The treasury and accounts receivable groups at Kellogg, the $12.4 billion maker of cereal and convenience foods, were bogged down in paper, ranging from billing statements and foreign exchange confirmations to account analysis statements. As part of a company-wide Go Green initiative, treasury and AR worked together to eliminate as much paper as possible, and in the process have managed to save the company close to half a million dollars.

The amount of paper involved was staggering, like the 9,000 pages of bank account statements that arrived each month, each of which was copied four times so that reconcilers, reviewers and approvers had their own copies.

Treasury and AR consulted with banking partner J.P. Morgan on how best to proceed and decided to implement the bank's Receivables Edge and Access. The online tools allow Kellogg to receive bank statements, FX confirmations, billing statements and invoices electronically and merge the data into a single repository. Staffers who need access get user IDs and passwords that let them work online.