Automotive Retailing
The iKAN Virtual Document Center at multiple dealerships for back office applications
The company offers automobiles, trucks, and RV’s on multiple sales lots.
Besides the inability to look at paperwork for a given location without actually physically being there, management had a problem related to expense management it was trying to solve. All expense items related to a car on the sales lot cannot be accounted for until the car is sold, based on IRS and standard accounting rules. Therefore, expense related receipts were being kept in paper form, resulting in lost or misfiled documents, costing the company money.
Payless had seen other systems designed for the automotive retail industry that were components of larger, more complex systems with high price tags. With the iKAN Virtual Document Center, Payless Automotive was able to get their first location up and running within 24 hours. As the additional locations are added, management is able to view documents from all locations at any time, securely over the Internet. The flexible cost structure has allowed the system to be expanded as they go, and is treated as an expense line item. Users required less than 30 minutes training to use the system. They have realized another one of their concerns, which was disaster recovery for all of their documents stored on premise. The system has also streamlined activities with their accounting firm, which has a secure login ID to be able to process the scanned paperwork.
The company has been increasing use of the system from the primary purpose of expense tracking, into other areas of the operation, including bank statements, customer finance applications and paperwork, and other automobile related paperwork. The technology has been considered an integral part of their operations by providing a whole new way to manage their business.