Sarah Gojcaj Styx Email me

Accounts Payable & Finance Operations

Sarah Gojcaj Styx

I build Accounts Payable organizations that hold up through rapid growth, acquisitions, and mergers, with the automation, controls, and people to match.

Currently
Manager, Accounts Payable at Mission Pet Health
Based in
Metro Detroit
Contact me
Portrait of Sarah Gojcaj Styx
40% Reduction in invoice processing time through automation
65,000+ Invoices processed monthly across the AP platform
0 Utility shut-offs across 2,500+ accounts billed monthly
14 Person AP team, with 3 leads promoted from within

About

Process, systems, and controls, run by a team that owns them

For more than 10 years I have built and scaled high-volume, multi-entity Accounts Payable operations: first in global media at Dentsu, then in multi-location veterinary care through rapid growth, hospital acquisitions, and the merger that formed Mission Pet Health.

My work sits where process, systems, and controls meet. I have architected procure-to-pay transformations, led ERP and automation implementations, authored the AP side of a target operating model, and engineered operational and fraud risk out of the payables process.

I care just as much about the team doing the work. I have restructured AP into specialized roles, promoted three AP Leads from within, and kept a 14-person team focused and accountable through major operational change.

Partners Accounting, Treasury, Tax, Procurement, Finance, IT, Legal, Operations, and executive leadership

Automation & Systems

Every stage of the invoice lifecycle, automated where it counts

Most of my work happens between systems: getting invoices in cleanly, coded correctly, approved on time, and paid without surprises. Here is what I have built and automated at each stage.

  1. Intake

    Electronic invoicing via SFTP and API for large national vendors, 10,000+ invoices a month, centralized in Palette. EchoVera OCR for the rest, with large-scale vendor mapping to lift recognition accuracy.

    • Palette
    • EchoVera OCR
    • SFTP & API

  2. Coding & validation

    A dedicated OCR support function so specialists can focus on GL coding, cost center allocation, and exceptions, plus a contracts module with automated validation for utilities and other critical recurring invoices.

    • Contracts module
    • Supplier coding

  3. Approval

    Improved invoice assignment and approval routing with the IT, Workday, and Factura teams, backed by an outreach and escalation model and aged-invoice reporting that keep hospital and regional approvers accountable.

    • Workday
    • Factura
    • Aged-invoice reporting

  4. Payment

    Moved payment operations from Bill.com into Sage Intacct, bringing historically manual processes into the ERP, and drove ACH adoption that cut payment processing time by 20%.

    • Sage Intacct
    • Bill.com
    • ACH

  5. Reporting & close

    AP metrics, dashboards, and month-end close reporting built with BI, and a vision for centralized reporting on automated Workday and Factura data in place of manual spreadsheets.

    • BI dashboards
    • Invoice lifecycle metrics

Under every stage

Vendor master data governance, TIN validation, fraud prevention controls hardened against AI-era fraud vectors, and an end-to-end 1099 filing program. More on vendor data

Platform work

Systems I have implemented, migrated, or built

  • Workday & Factura Kept invoice processing and payments running through the transition, and pursued historical invoice data extraction ahead of legacy system retirement. Mission Pet Health
  • Bill.com → Sage Intacct Led the transition of AP payment operations, configuring payment structures, categories, and workflows inside the ERP. Mission Veterinary Partners
  • EchoVera OCR Led implementation and ongoing optimization across the multi-location organization. Mission Veterinary Partners
  • Palette Centralized electronic invoice intake, and partnered on a custom Relief DVM invoicing module and a contracts module with automated validation. Mission Veterinary Partners
  • Dynamics 365 → MediaOcean Led the move to MediaOcean Radia/Prisma end to end, including vendor, client, and data migration, validation, and cutover. Dentsu
  • AP workflow system Partnered with IT to design and implement a custom workflow management system, defining automation logic, exception handling, and reporting. Dentsu
  • Hudson MX Owned functional specifications, requirements, user acceptance testing, and training for media bill pay integrations. Dentsu
  • Excel tooling Built macros and reconciliation tooling that eliminated duplicate work and lifted team throughput. Dentsu

Vendor Data

Every payment starts with a clean vendor record

Invoices, OCR, payments, and 1099s all run on the vendor master, and an error there travels downstream into each of them. So I treat vendor data as its own discipline: owned, validated, and cleaned up on purpose.

Vendor master record

Tax ID (TIN)
Validated
Onboarding
Fraud screened
1099 status
Reviewed
Payment method
ACH
OCR mapping
Aligned
Data owner
AP Data Management

  • Own the record

    Built the AP Vendor Master Data function from the ground up, with policy, standardization, and data integrity controls, and staffed a dedicated AP Data Management function from my own team.

