More than money – meet the NMBS purchase ledger team

Behind every successful transaction at NMBS is a team quietly ensuring that suppliers get paid accurately and on time. The seven-strong purchase ledger team is at the heart of this process, reconciling statements, resolving queries and maintaining relationships that support both suppliers and merchants.

Jo Sturgeon, purchase ledger manager, knows this process better than most. With 39 years of NMBS experience under her belt, Jo has seen the department grow from manual ledgers and post-room queries to a cloud-based, digitally efficient operation that reconciles more than 91% of total turnover. Here she explains more about the role her team plays in NMBS.

A seamless supplier experience

The purchase ledger team’s main responsibility is to manage payments to suppliers. Every month, suppliers submit statements showing what NMBS owes. The team reconciles these, identifies discrepancies, requests missing invoices and ensures that payment is made promptly.

“We’re the first point of contact for our suppliers,” says Jo. “Whether it’s a question about invoices or understanding their rebate agreement, we’re here to make things easier. And if we don’t know the answer, we know exactly which department does.”

This service-first approach helps supplier finance teams save significant time. Building materials suppliers don’t have to chase hundreds of merchants individually. They just have one streamlined contact with NMBS, which ensures everything is on track.

Consistency and confidence

Each supplier is assigned a unique code, and accounts are divided alphabetically across the team. Each member of the purchase ledger team connects with their suppliers through regular calls to check in and maintain strong relationships.

“There’s a lot of value in building that familiarity,” says Jo. “Whether it’s via email or Teams, we want suppliers to know who’s looking after their account and that they can trust us to get things done.”

An experienced and skilled team

The team is a balanced mix of experience and fresh perspective, which helps ensure the team runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Meanwhile, Jo herself is the second-longest-serving employee in the entire business. She started in 1986 and has been at the forefront of developing the purchase ledger operation into a fully cloud-based, streamlined system. The shift to cloud-based working, just before Covid, enabled the team to support other departments during lockdown and continue delivering against supplier payment deadlines without interruption.

Staying focused on what matters

Each account is reviewed regularly to ensure the team maintains the right priorities for each supplier. And when changes occur, such as new people joining at the supplier’s end, the purchase ledger team often step in to explain to new contacts how NMBS works and help suppliers get the most out of their membership.

As Jo puts it, “Our job is about much more than paying invoices. It’s about relationships, reliability and helping suppliers work with NMBS as effectively as possible.”

With more than 75 years of combined NMBS experience between them, the purchase ledger team is a critical part of the business. The team quietly underpins the entire NMBS model and ensures suppliers continue to grow trust and relationships, while streamlining the financial side of the business.

Learn more about the purchase ledger team on the NMBS website https://www.nmbs.co.uk/meet-the-team/.