Highgate Hotels stands as a premier real estate investment and hospitality management company, boasting an impressive portfolio with more than $20 billion in assets under management.
The Challenges
Like many organizations in the hospitality sector, Highgate Hotel’s challenges centered around a fragmented, labor-intensive, and inefficient payment process.
The pandemic made these problems worse by causing disruptions in the supply chain and a lack of workers. Highgate saw an opportunity to speed up their switch to digital processes and use automation to better manage their spending and buying. This change in strategy also aimed to give them an edge in competition for their various properties.
Wishlist
• Digitize the procurement process to increase visibility and improve spend control
• Enhance efficiency and transition away from manual efforts
• Shift suppliers towards accepting virtual cards, diminishing reliance on checks and maximizing cash back
• Safeguard against costly procurement fraud and ensure compliance
• Transform accounts payable from a cost into a revenue generator
• Mitigate disruptions stemming from staff turnover or unforeseen events
• Streamline integrations with other systems for enhanced operational cohesion
The Solution
To streamline the complicated tasks across a large property portfolio, Highgate needed the right solution. After careful consideration, they chose BirchStreet Pay as the best way to move forward with automating procure-to-pay (P2P).
With an industry average cost of $5 to $8 per check, accounts payable and purchasing teams are cost centers, drawing people away from value-add activities. BirchStreet’s automated P2P process combines accounts payable and purchasing into a single, efficient, and fully transparent process, without changing existing methods or bank reconciliations.
The user-friendly interface and quick implementation timeline allow Highgate’s new partner-properties to easily adopt the platform and boost their efficiency. Unlike competitors, BirchStreet doesn’t charge suppliers to join the network, creating more opportunities for buyers to save money and receive rebates.
Results
Highgate’s commitment to adopting best-in-class tools across its portfolio led to the selection of BirchStreet Pay, resulting in substantial efficiency gains, process improvements, and the creation of a new revenue stream through vendor rebates.
The entire lifecycle, from procurement to purchase orders, invoices, payments, controls, and reporting, is now seamlessly streamlined within a unified solution. More than 80% of invoices are touchless, dramatically decreasing the risk of data input errors, overpayments, underpayments, inaccurate tax/freight calculations, and lost or missing invoices.
Beyond cost-reducing labor and optimizing spending, Highgate has achieved notable cost savings by strategically choosing suppliers for the right products and capitalizing on discounts and rebates facilitated by Hilton Supply Management. BirchStreet’s holistic approach has established a collaborative foundation and optimized structure, adding value through virtual cards, cash back rewards, and reduced transaction costs. The rebates often prove so substantial that they cover, or even exceed, the cost of the entire end-to-end BirchStreet suite.