Silk Contract Logistics Zoho Expense Case Study

Introduction

Silk Contract Logistics (SCL), is a leading name in Logistics space within Australia. It is ASX li`sted public limited company. SCL is proudly 100% Australian-owned, providing integrated, port-to-door, landside logistics services to some of the world’s biggest names. SCL contacted FI Digital to help them streamline and automate the process of managing business expenses. That’s where Zoho Expense came into the picture. Zoho Expense is an expense management software which helps to track expenses, streamline the approval flow and automate the workflows.

Overview

SCL encountered challenges in the manual handling of expenses, leading to inefficiencies, errors, and delays in their financial processes. The traditional methods of expense management proved to be time-consuming, prone to human error, and lacked the necessary controls for policy compliance. Recognizing the need for a more streamlined and automated solution, FI Digital suggested using Zoho Expense to help SCL streamline their entire expense management process. This case study highlights how the implementation of Zoho Expense successfully alleviated these challenges, leading to improved accuracy, efficiency, and overall expense management at SCL.

Executive Summary

Silk Logistics is head quartered in Melbourne, Australia having their logistics facility sites across all the major cities in Australia. SCL is one of the largest third-party logistics suppliers across Port Logistics, and Contract Logistics, servicing Australia.

SCL History

SCL has been built on the strong foundation and reputation of two dynamic Australian logistics companies that now work together as one team. In 2012, Kagan Logistics and Hoffmann Transport aligned to form Silk Contract Logistics. With individual company histories dating back more than 50 years, SCL is one of the most experienced warehousing and transport operations in the country. In February 2014, the management team acquired SCL from Gresham Private Equity.

Problem statement and key challenges

SCL faced challenges in its manual handling of expenses, prompting the organization to seek a more efficient and automated solution. The existing processes fell short in several areas, contributing to a range of issues that impacted financial operations. The decision to adopt Zoho Expense was motivated by the following key challenges faced by SCL:

  • Manual Expense Tracking
  • Lack of Policy Compliance
  • Limited Visibility and Reporting

Addressing these challenges became imperative for SCL and FI Digital to enhance overall operational efficiency and financial control.

Evaluation of the problem

We conducted multiple requirement gathering sessions to comprehend how SCL employees track their expenses, submit the receipts and how the expenses are reimbursed. As per the discussions with the SCL’s Finance team, they did not have the entire visibility of the expenses being submitted by the employees. The employees did not have the record(recipts) of their expenses or they did not submit their expenses on time which lead to delays in the approval process as well. The Finance team also did not have the necessary visibility to analyze the spending patterns.

Proposed Solution

In response to the identified challenges faced by SCL in their manual expense management processes, FI Digital suggested them to go with the Zoho Expense Application. Zoho Expense offers a comprehensive solution to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and ensure policy compliance. Features like adding expenses, auto scan receipts, corporate card integration, email alerts, data export and reports helped us to streamline the entire expense management process for SCL. The successful implementation and utilization of these features lead to a more efficient, accurate, and controlled expense management process for SCL.

Implementation

We started off with in-person Scoping and Solution Design Workshops before the Project Kickoff, to understand the process level requirements and the customization needs. The Zoho Expense Application was set up and configured as per the requirements gathered during multiple requirement gathering workshops. We integrated Zoho Expense with VISA Corporate Cards for seamless submission of the expenses. The employees were able to submit the expenses within minutes using the auto-scan receipts, bulk expense upload and the corporate card functions. Post configuring the Zoho Expense Application, we conducted multiple rounds of testing to ensure the accuracy of the implemented flow. The other crucial parts of the implementation were Project Management, Go-Live Support, Training and Documentation.

Result

SCL has been using Zoho Expense for the past 3 months now and has seen a significant increase in its efficiency. The efficiency per employee has increased by 87.5% post using Zoho Expenses which has improved the employee satisfaction rate as well. The Finance Department has a complete overview of the expenses submitted by the employees, the approval and the reimbursement details. The Finance department can now easily manage the approval hierarchy, track the expenses and streamline the complete expense management flow.