Emser Tile

The Challenge

Established in 1968, Emser Tile is a leading designer, marketer and producer of tile and natural stone. To service their many customers, Emser primarily used a third party for invoice fulfillment and manually sent electronic invoices for the customers that preferred that form of delivery.

Clerks in their accounts receivable (AR) department would scan invoices by hand and individually send them. While 95% of Emser’s customers paid via check, they also utilized a bank portal for the remaining five percent of customers that paid electronically. The portal required more manual data entry, however, with no available user interface or self-service options. Emser’s cash application process was also entirely manual, so matching remittances to payments via check, ACH and credit cards was time consuming.

The Solution

Looking to improve their current processes, Emser started gradually with Billtrust and began to automate the invoice delivery process. With electronic invoice delivery, they quickly reduced the amount of manual keying and streamlined their AR operations. They continue to see improved operational efficiencies across invoicing, payments and cash application – and were also able to reallocate staff to focus on more strategic initiatives.

The Results

With Billtrust, Emser is now accepting 25% of their electronic payments. Their large ticket rate has dropped dramatically and they saw a 50-basis point reduction. Emser was also able to control interchange fees and increase savings. They were also able to eliminate any PCI-compliance concerns by no longer having to worry about physically storing customer credit card information. Emser hit a milestone with a customer electronic presentment rate of 80% – up from 0% – by 2016.