  • Check it at the door

    TIN validation and fraud prevention controls across vendor onboarding, master data, and payment workflows, hardened against AI-era fraud vectors.

  • Clean up what is there

    Led vendor data cleanup as an enterprise initiative, and paired data cleanup with automation to run an end-to-end 1099 filing program for IRS compliance.

  • Line it up for automation

    Directed large-scale vendor mapping and data alignment that lifted EchoVera OCR recognition accuracy across the multi-location organization.

  • Carry it through system changes

    Led vendor, client, and data migration into MediaOcean Radia/Prisma at Dentsu. Through the merger, supported standardization of supplier coding and pursued historical invoice data extraction ahead of legacy system retirement.

  • Write the standard down

    Wrote the SOPs and job aids for master data maintenance as part of the AP SOP library I built and maintain.

Leadership

Steady hands through big change

Merger integration

Kept invoice processing and payments running for hospitals and vendors while consolidating legacy AP processes, systems, and teams.

Building the team

Restructured AP into specialized roles, promoted three AP Leads from within, and created data management and OCR support roles from internal talent.

Protecting the clinics

Closed an onboarding gap that left clinics exposed to utility shut-offs during active veterinary care, bringing shut-offs to zero.

Holding the line

Drove approval accountability with regional leadership, setting clear ownership across AP and field operations.

Experience

Where I have done the work

  1. 2021 - Present

    Manager, Accounts Payable

    Mission Pet Health formerly Mission Veterinary Partners

    Lead a 14-person Accounts Payable organization at Mission Pet Health, the multi-location veterinary services platform formed by the merger of Mission Veterinary Partners and Southern Veterinary Partners.

    Merger integration

    • Led the AP team through the consolidation of legacy processes, systems, and teams, keeping invoice processing and payments running through the Workday and Factura transition and post-go-live challenges.
    • Designed a structured outreach and escalation model for invoices awaiting hospital and regional leadership approval, reducing outstanding approval volumes and setting clear ownership across AP and field operations.
    • Defined the vision for centralized AP reporting and partnered with technical teams to start invoice lifecycle metrics, productivity reporting, and operational dashboards.
    • Partnered with IT, Factura, and Workday teams to improve invoice assignment, coding, approval routing, and exception handling, and supported standardization of supplier coding and purchasing processes.
    • Pursued historical invoice data extraction ahead of legacy system retirement.
    Before the merger at Mission Veterinary Partners
    • Primary AP contributor across all target operating model sessions, independently authoring the AP documentation.
    • Partnered with newly acquired veterinary hospitals to onboard AP early, aligning processes and preventing downstream vendor escalations.
    • Led implementation and ongoing optimization of EchoVera OCR and built a dedicated OCR support function.
    • Managed electronic invoicing for large national vendors, 10,000+ invoices a month via SFTP and API, within an AP throughput of 20,000+ invoices a month.
    • Partnered with Palette and internal legal on a custom Relief DVM invoicing module for relief veterinarians.
    • Led the transition of payment operations from Bill.com to Sage Intacct and drove ACH adoption, cutting payment processing time by 20%.
    • Brought utility shut-offs to zero across 2,500+ utility accounts with a contracts module and automated validation built with Palette.
    • Established the AP Vendor Master Data function and fraud prevention controls, led vendor data cleanup, and owned the end-to-end 1099 filing program.
    • Restructured AP into specialized functional roles and promoted three AP Leads from within.
    • Partnered with BI on AP metrics, dashboards, and month-end close reporting.

  2. Feb 2019 - Aug 2021

    Functional Lead, Accounts Payable

    Dentsu

    Led a six-analyst AP team within a global media organization and served as the functional bridge between AP, PMO, IT, and external development partners.

    • Owned functional specifications, business requirements, user acceptance testing, and training for Hudson MX media bill pay integrations.
    • Facilitated cross-business-unit requirement workshops, turning operational pain points into system enhancements and transition plans.
    • Presented AP KPIs to senior leadership and drove root-cause analysis that materially reduced cycle time.

  3. 2015 - 2019

    Senior Analyst, Accounts Payable

    Dentsu

    Lead practitioner on system transitions, automation tooling, and AP modernization for high-volume media invoice processing.

    • Led the transition from Microsoft Dynamics 365 to MediaOcean Radia/Prisma end to end, including vendor, client, and data migration, validation, and cutover.
    • Partnered with IT to design and implement a custom AP workflow management system.
    • Supported third-party client audits and built Excel macros and reconciliation tooling that eliminated duplicate work.

  4. 2011 - 2015

    Marketing Manager

    Prlanta Fine Jewelry

    Managed marketing, communications, and eCommerce operations as a direct report to the company president.

Contact

Let's talk

For opportunities or introductions in Accounts Payable and finance operations leadership, email is the best way to reach me.

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