Before Xelix, FM Conway’s AP team relied heavily on manual processes. It was tedious and time-consuming to detect payment errors, surface issues and identify unapplied credit notes. These tasks often went uncompleted, and even when they were, they were slow and carried a huge risk of human error. 

The team also relied on an internal audit process that took up weeks of their time each year. Any errors the overworked AP team missed usually went unnoticed until the audit rolled around, which created delays and meant the team had to resolve errors and overpayments after the money had left the business.  

With the time they spent monitoring transactions and subsequently managing an audit, the team didn’t have capacity for other controls such as supplier statement reconciliations. These gaps in the process and lack of visibility kept FM Conway from identifying missing invoices and ensuring prompt payments. 

Martin Wicks, Head of Internal Audit at FM Conway, wanted a solution to help audit their transactions faster, save money and give them more time to spend on tasks like supplier statement reconciliation. That's how he found Xelix. 

“With Xelix, the internal audit team can identify errors, locate the source of the problem, determine the root cause and ultimately provide management with 100% assurance that all transactions have been reviewed, corrected and are accurate.” 

Xelix's Transactions module proactively monitors FM Conway’s transactions and flags potential duplicates and overpayments to the AP team every morning before payment, protecting their cashflow.

“We are essentially conducting an audit every day for 260 days of the year. I estimate that it saves us probably in the region of 10 to 12 weeks of audit time.

“Instead of waiting for someone else, like internal audit, to come along and go through a list of invoices for hours on end, the AP team is able to act immediately.” 

One of the most helpful things for Martin has been the time Xelix has created for his team to get on with other tasks within the business.  

“The Xelix solution has really empowered our Accounts Payable team. The level of motivation it provides is significant, giving them greater confidence to go back to the business and say, "We have a problem here—can we resolve it?"  

Instead of the time-consuming, ineffective system it used to be, spotting errors proactively with Xelix keeps morale high while saving money.  

After the success of the Transactions module, Martin and the team were keen to explore Xelix’s other capabilities.

Completing vendor statement reconciliations at scale is a challenge for any team with manual processes in place. With the help of automated supplier statement reconciliation from Xelix's Statements module, Martin and his team have been able to increase their coverage fivefold. 

“One area our Accounts Payable team was particularly keen to explore further was the supplier statement reconciliation module. 

“Thanks to the Statements module from Xelix, the team is now able to reconcile far more supplier statements—at least five times more than they did in the past. “ 

The FM Conway team can identify missing invoices across their extensive supplier network. They can also chase up vendors for invoices and get them paid faster, which ensures their Prompt Payment Code compliance.