Camargue Brought Visibility and Control to Invoice Approvals

Camargue is a PR and communications agency working across sectors including infrastructure, energy and the built environment, with James Ford Design as its in-house creative and digital business. Since introducing Compleat’s accounts payable automation alongside a move to Xero, Finance Director Tom Wood and his team have replaced a manual, paper-heavy purchase-to-pay process with a clear, controlled invoice approval workflow, giving them confidence in what is being approved and why.

When Purchase Orders Offered a False Sense of Security

Before Compleat, Camargue’s finance system was, in Tom’s words, “fairly antiquated” and reliant on manual processing. Invoices were typed into the system by hand and matched to purchase orders where possible, but the process was inconsistent. A purchase order on file was often treated as proof enough that an invoice could be approved and paid, without it ever going back to the person who had ordered the work.

That gap mattered because not every purchase behaves like a straightforward goods order. A booking could be cancelled after the invoice arrived, yet still be paid, because no one was checking it against what had actually been delivered.

A System Chosen to Work with Xero

When Tom joined Camargue in 2023, replacing the finance system was part of a wider move to a cloud first IT strategy, with the agency management platform built around it rather than driving it. Xero became the core finance system, and Compleat was chosen for invoice approvals because Tom had used it successfully in a previous finance role and trusted it to integrate well with Xero.

Governance Without Unnecessary Bureaucracy

Rather than formalising the existing purchase order process, Tom simplified it. He is not convinced that purchase orders add value for a business of Camargue’s size and structure.

“I don’t want purchase orders because I don’t think they add value. I can understand them in a big multinational business, but for a company our size, we don’t need them. We can control the spend without them. It’s much more about approving, so making sure the right people are ordering things in the first place, and then the invoice is the approval step.”

Instead, invoices are routed by email to account directors and above for approval, as part of a wider purchase-to-pay process that replaced what had previously become an ad hoc, disjointed way of working.

Visibility by Cost Centre, Project and Supplier

Compleat has given Camargue’s finance team and directors far more visibility of spend than before, broken down by cost centre, project and supplier.

Camargue recharges a significant amount of third party cost to clients, and account handlers previously could not see those costs until finance told them at month end. A daily report of unbilled disbursements, exported from Compleat, is now imported into the agency’s management platform, so account handlers can see costs on their jobs the day after an invoice is approved.

Stronger Controls, Without Extra Admin

Governance has improved alongside visibility. Anyone in finance can see the status of any invoice immediately, rather than chasing it by email.

Built-in checks have also reduced two specific risks: paying an invoice twice, and paying it to the wrong bank details.

Time Freed Up for Higher Value Work

With invoices no longer typed in by hand, the team member who previously spent most of her day on manual invoice capture now has capacity for other work.

Tom also believes Compleat has helped Camargue recover more of the third party costs it recharges to clients, costs that had previously been at risk of being missed in a manual process.

Room to Go Further With Online Buying

Camargue also buys a high volume of low value items, such as stationery and IT equipment, through Amazon. Tom sees an opportunity to extend automation to these everyday purchases through integrated online buying, though this isn’t yet switched on for Camargue.

The impact for Camargue

For Camargue, Compleat has delivered more than efficiency. It has given the finance team the visibility and control to trust what is being approved, and freed up time to focus on higher value work.

Advice for Other Finance Leaders

Tom’s advice for other agencies considering AP automation is straightforward.

Key Takeaway

Asked to sum up the biggest benefits of using Compleat, Tom highlighted three.

For Camargue, replacing manual invoice processing with Compleat has meant faster approvals, stronger governance, and time back for the team to focus on higher value work.

Related Success Stories

• Holkham Hall Made Time for Planning with AP Automation
• Pure Cremation: One CFO, Four Career Successes