Blue KC Generates Thousands in Tax Savings with Sage Fixed Assets

CLIENT SUCCESS STORY

Health insurer BlueCross and BlueShield of Kansas City (“Blue KC”) partnered with Paragon to integrate their fixed asset accounting and inventory processes, immediately generating thousands of dollars in tax savings with Sage Fixed Assets.

Background

Serving over 1 million members across 32 counties, BlueCross and BlueShield of Kansas City (“Blue KC”) is the area’s largest locally-based health insurance provider. With multiple offices, hundreds of employees, and a variety of facilities throughout Kansas City, fixed asset tracking had become a real challenge.

Challenge

Each year, the tax department was sifting through stacks of reports trying to make sense of which assets were disposed of, what was moved, and what had been retired throughout the year. “We had a collection of tools and software across various departments, but none of it was integrated and there was not a cohesive system in place,” according to James Maher, Director of Taxes at Blue KC.

“We knew there was an opportunity to improve the process, clean things up, and probably generate a tax savings,” said Maher. That’s when they called on Paragon ‐ the fixed asset experts.

Solution

Paragon went to work with the client’s fixed asset team visiting the various facilities and tagging assets, and got everything documented and up‐to‐date.

The next order of business was to combine the previously installed Sage FAS Asset Accounting (now Sage Fixed Assets–Depreciation) with Sage FAS Asset Inventory (now Sage Fixed Assets–Tracking) so that going forward, the movement of assets was synchronized with depreciation and accounting. Maher explained, “We were already using Sage Fixed Assets for accounting, but our IT Department was using another program to track the assets and there was no real integration between the two systems.”

Paragon also wrote and documented a new asset management plan, tagging routine, and procedures manual to keep everything in sync moving forward. Maher added, “This also helps in training new employees and standardizes our processes.”

Results

“Paragon bridged the gap between asset accounting and asset tracking that generated thousands of dollars in tax savings immediately,” said Maher. Paragon also put a system in place that keeps their tax records up‐to‐date and simplified. “Our annual reconciliation process has gone from months down to just weeks thanks to Paragon.”