1. Fiscal Department Report:
A Demonstration of
AvidExchange
Accounts Payable Software
Prepared February 2016

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Foreword
As members of the fiscal department, we take stock of many things. Our current fiscal department has
been in place since January 2014. Since then, it has become clear that many aspects of our fiscal functions
have improved. We are always looking for means of improvements to our standards and processes. Our
methods are always meant to benefit our vendors, tenants, and colleagues.
Our endeavors in looking for more efficiency have led us to AvidExchange software. It is evident that
technology is becoming a larger cornerstone in how businesses and nonprofits function. One benefit of
this has become the efficiency and streamlining capabilities of Accounts Payable software. The goal of
said software is to make AP processing more prompt and timely. This type of software is currently being
used by many establishments.
In this case, we present AvidExhange. We have employed this software for a number of reasons that we
will discuss further in this report. However, the main reason for doing so entails using said technology to
the advantage of PCRI. We have previously made advancements with automated check endorsements and
elimination of Purchase Order creations. Both of these changes have greatly increased our efficiency. We
will also introduce many other beneficial changes. These changes include the reintroduction of ACH
transactions and Yardi Voyager updates. Both of these should go into effect within the next year.
Technology has been a catalyst for small businesses and nonprofits for quite some time. It will continue
to do so for many years. As fiscal department, it is our responsibility to take advantage of the benefits that
it provides. We feel that AvidExhange can provide these. Onboarding and troubleshooting will be issues,
and we intend to address them properly. We all have a responsibility to better the functions of PCRI. We
acknowledge the changes made by our colleagues in other departments as well. We appreciate these
changes, and acknowledge that PCRI is a collective. This collective works to improve conditions for our
community, and to appease our clientele. As the fiscal department of PCRI, this is our way of doing our
part.

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Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives
Fiscal Department Report
A Demonstration of AvidExchange
Accounts Payable Software
Introduction
As the Fiscal Department of PCRI, we have a responsibility to ensure quality control in our processes.
This means that we must make our daily functions as efficient and effective as possible. Each day, we
attempt to address this to the best of our abilities. Recently, we have implemented AvidExchange
software. We hope that this software will help us in addressing our needs. The following report is in
relation to this software. Our aim is to educate PCRI staff in how AvidExchange works. We intend to
show that it can help PCRI achieve its goals, and make fiscal procedures much more efficient.
Analysis
It would help to first review the issues with our current AP workflow. As it stands, our vendors and
contractors currently relay their invoices by mail, email, and fax. PCRI has generally been able to provide
prompt payments with this. However, it does leave the door open to problems. First, it is not uncommon
for invoices to be lost in paperwork. Things can fall by the wayside, or even get lost in transit. This leads
to vendor concern over past due payments and, eventually, account holds. These are things that can
impede the day-to-day functions of PCRI.
Second, daily collection and sorting of mail is often tedious. Full collection and sorting can often require
up to an hour. At its worst, it can require even more time. This is generally time that can be better utilized
elsewhere for PCRI employees. Furthermore, processing of due invoices can be time-consuming as well.
Especially in the case of utilities and large retail accounts, this is true. Having to repeat the manual coding
and input of data is inefficient at best. It also does little to ensure faster payment of these invoices, which
represent the price of doing business. This is at least where PCRI is concerned.

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With this, we have introduced AvidExchange as of November 2015 to combat these problems. Since then,
we have begun to relay our vendors to our AvidExhange account. With this, vendors can now upload their
invoices to the AvidExchange database. There are currently two ways for them to do this:
They may email invoices to pcri@avidbill.com (the preferred method)
They may send invoices to the AvidExchange processing center:
Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, Inc.
PO Box 62791
Irvine, CA, 92602
Using these methods allows our vendors to ensure that their invoices are always received by PCRI. It
assures them that their invoices are not being lost in transit or paperwork. For PCRI, it also eases the
ability to review and dispute any issue with charges, In the past, it has not been uncommon for past due
invoices to have never been received by PCRI. Now, with this change in workflow, our vendors have a
way to make this obsolete. It is possible for any vendor to also send past due invoices to be reviewed in
AvidExchange. This works to negate any issues with accounts, and get issues resolved faster. The
following is a demonstration on how the software works.
Current Workflows
As it stands, there are 13 members of PCRI who currently have access to AvidExchange. The list of
administrators is as follows:
Name Role Department
Alex Avila AP/AR Fiscal Department
Mark Beckett Maintenance Supervisor Maintenance Department
Debi Christensen Senior Portfolio Manager Property Management
Amy Dang Financial Education Specialist Programs Department

