Category: Case Studies

Case Study | DirectBooks Transforms its Financial Management of Several Entities with NetSuite

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

The Company

DirectBooks is a fintech company and market leading platform for communication in primary markets, specializing in structured deal data, documentation, and information exchange. The DirectBooks platform offers transformative automation and standardization across global investment grade, high yield, and emerging markets fixed income products.

 

The company’s finance team was preparing itself for major changes and growth in the company’s operations that were going to significantly impact existing processes.

The Challenge

DirectBooks was experiencing many changes, including the introduction of new revenue streams, a larger client base with significantly more customer data to manage, as well as the potential for many new subscriptions to manage and track, which included varying subscription periods and pricing models. All of this on top of a multi-entity, multi-currency financial structure.

 

The company’s invoicing process and revenue recognition had room for improvement; its subscription invoices and revenue recognition were both manual processes before making the switch to NetSuite. Additionally, the company’s existing system was not equipped with the tools to carry out accounting processes for multi-subsidiary consolidation, and the company needed to supplement those functions by using other third-party consolidation and reporting tools for eliminations and FX translation. This was the only way for them to see consolidated financials and reports, which did not allow for the flexibility of real-time reporting.

The Solution

After much research and due diligence, DirectBooks decided to make the shift to NetSuite in order to be prepared to scale with the company’s growth and expand the capabilities of their finance tech-stack.

 

The team chose Caravel as its implementation partner due to its structured approach, robust resources, and hands-on process. Caravel’s experience, knowledge, and segmented approach to implementation made them feel at ease. “I felt like the pacing was perfect, and I never had too much on my plate at a given time,” said Ben Karpas, Finance Associate at DirectBooks.

 

Initial sessions with Caravel began with them learning about the DirectBooks business, current finance tech-stack, and processes so they could tailor NetSuite to their needs. They had clear communication throughout the implementation and beyond, and weekly check-ins were very helpful to keep expectations, deliverables, and the overall product on track and on budget.

 

Caravel assisted with customizations such as custom workflows, CSV imports, custom fields and reporting, and custom client-facing PDF invoice formats. Caravel also helped the DirectBooks team make efficient use of time when it came to data migration by providing standardized templates and giving guidance on what was necessary and what was “nice-to-have”, as well as providing experiences from other customers on how to best carry out not only the migration, but the go-forward use and administration.

 

To read about the significant results DirectBooks experienced, please download the full case study below. 

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Case Study | West Coast-Based Healthcare Research Company Greatly Increases Productivity and Transparency in Reporting with Rapid NetSuite Implementation

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

The Company

A West Coast-based healthcare research company that was running on QuickBooks soon began to see that the software was not scalable to meet its continuous growth and business processes needs.

Before implementing NetSuite, the company’s many initial systems included Bill.com, Point Purchases, Tally, Asset Tiger, Gusto, First Republic, and Brex.

The Challenge

The first indication that the company needed a new ERP system was that leadership couldn’t obtain timely and accurate reporting to the level, detail, and customization they required for decision-making. Additionally, they wanted to track data by department, as well as by project, and their current system of QuickBooks did have the flexibility they needed. Finally, they had issues uploading journal entries, as their current system didn’t provide the necessary power to do so.  

 

The organization also needed more control of its business processes in case of audits. They required a system that made it more efficient for auditors to validate; they needed more data accuracy and reliability – something they did not currently get out of QuickBooks, which is not built for larger companies. They needed details for the audit trail such as who touched it, and on which day, which the more robust NetSuite can accomplish.

 

Another challenge the teams were experiencing was the manual process in accounting and financial operations to close the books, which was simply taking up too much time and resources. Additionally, they required seamless integration between other systems they were utilizing, which QuickBooks did not allow for. The company also required enhanced security features for its accounting processes. They also wanted to do batched reconciliation that only a robust ERP such as NetSuite could accomplish, which would make a huge difference for their accounting department.

The Solution

The business needed a more comprehensive ERP system that matched their growth. The team at Caravel created a comprehensive timeline for the deployment of NetSuite to be fully functional for the team.

 

Within a span of 3 months, and along with Caravel’s smart framework and methodologies, they deployed NetSuite in a single phase, with core functionality going live in month 3 and integrated to various 3rd party systems in the first phase. NetSuite modules include Record to Report and AP Invoice to Pay. Their AP platform very easily integrates with NetSuite, and because they had so much historical information, they had many reconciliation issues with QuickBooks prior to implementing NetSuite. With NetSuite, it became seamless. With the integration of their purchasing software, NetSuite also allowed an uninterrupted flow of information. The company also implemented Adaptive Planning as its planning and budgeting tool with the support of Caravel. 

