers' individual queues, where they are processed and sent to the finish queue for permanent archiving. When employees are absent or Avante prepares for an audit, resources are optimized by granting users temporary access to other ImageNow workflow queues.

"ImageNow has had an unbelievable impact on productivity," said Doni Neufeld, director of information technology. "ImageNow has also eliminated document shipping and storage costs and has made us confident that all documents are where they are supposed to be."

ImageNow's comprehensive security features enable Avante to satisfy compliance requirements quickly. Easy retrieval of invoices and all other documents from the secure ImageNow repository means Avante is able to benefit from maximum remuneration during audits.

"When we are audited, we must produce all invoices to be fully reimbursed," said Flamholtz. "Lost invoices disrupted audits when we used paper files. ImageNow has solved that problem, because all documents are secure and easily accessed."

Avante plans to expand the ImageNow solution to the human resources and reimbursements departments without disrupting everyday tasks.

"Buying new ImageNow licenses is an easy choice because it's such a sound product," said Neufeld. "To have such a stable software solution is incredible."

Discover the ImageNow difference at http://www.imagenow.com