MTB Management is a fast-growing Taco Bell franchisee based in western Montana. Since becoming a MineralTree customer back in 2020, MTB has grown from eight to 12 locations and deployed MineralTree’s TotalAP platform across all of its 12 Taco Bell quick-service restaurants (QSRs). As a result, the team boasts increased operating efficiencies and stronger vendor relationships.
Serving Up a Digital AP Workflow
MTB uses MineralTree’s TotalAP solution to automate its entire invoice-to-pay process. It organizes vendor invoices as they are received, then automatically captures, codes and routes them to the CFO for approval. Payments are then made to suppliers via their preferred methods, including check, ACH, and virtual card. Once a payment is made, MineralTree syncs with MTB’s QuickBooks Desktop accounting system to close the loop.
“The initiative to automate our AP process was really kick-started during Covid,” said Matt Ogle, Accounts Payable & Vendor Manager for MTB. “A lot of us were working remotely trying to manage vendors and payments for our eight stores at the time. However, because our AP process was entirely paper-based and manual, we had to go into the office to pay our vendors. That wasn’t working very well for anyone, of course, and it certainly wasn’t going to scale as we added new stores.”
Modernizing the Multi-Entity AP Approach
Each of MTB’s Taco Bell stores has 20-30 standard vendors, including local vendors servicing a specific store as well as franchise-level vendors which serve all stores. Since deploying MineralTree, MTB has added four new Taco Bell stores, bringing their current total to 12. Based on this business growth, Ogle now processes 50 invoices in a typical day – up to 50% more than when they first implemented the platform.
With MineralTree’s multi-entity support, MTB is able to manage each of its locations as a separate entity in MineralTree, with a one-to-one mapping to the corresponding QuickBooks file. This approach gives MTB’s finance team greater flexibility while enhancing visibility into spending for its executive team. At the same time, Ogle can easily toggle from one entity to the next within MineralTree as he processes AP for each store.
“MineralTree has consolidated and simplified what was previously a tedious and time-intensive process,” added Ogle. “Since we deployed the solution, we’ve added four stores and I am handling approximately 50% more invoices each month. Yet, I’ve cut my time on AP by more than half. Now, I can focus more of my efforts on analyzing and optimizing our spend. As an organization, everyone’s also a lot more aware of what we are spending. That’s a big plus for our executive team as we continue to grow and they look to optimize our operations.”
Paving the Way for Other QSR Franchisees
It’s no secret that restaurants have faced innumerable challenges since the start of the pandemic. This is true for the front of house staff as well as those in the back office.
“QSR franchisees face unique back-office challenges, including the need to centrally manage AP across multiple locations while supporting the unique requirements of both franchise-level and local vendors,” said Joe Fortini, Vice President of Customer Success at MineralTree. “With MineralTree’s multi-entity ERP support and flexible payment options, we’re uniquely positioned to help MTB Management drive efficiency and scalable business growth, while maintaining a single, consolidated view of AP across the entire organization.”
Now with MineralTree, MTB Management is ready to continue scaling their business without running the risk of burning out their single AP staffer or falling prey to the inefficiencies from their previous AP approach.
