Admin hours saved
Digital approvals completed
Potential duplicate invoices stopped
Havergal College is a Toronto-based independent school with around 1,000 students and 250 faculty and staff. The school uses Veracross as both its student information system and accounting system, which made integration an important part of any AP workflow decision.
For Grace Tang, Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis, the opportunity was not simply to make invoice processing faster. It was to give the finance team and the wider school community a more manageable way to move invoices from intake through coding, approval, audit trail and payment readiness.
Havergal’s finance team has also been moving toward a more flexible way of working. Instead of knowledge sitting with one specialist role or in one person’s inbox, the team wanted a workflow that made it easier for people to understand the process, cover for each other and keep work moving.
Before Alii, Havergal’s invoice process was digitized in parts, but still manual in practice. Invoices could arrive by email or manually. Finance would download the invoice, upload it to Adobe Sign, send it to the coder or approver, wait for coding and approval, then download the approved version and upload it into Veracross.
The process worked, but it involved repeated handling. Finance still had to initiate the work, move documents between systems, chase status and make sure the approved invoice made its way back into the accounting system.
That created friction in everyday work. Invoices could sit in email trails, approvals needed follow-up and finance had to rely on manual checks to understand where work was sitting. Grace described it as a process people were used to, even though it was tedious and inefficient.
"The old invoice process worked, but it was very manual and inefficient. It just seemed like too many repeat tasks that were manual."
Grace T, Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis, Havergal College
Havergal needed AP automation that could fit a school finance environment and work with Veracross. Grace was clear that a tool relying on file exports and imports would not really solve the problem. It would simply move manual work into another format and introduce more room for error.
Alii fit because it could sync with Veracross while supporting the workflow Havergal needed around invoice intake, coding, approvals and visibility. Core finance data can flow between systems, while Havergal can configure approval paths and roles around its own process.
"Hearing that there would be a sync with Veracross was a major reason that Alii fit for us."
The fit was also practical. Havergal could start with invoice processing first, which was the live problem to solve, while leaving room to extend into other workflows later when the timing is right.
Grace T, Manager, Financial Planning and Analysis, Havergal College
The biggest shift is that invoice work is now easier to see and easier to manage. Instead of relying on separate emails, downloads and uploads, invoices can move through a clearer Alii workflow from intake through coding, approval and pipeline visibility.
The pipeline view gives finance a clearer picture of where invoices are sitting and what still needs action. That visibility matters beyond the finance team because staff and budget holders can understand status without needing another email or manual follow-up.
Coding has also become easier for users outside finance. Staff can search for cost centers and GL codes in the workflow rather than guessing or relying on separate information. In the webinar, Grace described user feedback that this was a game changer because the typing and drop-down experience made it much easier for staff to find what they needed.
Team coverage is another important change. When one team member was away, Grace was able to step in, pre-code a batch of invoices and send them out in about 10 minutes. In the old process, that would have required more downloading, uploading, emailing and checking before the work could move forward.
The audit trail also helps finance see what has happened without having to reconstruct the story from separate conversations. Notes, activity and approvals stay connected to the invoice, which makes it easier for someone else to pick up the process when needed.
The following results are from Alii 2026 usage reporting.
Havergal recently went live across the full school after an earlier staged rollout, giving staff a clearer AP workflow across campus.
AP automation has helped save more than 130 admin hours, equivalent to more than 16 working days returned to staff.
Havergal completed 764 digital approvals in 2026 to date, reported as 111 percent workflow adoption across the school.
Grace was able to step in while a team member was away, pre-code a batch of invoices and send them out quickly.
Alii identified 11.6 percent of invoices processed as potential duplicates and stopped them before payment.
Fraud review flags add another layer of financial security to supplier payments before money leaves the school.
Grace described the implementation effort as quite low and seamless, with early users finding the process intuitive.
Staff can see invoice status and understand where work is sitting, reducing reliance on finance for basic updates.
Havergal’s workflow story is strongest when the invoice process is shown from end to end: invoice intake, pre-coding, approval, pipeline view and sync back to Veracross.
The workflow starts when an invoice enters Alii and becomes part of a trackable process rather than another document for finance to download, upload and email around. From there, key details can be captured, users can add coding, the invoice can move to the right approver and finance can see where it is sitting in the pipeline.
The approver view and pipeline view are important because they turn invoice processing into shared workflow visibility. Approvers can see what needs action. Finance can see what is waiting. Budget holders have more confidence because status, notes and approvals are easier to follow.
Once approved, the information connects back to Veracross. That is the practical value for Havergal: Alii does not replace the school’s core system. It improves the AP workflow around it, with less manual handling and a clearer trail before payment.
Today, invoice processing is the live proof point for Havergal. Other workflows can be considered later, but the case study is strongest when it stays focused on the process the school is already using and the impact that process is starting to show.
Havergal’s story is useful for Canadian schools that rely on Veracross and want better AP visibility without replacing the systems already at the center of their finance environment.
It also shows that AP automation does not have to start as a large transformation project. Havergal began with invoice processing because that was where the manual handling, status uncertainty and follow-up were sitting. From there, the school has a stronger foundation to expand when it makes sense.
The broader lesson is simple: a process can technically work and still take more effort than it should. By moving invoice work into a clearer workflow, Havergal is reducing manual follow-up, supporting adoption across the school and giving finance more confidence before payment.
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