Purchasing & Accounts Payable Software for the Boy Scouts of America
- Company Overview
Trapper Trails Scout Council of the Boy Scouts of America is a non-profit headquartered in Ogden, Utah with operations spread across areas of Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. The council operates eight camps, two service centers, two field offices, a trading post, and its headquarters.
- Why Planergy
Needed a reliable, transparent, cloud-based process to control spending across the organization.
Key Challenges
- Widely-dispersed locations
- Paper-based PO process
- Limited control of purchasing at remote locations
Key Benefits
- Processed over 10,000 purchases in six years
- Brought all purchasing into one system
- Gave purchase authorization to dozens of employees
- Used unique permissions and authorizations based on an employee’s need
- Significantly better communication across the organization for purchasing
- No more transporting POs from location to location
The Story
Customer
Trapper Trails Council, Boy Scouts of America
Key client
Business Manager
Industry
Non-Profit
Company Size
50-100 employees
Before Planergy
Seven years ago, Brian Hall went looking for a better way to manage purchasing in his organization.
Hall is the business manager for the Trapper Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He’s in charge of boy scout accounting software for the council—along with oversight for purchasing as it relates to personnel management in the organization.
Trapper Trails is a non-profit headquartered in Ogden, Utah, but its operations are spread across parts of Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.
The council operates eight camps, two service centers, two field offices, a trading post, and its headquarters. It all supports individual boy scout troops from across its territory.
As a non-profit with widely-dispersed locations and dozens of people making purchases, Trapper Trails needed a reliable, transparent process to control spending across its organization.
Six years ago, they put one in place.
Hall was kind enough to spend some time with us recently to tell us the story.
After Planergy
Trapper Trails Council found Planergy while searching Google for online purchasing systems and accounts payable automation software.
It appeared to be exactly what Hall and the council leadership was looking for: an online purchasing system that provided full control and visibility for all purchases across an organization.
“We looked at several other systems, but Planergy seemed to be the best one for our needs,” Hall said.
Trapper Trails implemented Planergy in 2011.
Hall and the team set up purchasing authorization for employees at the different camps and locations. The organization has 50 licenses to work with.
Each purchaser was given unique permissions and authorizations based on their needs.
“Depending on the person’s position, some people have the ability to approve their own purchases,” Hall said. “Others can approve purchases up to $100. Others up to $1,000. Above $6,000, it takes two approvals. And then above $15,000, it takes three people to approve.”
Trapper Trails has now made over 10,000 purchases in the six years since implementing Planergy.
And Trapper Trails is just one of many BSA Council members using Planergy. Don Day, Shared Services Team Leader for Boy Scouts of America, had this to add: “Planergy has a high approval rating amongst our councils, everyone is trying to make sure they are pinching every penny and I think Planergy Spend Management is a wise investment. Thank you for all you guys do.”
Testimonials
It’s made our approval process quicker and less cumbersome, and it’s taken away people’s excuses for not following policies and procedures.
Brian Hall
Business Manager
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