Simplify Department of Transportation Required Forms with Automation

As a manufacturer or distributor, ensuring that your products get to the right place at the right time is a priority. While you can have the best technology to ensure that your supply chain is efficient, it’s also equally important to have a team that is going to work hard for your organization. By hiring efficient, competent drivers, you can ensure your brand is well-represented and your partners and customers are happy. When hiring your fleet, how do you ensure that the drivers are compliant with state-specific DOT regulations?

Completing the forms required to meet those regulations is time-consuming for both your new hires and your Human Resources team, and incomplete or incorrect forms have much larger consequences than other internal forms. The question is, how can you ensure these forms are completed in an efficient manner while still being compliant?

By implementing a smart web forms solution.

How do web forms integrate with your DOT onboarding?

The typical process when certifying drivers begins at the application stage. Basic background information is entered, along with 10 years of consecutive previous work history, 3 years of previous address history, accident history, and any additional qualifying qualifying questions. Often organizations require this process to be completed on paper, which is tedious and time-consuming, and also prone to errors. Given the detailed information that is required for this, applicants can spend a lot of time and energy gathering the information, and needing to enter it multiple times in multiple places only prolongs the process, and plain and simple can be annoying for the applicant to complete.

By implementing multiple dynamic forms, you simplify the driver application and can seamlessly feed the information into completing the required background checks.

How does the process work?

In a typical customer use case for these sorts of forms, the entire process is completed within our web forms solution.

First, to meet requirements, candidates complete the driver application form alongside a local HR manager. The human resources department can then push this data directly to their workforce management software using a custom integration. This means once the applicant enters their Social Security Number all the applicant’s data (e.g. DOB, address, previous work history, etc) can be automatically pulled and displayed. The applicant then completes the appropriate state forms based on the state and type of employment they are being hired for.

Once required forms such as the statement of on-duty hours, driving record review, safety performance history, and driver license compliance forms are completed by the candidate, the web form can then be easily sent to the background check company of your organization’s choice. With traditional completion methods, this can completely halt the hiring workflow for multiple days to print, fax, or mail the forms, but by submitting the completed forms electronically it speeds up the process.

After the background comes back clean and the HR manager wants to move the applicant to the next step, the candidate will reenter the hiring workflow and complete any state-specific DOT forms. Smart Web Forms can immediately discern the current state (based on the business address and employee’s address) and displays the appropriate forms dynamically, Human Resources doesn’t need to keep piles of these forms on hand if they have drivers at multiple locations in multiple states and there is no risk of the incorrect form being completed.

Once the HR manager decides they’d like the candidate to move forward, they complete the final Driver Consent form. Rather than copy and paste the data into PDFs and other documents, the software automatically overlays the webform data onto your existing onboarding PDFs.

Upon final completion, a digital checklist web form is launched and is placed under the candidate’s name in the HR manager’s task list. The checklist form will remain open while the driver has their driving skills assessed on the company course and completes any other post-on-boarding activities. Once these tasks are complete, the HR manager can simply check them off, ensuring that every required assessment is completed.

The web form then records the date of signature by the candidate and HR can add one year for notifications of expiration of DOT certification. Rather than this data being managed in mulitple places and risking expiration and fines, HR managers now have a running report of all expiring employee certifications to ensure compliance with state mandates.

Why web forms?

The aforementioned process, while still possible, would be a complete hassle to complete without web forms. The candidate would have to complete the forms on paper, manually writing in each step, or by PDF and having to manage manually formatting the document. Once each form is completed, the HR manager would have to type or re-type the information into their HRIS and background check program. This extends the time spent on the hire, and when your organization is in a period of hiring to fill a need, spending more time on each applicant means it takes longer for them to get on the road.

Without automated web forms, this process could easily take twice as long. Additionally, candidates may become fed up during the process and may not even complete it. Web forms are a better solution for both your employees and your potential candidates.  Mosaic has experience creating custom form solutions that integrate with your HRIS and ERP systems and can help your organization determine exactly the right workflows that going to work well for your business.

Schedule a demo with us, call 1-800-387-7859

The Future of Accounts Payable

Focusing on the future of your business is always important, especially during times of change or uncertainty. When you’re faced with circumstances you can’t control, you should focus on things that you can. Evaluating your current processes and determining if they’ll be sustainable long-term is one of the best things you can focus on at any time, but especially right now. One process that is often overlooked due to misconceived notions that it’s working “well enough,” is Accounts Payable. After all, it can be a department where it’s difficult to see problems until they’re too big to handle. If your invoices are usually paid on time and you haven’t had any major problems, then seeing the value of investing in a solution to automate your current process may require a deeper look. 

Understanding what the future of accounts payable looks like as a whole can help influence your decision to focus on accounts payable within your organization right now. We’ll walk through some insights and trends that are guiding the future of accounting, and share how we can help implement this investment.

Mosaic’s partner, DocStar partly sponsored a report from Levvel Research reviewing insights from 2019 and predicting what the future of accounts payable might look like. 

What they found

Solutions are becoming more accessible.

The market looks much different now than it has in the past. With more and more software options available, businesses of all sizes and industries now have access to the same resources that were previously only available to enterprise accounts. The solutions on the market today are more widely available, more cost-effective, and more flexible. Businesses can choose what they want their deployment model to look like and can customize it to be on-premise or in the cloud. 

Read More: Cloud-Based AP Automation the New Normal in Accounts Payable

Back-office operations are being better supported.

