Balfour Beatty and Causeway Technologies have joined forces to improve payment processes through digitalising Goods Received Notes (GRNs) and Proof of Delivery (POD) documents.

Following consultation in 2019, the two organisations have revealed that a new solution, Causeway eGRN, is active on over 230 sites with 750 user accounts.

Working in conjunction with Causeway’s Tradex invoicing solution, which Balfour Beatty has used for over 10 years, the Causeway eGRN solution is designed to digitalise the process of acknowledging and verifying the delivery of goods and plant on-site increasing the speed to process and eliminating lost, unreadable or damaged delivery tickets which can make up a quarter of payment delay issues.

By using Causeway eGRN, Balfour Beatty colleagues can share information from supplier to site with the use of a mobile app to capture an image of the signed GRN/POD ticket, and automatically validate invoices against purchase orders and receipts.

The data is shared directly with Balfour Beatty’s finance system through Causeway Tradex, creating a fully automated 3-way match of POs, GRNs and invoices which reduces errors and speeds-up the payment process.  

Over 17,000 GRN/POD notes have been processed in the last year through the system with an increased payment provision of up to two weeks.

Rob Ramsay, Product Director at Causeway Technologies said: “Ultimately, this project is about speeding up the payment process and reducing costly errors. The need to comply with the Prompt Payment Code on government projects has significantly upped the stakes for large contractors. Meanwhile, businesses increasingly understand that invoicing errors and delays in manual processes can significantly impact their bottom line.”

Causeway eGRN is capable of entirely paperless operation where close integration between suppliers and contractors allows. It creates the ultimate single source of truth.

Mitchell Johnson, IT Project Manager at Balfour Beatty, commented: “As a trusted market leader and signatory of the UK Prompt Payment Code, it is fundamental that we maintain successful relationships with our supply chain partners.”

“With around 8,000 UK suppliers, we look forward to further investing in our digital transformation strategy through partnering with Causeway Technologies; driving time efficiencies for all parties, from goods received to invoices paid.”

Rob Ramsay added: “The adoption of digital technology in construction is spurring productivity growth, reductions in costs, and creating new career opportunities, as well as facilitating closer relationships across the supply chain. We are proud to continue our partnership with Balfour Beatty, building on the successful implementation of our Causeway Tradex invoice solution, and look forward to our continued digital journey together.”