Baptist Child and Family Services Reduces Paper Consumption and Storage with PairSoft

The Client

Founded in 1944, Baptist Child and Family Services (BCFS) serves hundreds of thousands of children, families and communities worldwide. Based in San Antonio, Texas, the health and human services organization has 14 offices across the globe and more than 700 employees on its payroll.

The Challenge

BCFS was experiencing positive growth, but also piles of paperwork. The company’s CFO engaged its IT team to help find a solution; fortunately, they found PairSoft.

“We were looking for a way to streamline processes,” explained Cynthia Price, who is part of BCFS’ Accounts Payable department. She said the company was trying to become as paperless as possible, especially since they were using handwritten paper purchase orders at the time.

The Solution

BCFS’ accounts payable department pays bills to vendors in the United States as well as abroad, which can lead to a lot of headaches. Now, with PairSoft in place, when one BCFS program gets a requisition for an approved purchase, they can quickly scan the sheet into SharePoint collaboration software from Microsoft, with any associated receipts or invoices. Price then saves the documentation to The Financial Edge record so it is instantly available for future use. The Financial Edge is fund accounting software from Blackbaud.

The Results

“My favorite feature is the automatic filing,” she said. “Without a doubt it saves me a lot of back and forth to the file room, and it’s easier to find exactly what I need.”

She was a bit reluctant to learn PairSoft at first, however. “Oh no! More work on top of everything we already do!” she recalled thinking. “Is it going to save me time? Do we have the time to learn it?”

But what she found was PairSoft is easy to learn and it has saved her more than just the time she invested in getting to know the software: “I don’t see how we did it in the past. We have 70-something different programs turning in expenses and paperwork. Then it would come to payables.” And, she added, “We don’t get the bulk of paperwork like we used to. We don’t get hundreds of loose papers stapled, getting caught to the paperclips.”

Other departments within BCFS are also exploring integration of the system, including its External Affairs office which uses The Raiser’s Edge. She said, “With anything new there’s always apprehension. But it is so worth it.”

Measures of Success

• Paperwork is no longer misplaced.
• Paper waste has been greatly reduced.
• Employees can quickly and easily access information without leaving their seats.
• Accounts payable processes are streamlined.
• This case study was written November 2010, so within only a few months BCFS had already embraced the solution and found it to be an integral part of their enhanced efficiency. consumption and storage.