Customer-facing processes typically are the focus for most technology initiatives, which can benefit an organization’s overall success but doesn’t solve key issues. Companies are recognizing that investing in technology for back-office operations can benefit financial and operational health just as much as targeting customer-facing initiatives. These processes in the past were typically put on the back burner to focus on front-facing efforts, under the guise that back-office processes didn’t have as much of an impact. For many of those processes, specifically Accounts Payable, their success carries much of the organization’s success. Businesses are realizing this, and are investing accordingly to focus on their company’s overall wellbeing vs. simply looking good on the surface.  

Scalability is key.

Simple, single-point solutions are no longer effective for businesses in today’s environment. Businesses are seeking out solutions that can scale and transform entire departments rather than a single pain point. Automation within Accounts Payable can be utilized to enable scalable growth. This creates a competitive advantage and can help companies leverage their AP Automation investment across different areas of their business, including Human Resources and sales, further helping organizations gain a competitive advantage and succeed long term.

How to tell if AP Automation is right for your organization

While there’s no checklist of the exact qualifications a good AP Automation candidate has, there are patterns among organizations that indicate whether or not they can benefit from an AP overhaul. More often than not, organizations that need a solution the most don’t realize it. Their current state of managing their processes is “good enough” so they’re resistant to change, but they don’t realize how many small issues are adding up to create a much larger problem. 

Some key indicators include processing 500 or more invoices per month with more than 2 full-time AP clerks, or if you’re outsourcing your AP or are processing invoices in more than one location. If your organization is finding itself saddled with late payment penalties and are missing out on early payment discounts, have manual data entry errors, misplaced invoices and other documents, and a lack of visibility of your cash flow, that’s also a crucial indicator of your organization’s need.

Even if you don’t hit all of the checkmarks, your organization may still be a good candidate for AP Automation. Making the decision to transform your current process isn’t one that should be made lightly, but it is also one that comes with little risk and high reward. By working with a partner who has seen projects of all types be successfully deployed, you can feel even more confident in your decision.

How Mosaic can help

We’ve deployed a wide range of AP Automation projects, and understand the individual needs of organizations and departments. We can work with you to assess your needs and determine the process that will work best for you. Give us a call at 1-800-387-7859 to discuss your current process and how our solutions can simplify it. 

How to Automate Purchase Requisitions

At some point or another, an organization needs to purchase products, services, or other items for their business. Some of these are recurring purchases like stationary or cleaning supplies, but what about other necessary purchases that are less frequent? Successful organizations need to manage these purchases in a way that ensures funds are being responsibly spent and are being tracked. The most common and effective way to do this is through purchase requisitions. We’ll cover what a purchase requisition is, how they work, and how Mosaic can help your organization automate this process to be even more effective for your organization’s needs.

What is a Purchase Requisition? 

Purchase requisitions are a key document in the accounting process for many organizations. Unlike a purchase order, which is the document used to acquire goods or services, a purchase requisition is a document that employees utilize to request the purchase of goods or services, essentially it’s the step required before the purchase order. 

How do purchase requisitions work?

Traditionally, a purchase requisition starts with an employee wanting to purchase something, whether it’s a physical item, digital software, training, or a service, in most organizations, employees need to get internal approval from their manager, department head, leadership, or accounting. Some organizations require a purchase requisition for every form, others have a set dollar threshold, and others only require it for specific departments.

For some organizations, this may be a physical form that employees need to fill out and drop off to those who need to approve it, for others, there may be no real process beyond employees emailing their request, which makes it impossible to track and difficult to approve. 

Typically the information needed to complete this request includes, Product description and quantity, name of vendor, price, name and department of purchaser, and other company or department specific information. 

Purchase requisitions are important to plan for future spending, avoid mistakes or unpaid invoices, and can simplify the procurement process. 

To better understand the importance of this process, consider this:

An employee in one department at an organization realizes that they are running low on a specific item that they use daily, so they simply go ahead and purchase it using their company credit card. A few days later, before the shipment has arrived, an employee in a different department realizes the same item is running low, so they do the same thing and purchase the item, in the same quantity, to be used for the same purpose. Without either of them realizing it, that item has been double purchased and now the company is paying double what they should have. Now in this scenario it’s not the end of the world, but if this scenario happens frequently, it leads to overspending and a surplus of items. 

How the Purchase Requisitions process can be automated

To avoid the situation described above, it’s important to establish a clear and easy-to-use process for employees to utilize for future purchases. Just using a standard form isn’t enough to create an efficient and effective process, but with web forms and document management, you can easily create an automated process that works for your organization’s needs. 

By building your purchase requisition form as a web form, employees can access it from anywhere at any time. You can create the fields to match the requirements, and can even include fields such as department, e-signatures, and others that pertain to your existing accounting process. 

It’s important to utilize a holistic approach with purchase requisitions in this process rather than simply using a form and completing the rest of the tasks manually. If a form gets sent via email to a manager who needs to approve it, they may not see it, or may not properly notify the employee of the approval.  

AP specialist then needs to manually enter it into their ERP system, which is prone to mistakes from misreading the form, accidentally clicking the wrong keys, or other human error. Once the information is gathered from the form, where does it go? Does it get printed and filed away? Does it go into a shared folder that isn’t searchable or secure? While creating a web form solves one problem, it leaves others unanswered, but automation can change all that. 

With a complete automation suite, things can be streamlined even further. Once a web form is created and is completed by an employee, it can get automatically sent to their manager, who can quickly approve it and notify the employee of the approval. That form can then get automatically pushed to your ERP, where your accounting department can then properly plan for the costs, and also get filed into your document management system, which will establish a record of spending history with that employee. 

This process is simple and secure, and can save your employees time, money, and resources. 

Mosaic has experience in creating custom automation solutions for purchase requisitions for organizations of all sizes and across industries. Give us a call at 1-800-387-7859 to discuss your options.