Suttons prevents error while prioritising people

Overview

Established in the early 1940s, Suttons Motors is a family-owned motor group with 38 dealerships across New South Wales and more than 1,200 employees. Its people-focused culture has helped it succeed and grow for generations. It’s the type of growth that drives greater complexity and more transactions – but also a higher risk of error.

Challenge

Because it sees a large number of cash transactions and stakeholder communications, Suttons has always taken a robust anti-fraud stance. This includes preventive policies and financial controllers embedded throughout the group, along with internal audit teams who provide visibility without leaders needing to be involved in every day-to-day task. But, according to Suttons’ Group Financial Controller, Vartkes Moskofian, their costliest risks weren’t the work of fraudsters. Instead, they were the result of genuine human error.

Previously, Suttons’ BSB account confirmation policy required Accounts Payable (AP) officers to get copies of deposit slips or bank statements and validate the information through a phone call or email. They’d then enter validated information into the system. While they had plenty of internal controls in place, Moskofian says the processes gave him little visibility into completed payments. The manual nature of verification also meant there was a higher chance of human error.

Moskofian was already considering a more automated approach when a close call prompted him to take action. While entering data in their data management system (DMS), an employee accidentally switched two digits in an account number. The incorrect number turned out to be legitimate and $63,000 was transferred to the wrong account.

Approach

In a stroke of luck, Suttons was able to eventually recover the $63,000. But the process took four months and arduous paperwork, not to mention massive amounts of stress.

Unfortunately, no matter how meticulous a team member might be, processes that rely on human perfection are bound to have hiccups. Moskofian knew the team needed the kind of automation and assurance that could help them work quicker and more confidently. And, as a leader, he was looking for greater visibility into processes and outgoing payments.

It made the decision to implement Eftsure much easier. The business cleansed its data upfront and worked with Eftsure to quickly integrate a solution into existing accounting processes. Now, the team can rely on Eftsure’s unique database and algorithm to automatically validate payment information before releasing funds.

Results

Since implementing Eftsure, Suttons have:

• Reduced error. Since implementing Eftsure, the Suttons team has been able to prevent similar errors while releasing funds through their regular payment platform. Eftsure’s automated solution uses a simple green thumbs-up or red thumbs-down to flag any account numbers that don’t match its database, helping team members quickly see if an error has slipped into the DMS.
• Saved time. On top of catching any late-stage payment issues, Eftsure is helping Suttons save time during the upfront work of supplier onboarding. Rather than manually checking information like ABN numbers or GST, Eftsure enables AP officers to quickly see that new supplier information has been validated, all from within their payment platform.
• Lowered the risk of fraud. Though Moskofian says they’ve primarily used Eftsure to catch possible errors and discrepancies in payee information, the added security also means that Suttons is further mitigating its risk of fraud and cyber-crime. Layered on top of the Suttons’ existing anti-fraud measures, it’s another assurance that doesn’t require additional headcount or time.