Billtrust Electronic Invoicing Helps NYC's Leading Waste Management Company Get Paid Faster

HAMILTON, N.J., July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Meeting the solid waste and recycling needs of a city of eight million people is no small task. Action Carting Environmental Services, New York City's most progressive and award-winning waste management company, has risen to the top in America's most populous city by emphasizing service, efficiency and the very latest environmental technologies.

Action Carting's commitment to its commercial and industrial customers spans every aspect of what it does, from its impeccably-maintained vehicles to its back office operations. In mid-2011, Brian Giambagno, Action Carting's Chief Financial Officer, initiated a search for a better way to manage all its outbound invoices.

"At the time our process was to transmit PDFs of our invoices to our out-of-town billing partner who would then print, stuff, and mail the statements to our customers. That meant we were waiting for mail deliveries in both directions to get paid by check—not a very fast or eco-friendly solution," Giambagno said. "We try to be 'green' in everything we do. It was clearly time to find an alternative that would not only eliminate paper, but also cut internal costs and speed up the entire invoice/payment process."

Action Carting invited its existing billing services partner, as well as two other companies, to propose a better alternative. One of the firms competing was Billtrust.

"Most billing service providers are printers with technology capabilities. Billtrust is a technology company that also prints on the back end," observed Giambagno. "In my mind, this is a fundamentally better approach."

Billtrust, based in nearby Hamilton, New Jersey, has developed state-of-the-art products and services designed to simplify the billing process. One of Billtrust's key services is Invoice Gateway™, a hosted online bill payment site. Giambagno stated that Billtrust's innovative Web-based services, as well as its proactive approach to problem-solving, made it the clear choice.

Action Carting knew that moving to a purely electronic invoice platform would take time due to the cooperation necessary from its long list of customers. In the meantime, paper would still play an important role. Despite this, Giambagno reported Billtrust was able to speed up the process almost immediately.

"Our paper payments began arriving a week sooner, simply because Billtrust was able to bill faster than our previous vendor who is located in the Midwest," he said. "Billtrust has seven facilities nationwide, and one is right outside New York City. So our mail delivery times are that much faster."

The ultimate goal of shifting to the Invoice Gateway interface, however, would require a focused effort. In this, the CFO said, Billtrust proved both aggressive and effective.

"We began with an email campaign, along with messages on our statements encouraging customers to sign up for electronic invoicing," he reported. "Within the first five months, that quickly convinced 20% of our customers to receive electronic bills instead of paper.  But then I got a call from our Billtrust contact who volunteered his company's services in conducting a phone campaign."

The Billtrust representative suggested contacting a short list of customers who get the greatest number of invoices, since they would be the most motivated to consolidate and eliminate paperwork. With Giambagno's go-ahead, vendor staff began making calls. The results were dramatic.

"As of today, 30% of our customers have already signed on for electronic invoicing. Billtrust has moved on to an extended list of customers, and we're expecting further additions very soon," said Giambagno. "Our original goal was 25% after the first year."

Just six months after going live with Billtrust, besides the faster mail delivery of paper bills, Action Carting's paperless billing customers are paying, on average, within 10 days from the date that they receive the email notification by Billtrust.  Payments are coming in quicker than ever before; just as importantly, operational costs have also dropped.

"Our departmental procedures are more streamlined. We've logged huge drops in paper, envelope and postage costs. And since we can provide supporting documentation electronically, our people no longer have to stand at a machine and scan, copy and mail hundreds of pages of tickets and receipts," Giambagno reported.

To Action Carting's CFO, the objective is as clear as the message printed in his company's invoices: "Stop getting envelopes in the mail." He believes he has found the right partner to make that happen.

"Action Carting is in growth mode. We're acquiring other companies and handling higher volumes of customers—yet we're handling it without hiring more people," he said. "Billtrust has shown us repeatedly that it proactively seeks solutions to our problems, which makes them a very valuable partner."

About Billtrust
Headquartered in Hamilton, NJ, Billtrust is a premier provider of outsourced billing solutions. The company's flagship product and service suite, called CompleteBilling, consists of paper, fax, e-mail and online billing (EBPP, EIPP). In addition, the company provides expert bill design, in-bill marketing services, and CustomerCare, an integrated online customer service tool. These comprehensive tools automate the billing process, enabling businesses to save money, increase productivity, improve cash flow, and seamlessly migrate to electronic delivery. For more information, visit Billtrust online at www.billtrust.com.

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SOURCE Billtrust