ARK Homes for Rent Reduced Manual AP Tasks and Accelerated Reconciliation in Yardi by 96%
How ARK Homes for Rent reduced AP reconciliation time from hours to minutes and achieved 100% spend control with Order.co.
ARK Homes for Rent at a Glance
reduction in manual AP tasks
days to first order
new properties onboarded since implementing Order.co
products managed in 1 place
The Challenge
All employees shared one Amex card, hindering spend visibility and control
Lack of pre-approval controls increased non-compliance risk
Without centralized reporting, financial forecasting relied on guesswork
Like many fast-growing companies, ARK Homes for Rent had adopted tools and workflows that worked in earlier stages. Purchase requests came through email and were managed in monday.com, approvals happened in spreadsheets, and payments were processed through traditional AP software. However, without centralized oversight, “it really made it difficult to control spend, but also to forecast accurately,” Kimmi Le, Director of Resident & Corporate Engagement, shared. “We are scaling pretty quickly, and our process was not scalable.”
The team relied on a corporate American Express card to make purchases. This meant that the Accounting Manager, Taray Hines, had little visibility into the source and purpose of each transaction. “It was very difficult for me to code and to allocate it correctly,” Taray explained. While the Amex card offered the benefit of accumulating points, the resulting AP processes on the back end were a “logistical nightmare.” Taray and her team spent time manually coding individual transactions from credit card statements, then entering each one into Yardi with the appropriate GL codes, property assignments, and vendor details – a process that took hours each month.
Having company-wide transactions flow through one card also created potential for non-compliant purchases to slip through the cracks. “We didn't have a way to systematically make sure that [orders] were approved ahead of time,” Taray described. When audit season arrived, tracking down the required documentation meant searching through old emails and receipts, and coordinating back and forth with the team.
How Card-Based Spend Management Is Costing Your Company Thousands
The Solution
In the summer of 2024, the ARK Homes for Rent team began researching procure-to-pay software. “I was looking for controls around purchasing, being able to see who was buying what, and where it was coming from,” Taray explained. That’s when they discovered Order.co.
Based on past implementation experiences, Kimmi and Taray were prepared for a long and tedious process – but they were pleasantly surprised. Kimmi shared, “[Order.co was] the easiest one. I don't say that lightly." Taray emphasized, “I’ve been through several implementations. This was the fastest.”
For the field teams spread across 5,000+ properties, adoption happened organically. "[Order.co] is very intuitive," Taray notes. "They took to it very quickly. I have very minimal questions from folks when using the system." This was a critical success factor for the field staff who needed to stay focused on residents, not learning complex software.
The Outcome
Transformed spend management with centralized purchasing
ARK Homes for Rent standardized purchasing processes across the business with Order.co, eliminating the risk of rogue spend. “We're talking about a whole company-wide reset on how we purchase,” Kimmi explained. “Different departments have their own processes and needs, and [Order.co] made it easy.” Building custom approval workflows ensured that no transaction would go through the platform without oversight.
Onboarding all of ARK Homes for Rent’s vendors into Order.co embedded consistency directly into the ordering process. All teams had access to the same vetted suppliers, negotiated pricing, and approved products. As a result, “We've seen the cost for a lot of our repairs and maintenance level out because we don't have people purchasing from several different sources,” Taray shared.
Simplified payments and month-end close processes
Virtual cards and universal net terms emerged as particularly versatile tools for managing spend at ARK Homes for Rent. For day-to-day purchases, employees can create vendor-locked virtual cards and upload receipts directly to the transaction. "It eliminates me having to run back to the team and say, hey, I need this receipt," Taray explained. "Everything's in one centralized location for us."
The team also centralized payments for large recurring expenses through virtual cards. Marketing spend on platforms like Zillow and Google now routes through the platform, automatically tracking and categorizing each charge.
If an emergency arises at a residential property, employees can easily place an overnight order with any approved supplier for time-sensitive items. This ensures tenant issues can get resolved quickly without sacrificing spend control. “[Virtual cards] have made a world of difference with how our team's been able to respond to tenant emergencies,” Taray shared.
Gaining access to net terms with all suppliers was another significant benefit for ARK Homes for Rent. “We can purchase things and then have thirty days to pay,” Taray explained. “That was helpful for us as we're managing cash flow as a start-up.” Instead of funds leaving the business immediately with every purchase, Order.co pays vendors on ARK Homes for Rent’s behalf and delivers weekly consolidated invoices. This gives their team an extra 30 days to pay for all purchases made on the platform – including virtual card transactions.
Accelerated reconciliation in Yardi
With Order.co, Taray can sync all purchases – complete with GL codes and vendor details – directly into Yardi in just a few clicks. This eliminates the time-consuming task of manually coding individual transactions while allowing Taray to quickly review all weekly charges. “It literally takes us five minutes as opposed to two to three hours,” Taray highlighted.
ARK Homes for Rent views Order.co as a strategic partner built for their growth trajectory, with the flexibility to scale and add capabilities as their business evolves. “As we're growing at this exponential rate, I feel like it's so easy for Order.co to grow with us,” Taray shared. “I have seen it be scalable. I have seen it be very easy to add features. It's on par with how we're growing.”