First Learning reclaims 16 hours per week with AP automation and procurement AI
How First Learning simplifies accounting processes, eliminates ordering chaos, and gains time back to focus on new center openings with Order.co.
First Learning at a Glance
hours/week saved on accounting
hours/week saved on ordering per location
of invoices eliminated with automation
vendors managed in one platform
The Challenge
Disorganized ordering led to internal confusion about where to purchase and track items
Thousands of invoices made reconciliation labor-intensive and error-prone
Manual approval processes caused delays when placing orders
Molly Colbey joined First Learning in 2024 as an Accounting Specialist. In her role, she reviews and processes invoices, analyzes monthly spending, and ensures that teams at every childcare center have what they need to place orders. While her core responsibilities centered around managing the company’s finances, Molly also provided purchasing and operational support – especially when directors encountered issues placing or receiving orders.
Prior to implementing Order.co, each of First Learning’s 13 locations ordered from up to 20 vendors with little to no centralized oversight. As a result, the staff often faced confusion throughout the entire procure-to-pay process. “We were making sure, ‘Did I submit that order? Did I pay that invoice?’” Molly explained. “Some of it was getting lost.”
Before placing an order, the team had to navigate a clunky approval process. They sent approval requests via email, and it could take days to receive a response. “We used to set up the order, have to get approval, go back and order it, and then we would have to get the invoice and pay it,” Molly shared. For a growing business that rapidly went through consumables like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and trash bags, trying to keep up with a backlog of orders caused unnecessary stress for employees.
Every location made hundreds of purchases per month, each requiring its own invoice to reconcile and pay. A single missed payment could lead to late fees, delayed shipments, and even cancelled deliveries. Checking the status of an order entailed sifting through emails, logging into multiple vendor websites, and digging through paper receipts to locate tracking numbers.
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The Solution
Recognizing inefficiencies in its existing processes, the First Learning team partnered with Order.co to optimize its purchasing and accounting workflows. Using data from the organization’s purchasing history, the team onboarded their 260+ vendors and instantly populated First Learning’s custom catalog with thousands of products.
The team then built customized ordering lists with key categories like:
- Classroom supplies (art paper, markers, modeling clay)
- Cleaning materials (dish soap, disinfectant, mops)
- Health & safety (bandages, child-safe sanitizers, thermometers)
Each list was curated based on products that the centers regularly used. The team also assigned unique delivery instructions for each location to ensure every shipment arrived at the right place without confusion. With their procurement and accounting needs consolidated, First Learning could now find and order what they needed in just a few clicks rather than sifting through countless vendor websites. “The team can quickly, easily order our favorite items. It's just at the tip of their fingertips whenever they need something,” Molly shared.
The Outcome
Improved spend visibility and maximized savings with AI sourcing
One feature that the team immediately leveraged was custom approvals workflows. Now, purchasing and approval happen in a connected workflow with full visibility from request to receipt. As a result, First Learning has tighter control over budget adherence, and they’ve eliminated unnecessary back-and-forth between teams.
Molly also uses the platform’s reporting tools to track spending in real time. With consistent, easy access to purchasing data, she can identify any unusual patterns before they snowball into significant problems. “I look at the Order.co insights tab a lot,” Molly said. “It's really helpful to see what everyone is spending money on and see the trends of different code categories, amounts, and departments.”
With Order.co’s sourcing AI capabilities, keeping budgets on track is easier than ever. The platform’s built-in AI sourcing algorithm learns from every transaction across its user base and offers quality substitutions at the best price from trusted vendors. “One area that is very easy to save money is when substitutions are found or we are notified that a price went up on an item,” Molly explained. “That has come in handy for all of our directors and our corporate executives, too.”
Improved bookkeeping accuracy with category coding
With predefined GL codes and product categories in the platform, every purchase gets coded accurately at the beginning of the order – not weeks later during reconciliation. “For the directors in each location, I can code products to a category so that when they're picking and choosing their products, they just have to review the codes. If they need to adjust it, they can simply change it in the cart,” Molly explained.” This feature helps reduce coding errors, improves month-end close accuracy, and saves hours of time that might otherwise be spent resolving discrepancies.
Custom coding also supports First Learning’s state-funded programs, which require granular spend tracking by classroom type or funding source. “Another thing that is important for our company is that we have universal pre-k programs, so our directors are able to take advantage of the department categories, which makes tracking the spending in those classrooms so much easier,” Molly shared.
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Eliminated guesswork with AI tracking
Now, with Order.co’s tracking AI, the status of every order placed across First Learning’s 16 locations is automatically updated in a single dashboard. “As an admin user, I can see everything that's ever been ordered, denied, or processed,” Molly said. “No searching for papers or emails that we might have lost.”
Regardless of the carrier, Molly can now find tracking links for all shipments in one easily accessible hub. “I do love [AI tracking],” Molly expressed. “It's so easy to track every order in a consolidated space and see at which stage each order is in the fulfillment process.” Gaining this level of transparency is particularly important in the early childcare industry, where timing is everything. Delays on supplies like diapers, disinfectant, or packaged snacks can directly impact operations and even the children themselves.
The platform’s AI tracking eliminates any blind spots in the ordering process, so if a delivery is running late or another issue arises, Molly can step in quickly with all the context she needs to make the best possible decision and ensure her team always has what they need, when they need it.
Simplified invoice management
Order.co handles vendor payments on First Learning’s behalf and rolls all purchases into one consolidated invoice, making Molly’s workload much more manageable and organized. Instead of reconciling hundreds of individual charges, she now processes just 16 invoices per month – one per location.
As a result, vendors are always paid on time, and teams don’t have to worry about late or cancelled deliveries due to late payments. “I no longer have to keep up with hundreds of vendors and hundreds of invoices each week for every location,” Molly expressed. “We order, [vendors] deliver, and that's all we need to do.”
Now, Molly spends less time tracking down paperwork and more time focused on high-impact work. And, for the business as a whole, it means stronger cash flow control, improved vendor relationships, and operations that run as smoothly behind the scenes as they do in the classroom.
Boosted efficiency to support growth
A huge win for the First Learning team has been how Order.co accelerates setup for new locations. “Using Order.co, getting new directors and new locations set up to start ordering and supplying their classrooms and their centers is so much easier and so much faster,” Molly described.
This consistency ensures that new centers can hit the ground running with less friction and fewer delays. As a result, “Directors can focus more time on their daily operations, making sure their centers run fluidly,” Molly described. “They focus more of their time on families and children.”
With repeatable workflows in place and fewer operational fires to put out, Molly and her team can prioritize the success of their new and existing centers. “We're really happy with Order.co, and we look forward to continuing our partnership,” Molly shared.