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How Zenwork Payments Helped a Transport & Logistics Company Scale Without Hiring Extra Staff

Transport & Logistics
Cost Savings

Table of Contents

Overview

A mid-sized transport and logistics company based in Los Angeles faced a growing challenge as its accounts payable (AP) workload was increasing due to a rising number of vendor payments. The company considered hiring additional staff to manage the volume but sought a more scalable solution. 

With Zenwork Payments, the company successfully:

  • Automated vendor payments, reducing manual processing time by 75%.
  • Eliminated the need to hire additional staff, saving more than $70K+ annually.
  • Optimized cash flow management, improving financial predictability.

Industry Context: Why Cost Efficiency Matters in Transport & Logistics

The logistics industry is highly competitive, with tight profit margins averaging 4–7% (Deloitte, 2024). Managing operational costs is critical for long-term sustainability.

Key challenges included:

  • Complex Tax Compliance – Telecom companies must navigate federal, state, and local tax regulations, including sales and usage taxes.
  • Delayed Vendor Payments – Manual AP processing leads to late payments and penalties, disrupting network maintenance. 
  • High Compliance Risks – The telecom sector faces intense IRS and FCC scrutiny, with non-compliance fines exceeding $200M annually (FCC, 2024). 
  • Administrative Overload – 60% of telecom finance teams report spending excessive time on manual tax and payment tracking (Solvexia, 2024).
Automating payments and compliance tracking reduces risks, ensures accuracy, and strengthens vendor partnerships.

Challenges Faced Before Automation

High Administrative Costs & Staff Workload

  • The AP team manually processed 100+ vendor invoices per month.
  • With expansion, the workload increased, requiring additional hiring.

Slow Payment Processing & Vendor Dissatisfaction

  • Manual invoice approvals took 7-10 days, delaying payments.
  • Late payments strained vendor relationships and increased penalties.

Inefficient Cash Flow Management

  • Lack of real-time visibility into payments made forecasting difficult.

The Breaking Point: Why Automation Became Necessary

The company faced a critical decision: hire additional staff or invest in AP automation.

Adding AP personnel would increase labor costs by more than $70K+ annually.

Managing growing vendor payments manually was not scalable.

Zenwork Payments provided a cost-effective, scalable solution, eliminating the need for extra hires while streamlining AP workflows.

The Solution: Zenwork Payments

AP Automation Eliminated Manual Work

  • AI-powered automation reduced invoice processing time by 75%.
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR) cut manual data entry errors by 40%.

Real-Time Payment Processing

  • Automated payment scheduling reduced delays and secured early payment discounts.
  • Vendor payments were processed 30% faster, improving relationships.

Seamless System Integration

  • Zenwork Payments integrated with QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage, ensuring smooth data flow.

Results: Scaling Without Extra Staff

Metric Before Zenwork Payments After Zenwork Payments Improvement
Invoice Processing Time 7-10 days 2-3 days 75% faster
Manual Data Entry Hours 100+ per month 30 per month 70% reduction
Need for Additional AP Staff 2-3 hires planned 0 additional hires $80K+ saved
Vendor Payment Delays Frequent Rare 30% faster payments

Eliminated the need for extra AP staff, saving $80K+ per year.

Reduced invoice processing time by 75%, increasing efficiency.

Ensured faster vendor payments, strengthening partnerships.

Key Takeaways 

Cost-Effective Scaling

  • Zenwork Payments helped the company grow without increasing headcount.

Faster Payment Processing

  • Vendor payments were handled 30% faster.

Improved Cash Flow

  • AI-driven insights enabled better financial planning.

Future Considerations

With Zenwork Payments, the company plans to:

Expand automation across procurement & contract management.

Leverage AI-driven financial forecasting for better cash flow planning.

Explore global payment automation for international vendor management.

By embracing AP automation, the firm reduced costs, improved cash flow, and positioned itself for long-term growth.

Get Seamless Payments & Compl iance with Zenwork Payments

Scaling a logistics company without increasing operational costs is possible with Zenwork Payments. Our automation solutions ensure:

Faster invoice processing & vendor payments

Reduced administrative workload

AI-driven financial insights for better cash flow management

100% compliance accuracy

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