Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust is a commercial real estate business managing more than 70 shopping center properties across the Eastern United States. Its mission is to help tenants and investors succeed by providing expert market analysis and service driven by the latest technologies.
Samantha Day has been with the company for eight years, currently serving as the Accounting Systems Administrator. Day also oversees compliance, audits, and process improvements in the accounting department.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| C-level executives spent time reviewing invoices and resolving discrepancies | Leadership can focus on priorities, saving $47,000 per year on executive labor costs |
| Check runs took an entire workday | Check runs completed in just a few hours |
| Check fraud incident forced a full bank account reset and systemwide updates. | Reduced reliance on paper checks through electronic payments |
| Approximately 14,000 yearly invoices handled through manual processes | Invoice entry and extraction automated with 99.2% accuracy |
| Growth could require additional AP resources | Scalable process that supports growth without additional headcount |
Managing 14,000 Annual Invoices with Manual AP Processes Leads To Check Fraud
When Day joined Wheeler, the company relied on outdated and highly manual accounts payable processes. Invoices were mailed, opened, sorted, scanned, and coded by hand—an error-prone approach for handling approximately 14,000 invoices each year. Weekly check runs consumed an entire workday, requiring printing, double signing, and mailing.
At the time, Wheeler was also using Bottomline’s platform to support parts of its AP workflow. However, Day said the team continued to encounter challenges with invoice accuracy, workflow visibility, and exception handling. Invoices could require additional follow-up to track their status or resolve discrepancies, which slowed approvals and increased the administrative burden on the AP team.
The impact extended beyond the accounting team. During certain stages of the approval process, even C-level executives were pulled into reviewing invoices, checking for accuracy, and resolving routine issues. What should have been a streamlined workflow instead required high-level involvement in day-to-day tasks.
Disputes often stalled approvals, requiring manual intervention, while frequent inaccuracies disrupted integration with Wheeler’s MRI accounting software. The inefficiencies even led to a case of check fraud, forcing a full bank account reset and systemwide updates.
“I used to feel like I was constantly having to research things, fix things, and push things. Now, I have that time back to focus on bigger projects, like our recent chart of accounts conversion.”
Comparing Two AP Systems Helped Wheeler Rethink Its Process
Day recognized an opportunity to rethink Wheeler’s approach when the company acquired Cedar Realty Trust, a property management company that already had a more automated approach to accounts payable. As part of the acquisition, Day was tasked with integrating the two companies’ accounting systems.
Through that process, she was introduced to MRI Vendor Pay powered by AvidXchange, Cedar’s existing accounts payable solution embedded within MRI Software.
Up until that point, Wheeler had been operating within a process in Bottomline that, while functional, required significant manual effort and oversight. Seeing Cedar’s workflow in action gave Day a chance to compare two systems side by side and see which one reduced manual work and made her team’s day-to-day operations more efficient.
A major factor in Wheeler’s decision to adopt AvidXchange was its seamless embedded integration with MRI, which eliminated the need for manual invoice data entry and indexing.
The new solution also automates invoice entry and extraction with 99.2% accuracy, significantly reducing manual work and ensuring smooth workflow integration with MRI. Because of the check fraud incident under their previous process, Day also placed a high value on the embedded software’s enhanced security, along with features like digital payments, automated reporting, and responsive Live Chat support.
$47,000 in Annual Savings and a More Scalable AP Process
Under MRI Vendor Pay powered by AvidXchange, the C-level executives no longer had to step in to review invoices and resolve discrepancies. Instead, those tasks now move through a structured, automated workflow, freeing leadership to focus on work that drives the business forward.
By looking at how much time executives were previously spending on manual AP tasks and what that time cost the company, Wheeler identified approximately $47,000 in annual savings.
The transition also led to significant time savings across the AP team. Check runs that previously consumed an entire workday are now completed in just a few hours, and the shift to electronic payments has reduced reliance on paper checks—helping lower fraud risk and improve overall efficiency.
With a more reliable and scalable process in place, the team is better positioned to support future growth. Day is confident the system can scale with the company, noting she won’t need to hire additional staff even if they acquire more properties.
In Wheeler’s case, inefficiencies in the AP process extended beyond the accounting department. C-level executives were spending time reviewing invoices, checking for accuracy, and resolving routine issues that should have been handled through the workflow itself. By automating invoice processing and approval routing, Wheeler eliminated much of that manual involvement, allowing leadership to focus on strategic priorities instead of day-to-day AP tasks.
Because real estate check runs often happen on a predictable schedule, they create recurring opportunities for fraudsters to intercept, alter, steal, or duplicate checks. Real estate organizations that regularly process large volumes of supplier payments can be particularly at risk.
Reducing check runs also saves time. At Wheeler, check runs that once consumed an entire workday are now completed in just a few hours, freeing the AP team to focus on more strategic work.
Many organizations assume that if invoices are getting paid, their AP system is doing its job. However, it may be time to reevaluate your solution if your team is still spending significant time correcting errors, tracking invoice status, managing exceptions, or performing manual work outside the system. You can read more about the signs it’s time to automate your real estate AP.
Manual invoice entry, coding, and routing can increase the likelihood of errors and delays. AP automation helps reduce these issues by capturing invoice data automatically, standardizing workflows, and improving visibility throughout the approval process. This allows teams to spend less time correcting mistakes and more time managing exceptions that truly require attention.
One of the primary benefits of AP automation is scalability. By reducing manual work and increasing process efficiency, organizations can often handle higher invoice volumes without hiring additional AP staff. After implementing MRI Vendor Pay powered by AvidXchange, Wheeler established a more scalable AP process, and Samantha Day said she believes the company can continue growing its property portfolio without adding accounting headcount.