 

Adaptive models such as Personnel Planning, Driver-based Expense calculations, and custom reports were set up to help with detailed budgeting and monitoring for the Finance and Leadership team. This FP&A software is integrated into NetSuite and scheduled to update the Actuals data daily. “The Caravel team has very strong knowledge of how NetSuite operates, as well as the complex world and jargon of accounting and this made it much simpler to meet our needs. The team has a highly professional demeanor and always remains calm in the face of stress and deadlines. They are so easily accessible and always find a solution or alternatives to solutions to make sure the project succeeds,” said their VP of Finance.

 

To read about the significant results this healthcare company experienced post go-live, please download the full case study below. 

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Case Study | Jaxon Engineering Sees Formidable Data Control, Management, and Reporting Capability with NetSuite Implementation

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

The Company

A predominantly services company, Jaxon Engineering is a leader in Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) hardening and survivability. Jaxon designs, builds, tests, and maintains EMP-hardened structures for government and commercial clients worldwide.

 

Jaxon implemented NetSuite with Caravel three years ago, and has seen tremendous success with their data, reporting, and overall financial management. Their modules include Financials, Record to Report, Procure to Pay, Design to Build, Project to Cash, NSPB, have several integrations, and are now integrating OpenAir.

 
 
 

The Challenge

As one of several challenges, Jaxon Engineering faced the issue of having a segregated tech stack, with the majority of the company unaware of an ERP system and the impact it could have on the organization. For accounting, QuickBooks was very limiting, and before that, they were using spreadsheets.

 

 

Another challenge Jaxon faced was that people relied on their Director of Finance, Calvin Lyons, for information and data, since he was the central user of all the disparate software they were using.

With their then-current software, QuickBooks, it was very difficult for multiple people to access the data, which was becoming unreliable because people would go in and make changes to historical information, rendering it inaccurate.

 

Reporting was another significant challenge in that the data was never truly current, hence making any reporting inaccurate as well. Jaxon had very little control over their data and urgently needed to do something about it.

The Solution

They began exploring a Material Resource Planning system after they were awarded a manufacturing contract, which ultimately led them to NetSuite. They soon realized that it was simply not going to satisfy their needs, and that they would need a robust ERP that would replace most of the software they were currently using. Alongside NetSuite, they use Briq, a project-based analytics platform.


They were debating between Sage Intacct and NetSuite, when it came down to the choices of ERPs. Because Calvin had spent time in a previous position as a software consultant and building government compliance systems, he knew there was only a handful of realistic, scalable platforms that would work for Jaxon. As they came closer to making a final decision, they realized that Sage was mostly a reporting platform that doesn’t focus on project management, timekeeping, or expenses – those needed to be integrated. Since they wanted to minimize systems, this was not the route they were going to take.  “We thought we could do as much as possible within the NetSuite environment without bolting many other systems on,” expressed Calvin.


To continue reading about the incredible results Jaxon experienced with their NetSuite implementation, download the full case study with results below. 

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Case Study | United Road Unifies Departments & Data with NetSuite Implementation

Posted on by Sarah Bensimon

The Company

 

United Road is premier automotive transport expert, shipping more than 4 million vehicles annually for 10,000+ customers throughout North America. Established in 1997, the company offers unparalleled service to significant automakers, manufacturers, remarketers, financial institutions, leasing companies, and many more.

 

Prior to implementing NetSuite, United Road’s initial systems included the ERP Sage MAS500, SiSense, Paycom, Renovo Financial Reporting, Power BI, and more. Their implementation timeline was eleven months, with integration into various systems.

 
 
 

The Challenge

Before implementing NetSuite, United Road had been using an old accounting system that had been continuously patchworked in order to function for them. It had become unsupported and had many legacy custom scripts that only a few United Road employees had knowledge of.  They were in great need of a system that could grow along with them.

 

Many of United Road’s departments were working in silos before the implementation, plus they had a number of applications (including a leasing app, a fixed assets application, and more) that worked independently of their primary accounting system.

 

Another issue was that the accounting team, who was working on fixed assets, wasn’t “talking” to the AP team. Departments were siloed.

 

The company was also looking for something supportable and wanted to streamline workflows and processes, and NetSuite was able to provide this with its out-of-the-box elements, such as using AP vendor payment with bank integration as well as some of the more custom elements such as 1) Using Boomi as a gateway for automation for their Transportation Management System (TMS), Fleet Maintenance (TMT), and Origami Risk Management system, and 2) Caravel’s IP solution that allows a user to approve transactions via email.

The Solution

United Road had looked at many options in the ERP space, and NetSuite was a great fit that was able to grow along with them and consider their complexities. They wanted to partner with a progressive technology company that could integrate seamlessly with other systems. They were looking for something that could scale alongside their company growth.

 

To continue reading about the incredible results United Road experienced with their NetSuite implementation, download the full case study with results below. 

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