Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S11

OCTOBER 17, 2016 ❙ 11 K U N I A U T O M O T I V E , VA N C O U V E R , WA S H . GETTING PAID TO PAY BILLS E-accounting helps dealership group score rebates Printed in Automotive News Jan. 25, 2016 Arlena Sawyers asawyers@crain.com aying bills is never fun, but at Kuni Automotive, it used to be downright onerous. It took "seven or eight" people "one or two" days a week to manually process invoices and sign 90,000 checks a year, said Verna Daly, director of centralized accounting at Kuni. Ⅲ Revamped accounting All of those checks required setup boosts two signatures. They still do. efficiency But just over a year ago, accountants at the Vancouver, Wash., group's newly centralized accounting department started approving invoices for payment online, from virtually anywhere and at any time. They pay vendors electronically with a credit card that rebates the dealership group about $15,000 a month. The group also has reduced the amount of paper it uses, freeing up a 10-by-12-foot storage unit for other uses. Under the old system, "we had check-signing parties - that was the only way to make it sound fun," Daly said, with a laugh. "We'd pick a day, lock ourselves in a room. Sometimes, I'd order in lunch or pick a time of day when we knew there wasn't much going on and could be away from our desks. Starbucks was our best friend," she recalled. Kuni ranks No. 68 on the Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with new-vehicle retail sales of 13,110 in 2014. P Centralizing Kuni Automotive, founded in 1969, has 15 stores in Oregon, California, Colorado and Washington. In 2011, it acquired the Pioneer Group. The five former Pioneer stores used a dealer management system from ADP Dealer Services, now known as CDK Global. The Kuni stores used one from another vendor that Kuni CFO Laura Carlisle declined to name. In 2012, around the time the Pioneer stores were being integrated into the group, From left, Kuni Automotive's Verna Daly, Laura Carlisle and Sara Humbert have seen improved efficiency since the group centralized its accounting department. Kuni also was moving accounting duties from each individual dealership to a centralized operation that served the entire dealership group. "When they folded [the former Pioneer stores] into our company, we then had different computer systems that we needed to learn how to manage at the same time we were doing centralized accounting," said Carlisle. "So that was a complex thing to figure out. "We decided to move to CDK, and now all our dealerships are on CDK. One system companywide makes it more efficient." The next step was to find additional technology that would make the centralized accounting department even more efficient, Daly said. In October 2014, the department began implementing an electronic payment system called Nvoicepay. It enabled the group's accounts payable staff to approve invoices online, which equates to an electronic signature that releases payments to vendors. The payment process still takes two approvals from Daly and her designated staff, but it is less burdensome because they don't have to be in the same place at the same time to make it happen. Also, the system integrates with the dealership group's DMS, she added. "I can approve an invoice during the day, or I can do it at home or when I'm traveling," Daly said. "You're paying your vendors, and that doesn't stop." The group can pay vendors by electronic direct deposit, by a private credit card issued by the electronic payment system company or by MasterCard. Pay, get a rebate The method of payment depends on the vendor's preference. But given a choice, Kuni prefers to use the MasterCard, which rebates Kuni a percentage of what it spends, said Sara Humbert, the group's vice president of accounting and compliance. The accounting department processes paper checks for the few vendors that request it, Daly said. The centralized operations and new systems have enabled the group to make changes and streamline some tasks, Humbert said. For example, the accounting department reconciles each dealership's bank account every day, providing each store with data about its cash positions by 9 a.m. That helps the dealership's controllers manage their store's cash, she said. Before the changes, each store did this task for itself. Said Daly: "It's our job to serve our dealerships, to be problem solvers and a resource for them." c

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement

Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - Intro
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S1
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S2
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S3
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S4
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S5
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S6
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S7
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Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S9
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S10
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S11
Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S12
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Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S14
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Automotive News - October 17, 2016 - Supplement - S20
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