AgCarolina Financial

The Situation:

AgCarolina Financial, also known as East Carolina Farm Credit, is a provider of financing for agriculture and rural living since 1917. Due to a combination of competitive rates, personal service and extensive local knowledge, AgCarolina has grown to 13 locations across the state with more than $600 million in loans outstanding to more than 4,000 members.

Facing technology challenges, inadequate end user support, and the inability to track and effectively manage procurement transactions, AgCarolina needed a better solution for spend management and sourcing effectiveness.

AgCarolina wanted its employees to focus on the organization’s growth and customer base. To accomplish this, employees needed to spend less time and energy on office administration. The operational challenge was even greater due to decentralization of the organization, with employees in branch offices ordering supplies from multiple vendors. Numerous invoices were generated on a monthly basis.

Regency met with AgCarolina’s finance team to devise a strategy to enhance operational effectiveness by decreasing the number of vendors and monthly invoices by deploying Regency’s unified approach and technology.

The Solution:

Regency provides a hosted, web-based technology for companies to optimize and manage corporate spending, increase profitability, and dramatically simplify procure to payment processes. The company offers “centralized” management with real time visibility of transactions, enhanced enterprise connectivity, and controls and services that reduce finance team workloads.

The solution features a single-user interface, a single set of processes based upon custom configuration, a single invoice electronically interfaced to the customer’s accounts payable systems, and a single contact for customer service. Within a few weeks, the solution was implemented to establish procurement standards, control spending on specified categories, and allow companies to refocus internal resources on critical processes and strategic spend initiatives.

Technologies and Delivery Method

The Implementation:

To implement the solution, Regency analyzed the total cost of acquisition, and developed a set of processes and benchmarks to manage and streamline the organization’s supply chain. AgCarolina identified 17 end users within branch locations and the corporate office. These users were divided into three categories; buyers, approvers and administrators. Buyers are typically comprised of administrative employees that are authorized to make purchases. Approvers are usually managers who make and approve purchases. Administrators have the capability to buy, approve and make administrative changes in the system, including budget protocols.

Regency customized a buyer platform that provides a framework to establish uniform procurement practices throughout the company. The platform integrates within AgCarolina intranet and serves as the primary interface for all users. The buyer platform delivers custom templates, predetermined general ledger code reconciliation, approval routing, real-time budgetary data, budget and workflow management, automated purchase order management, and invoice consolidation.

Implementation of the project took only three weeks. Regency implemented the buyer platform and trained the AgCarolina employees in the process. Much of the training used web-based tools, and follow-up training was available by phone. A custom-branded training guide was created for all users.

The Benefits:

AgCarolina Financial is now better able to concentrate on growth, expansion and management of the organization while employees focus on serving clients. The amount of monthly invoices from multiple suppliers has been greatly reduced, along with the hard and soft costs associated with procure-to-pay processes. AgCarolina Financial also achieved institution-wide compliance to corporate policies and standardized products.

Customer Letter (click to enlarge)