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Andrea Debnam Resident Services Manager Programs Department
Maxine Fitzpatrick Executive Director Administration
Nika Hall Accountant Fiscal Department
Kim Jackson Property Manager Property Management
Tanya Morris Property Manager Property Management
Liz Olson IDA Specialist Programs Department
Travis Phillips Housing Development Manager Administration
David Wilcox Fiscal Manager Fiscal Department
Lisa Williams Homeownership Retention Programs Department
Figure 1.1 List of administrators in AvidExchange (as of 2/15/16)
These PCRI staff members take part in the AP process in two ways. They may contract services, and/or
they may be responsible for reviewing invoices for said services. For that, they have been granted access
to the AvidExchange database. This access is granted with a company email address and an administered
password. Using this, administrators can review any invoices in the database. They can also make any
necessary changes to account information, distributions, or other data.
Figure 1.2 Current Workflows in AvidExchange

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Workflow in AvidExchange determines which administrators receive a given invoice for review. The
current workflows are currently set up to correspond with how current invoices are generally distributed.
For instance, any invoices that represent work ordered by the Maintenance Department are routed first to
the Maintenance Supervisor. The Maintenance Supervisor will review invoices before approving them,
per current workflow setup. After approval, the invoices are relayed to the fiscal department for final
review. They are then paid in the next step. The current fiscal department works to make the process
equally streamlined for all departments. This means that all invoices are intended to be relayed to those
responsible for reviewing them. The AvidExchange workflows are intended to replicate the current
process of reviewing invoices. This occurs before they are then taken to the fiscal department to be paid.
Approvals
Figure 1.3 Example of Pending Approval Queue
Using the approval cue, administrators are able to fully access any invoices that may cross them in current
workflows. They may use the appropriate hyperlinks to access the individual page for invoices. The page
for any incoming invoice is as follows:

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Figure 1.4 Page for outstanding invoice
The page includes an image of the outstanding invoice in PDF form. Generally, this will be the only thing
that most administrators will need to use. This makes it easy to review any charges for service. Any other
tabs will generally be used by the fiscal department only. The one exception is invoices for maintenance.
In this case, the administrator for these invoices will be required to use the distribution tab. The data
entry, however, will not require much more than three things. These include a property code, a GL code,
and a line description. The description should include a work order number, and a 2-3 word description of
work. This is consistent with current manual procedure.
Figure 1.5 Distribution tab for Maintenance invoices

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For other administrators, they have options after reviewing the invoice image itself. If the invoice is
consistent with charges and services agreed, they may approve it. The invoice will then be sent to the next
step in the workflow. If the administrator believes that the invoice may be a duplicate charge, they may
contact the AP/AR administrator for research. Should the invoice prove to be a duplicate, the invoice may
be voided. It is recommended that administrators do not dispute invoices, as they can be lost in the
workflow. The administrator may also feel that the invoice is misplaced in the workflow. In other words,
the invoice does not belong to them, and needs to be reviewed elsewhere. This introduces the need of the
Ad-Hoc approval.
Ad-Hoc Approvals
These are meant to create a step in the workflow to advance the invoice to the appropriate administrator.
Ad-Hoc approvals are accessed by the “workflow” tab in the invoice page.
Figure 1.6 Workflow Tab for Ad-Hoc Approval
By using the workflow tab, we can see the current workflow for the given invoice. If is necessary to
change the workflow altogether, we can use the pulldown menu to do so. However, this is generally not
common. It would be more necessary and appropriate to assign an ad-hoc approver.

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Figure 1.7 Ad-Hoc Approver Screen
After clicking the appropriate button, the above screen should show. Using this, we can use the dropdown
menu to select the ad-hoc approver. It would then be appropriate to send a comment explaining why the
invoice is being reassigned. Once this is completed, click the assign button. No further action is required.
Possible Concerns
We do anticipate a learning curve in this. It is possible that some staff may feel that these procedures
create unnecessary steps in our procedure. However, PCRI’s fiscal department is implementing this
process in order to replace steps instead of add them. The goal is to reduce the amount of time needed in
the AP process. Taking mail and paper out of the equation reduces the waste of resources. It also ensures
that time, the scarcest of these resources, is better spent elsewhere. The fiscal department is willing to
work with all staff concerns during onboarding. We have created a meeting to give a visual demonstration
and address any possible concerns from staff. We will work together to greatly reduce the slope of the
learning curve.
Conclusion
We believe that the AvidExchange program can greatly achieve our goals in increasing efficiency. We
hope that this report and our presentations will convince our colleagues as much. We already have begun
to redirect our vendors to our AvidExchange addresses. Little by little, our vendors have caught on. Past

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invoices have been reconciled. New invoices are promptly received. Payments are made much quicker.
We feel that the benefits of this program will grow exponentially. As PCRI sets to intake many more
imminent projects, these benefits will help PCRI greatly.
As previously stated, the fiscal department will work with staff to resolve any issues. Should any arise
during use, please contact the following people below. Thank you for your time.
David Wilcox, Fiscal Manager, dwilcox@pcrihome.org, 503-288-2923 x102
Alex Avila, AP/AR, alex@pcrihome.org, 503-288-2923 x125