Town of Olds administration wants to move its accounts payable to the electronic age.
Director of corporate Services Terryl Allen announced to council at the policies and priorities meeting last Monday that the town would soon be in a position to pays its bills via automatic deposits instead of via cheque, and to send the deposit advices through email. She asked council's permission to ask vendors for their relevant information.
"In this day and age of electronic-everything, printing, signing and mailing our accounts payable cheques to vendors and suppliers is becoming a thing of the past,î said Allen.
"Many vendors are accustomed to receiving their payments electronically, but the town has not been in a position to do so in the past.î
Allen hopes to be able to offer the direct deposit and electronic notification services to vendors in early 2012. Moreover, once the system is in place, town administration intends to notify that all payments to employees including expense refunds will be done this way.
Town administration already uses a similar system of direct deposit for all payroll-related matters. Approximately one-third of town employees receive their pay advices per email, instead of a paper copy in their mail slots.
Future vision
Allen believes that the next step in the process will be to offer residents the option of getting their utility bill via email.
"At this time, we are printing, stuffing and mailing in excess of 3,850 bills each month,î said Allen.
"Never mind the staff time, the paper and the envelopes, the postage alone for these bills is in excess of $2,200 per month.î
While town council was excited at the idea of saving more than $24,000 per year, a few councillors wondered what would happen to people without Internet.
"We have to recognize that some of our customers do not have email accounts,î said Coun. Murray Ball.
Allen replied that electronic billing would be an option for the rest of 2012. However, town administration would like to make it mandatory around early 2013.
"People can get Hotmail accounts and Internet access at the library,î said Coun. Wade Bearchell.
Allen concluded her presentation by reminding council that many Alberta utility companies will only send their bills via email, and as such, the town would not be breaking ground in this regard.
