Smartnumbers

Acumatica: Easy to use, Affordable, Intuitive

Four factors led them to choose Acumatica Cloud ERP.

“User experience was extremely important to us, particularly with ERPs having a bad reputation as being difficult to use,” says Chris Drake, Smartnumbers’ Chief Operating Officer. “We didn’t want to spend a whole bunch of time and money implementing a system that might end up not being used.”

Acumatica was the most intuitive and configurable ERP they considered. “We knew we could mold it to our users’ needs across the business and across the lead-to-cash process. It showed a lot of potential.”

Second, Acumatica’s unique licensing model offering unlimited users was very affordable.

“We’ve added a lot of employees over the last year or so, scaling from 60 employees to approximately 100, and will continue to do so. We wanted a licensing model that will grow with us and promote user adoption so we can get the most value from it,” Drake says.

Smartnumbers also liked Acumatica’s open architecture and open APIs.

“We didn’t want to be pinned to a system where it was difficult to get data out or difficult to integrate with other platforms we have,” Drake says. “Acumatica makes it easy to access data with its API, import and exports are super easy, and, while it handles 95 percent of our requirements out of the box, it is flexible and adapts to personalize it to exactly how we want it to work. We’ve been impressed with that aspect of Acumatica.”

The ERP platform connects to Smartnumbers’ SaaS platform and other third-party applications.

Lastly, Acumatica is a true cloud-based SaaS platform that allows employees to focus on providing customer value.

“As a technology person, I appreciate that it’s been built in a web-native technology,” Drake says. “Whereas with other providers we looked at, there’s a sort of pseudo-cloud model that relies on remote sessions, or it was clear that they’d lifted something and transplanted it into the cloud. And that’s where Acumatica won out quite convincingly.”

Smartnumbers’ technology partner Tascoli, led by James Morgan, deployed Acumatica Cloud ERP in about 12 weeks. They took a modular approach, implementing advanced financials, Acumatica’s CRM with Salesforce sync, and contract management.

“A lot of that time was trying to wrangle data out of pre-existing legacy systems,” Drake says. “We had a great experience working with Tascoli and Acumatica even though we implemented it during the Covid-19 lockdown. That was a real testament to their project implementation model.”

“Acumatica has exceeded our expectations,” Drake says. “Some of the results we’ve gotten are slightly embarrassing because, in terms of measurable time savings, it was up to 90 percent for some processes we were doing.”

Because Acumatica replaced 12 standalone systems, Smartnumbers lowered its technology spending by 80 percent. “That removal of the historic distraction, the overhead of what we had before, enabled our people to work on more valuable strategic activities, which has been important,” Drake says.

The company has experienced some immeasurable benefits as well. “Acumatica is kind of this golden thread that runs through our business and supports us culturally as well. The post-implementation support we’ve had from both our partners in the UK, Tascoli, and Acumatica directly, has been second to none. They make you feel like you are their number one customer, and they can’t do enough to help you. So, we’ve been very impressed,” Drake says.

Slashed Month-End Close from 10 Days to 1

Smartnumbers now has visibility into all its data. Anyone can access what they need quickly.

“The biggest benefit was just being able to have that built-in flexibility and time savings in month-end,” Low says. “Reporting was immediate, which was dramatically beneficial. Although my role changed, it saved about 75 percent of the time spent at month’s end, which went from 10 days to one.”

The company no longer deals with technology blockers, such as waiting for one resource hog to finish before running another application, and now has real-time analytics for strategic decisions.

“The reporting piece is huge and really aligned with our business culture of collaboration and working together to create customer value,” says Drake. “Everyone can look at the same numbers and access information in real-time together. It’s all in one full suite of modules, and it’s like having a golden thread running from a sales opportunity to a customer invoice to getting paid on time. We can respond to change faster, how we sell, how we price, and we’re able to adapt the application and maintain a high level of efficiency despite a changing environment.”

Ease of Use Speed Adoption

Acumatica’s user interface confirmed it was the right choice. “Historically, we had multiple systems with very different looks and feels that were clunky and not intuitive. Someone new to the business found it very challenging to learn, and the financial module was old school in the way it operated,” Low says.

“With Acumatica, everything looks and feels the same, it is familiar across all modules, and onboarding was simple. We were able to tailor the views so employees could see what only they needed to see. We slimmed down and personalized other screens where employees only needed minor access.”

“There were minimal questions and frustration, and everyone was quite excited about how they would use the solution,” Low adds. “The ability to attach PDFs or images was great. Everything was available within Acumatica, which was a big benefit. It’s intuitive, and it’s easy to use.”

Employees now focus on creating customer value rather than conducting manual administrative tasks and navigating a disconnected system.

“We wanted everything to be streamlined and working efficiently, and that only works if things are simple and easy. That’s where Acumatica’s flexibility helps because we can provide what they need and no more,” Drake says. “Acumatica makes our team happy because they can do their jobs more effectively, quicker, and easier, and it reduces their time spent on administration. This allows them to focus on things they enjoy more, which creates more value for our customers.”

360-Degree Customer View

Because the CRM is part of a seamless platform linked to financials, the sales team can see 360-degree views of customer activity, which includes the complete customer history, such as the products in use, billing issues or inquiries, payment history, and the services the customer may be exploring. The sales team now receives the information they need to perform more effective upselling, cross-selling, and renewal activities.

From the financial point of view, the CRM allows “finance to see an opportunity being created within the system, progressing to the stage where the opportunity is closed as won, and see as it progresses to a sales order and moves into the contract and billing phase,” Low says. “We can offer a seamless customer experience, and it doesn’t take three or four days to provide information. Providing data instantly enhances our image of professionalism.”

“We can respond faster because the information is there for the right team at the right time,” adds Drake.

Scaling Internationally

With Acumatica as its foundation, Smartnumbers began offering its SaaS platform to companies and call centers outside the UK.

“We recently launched products in North America and Asia,” Drake says. “With its ability to handle multiple currencies and tenants, Acumatica allows us to easily accommodate new customers across the globe.”

The business operations platform provides real-time data and the agility the team needs to make strategic decisions quickly. Acumatica is a competitive asset instead of a hindrance like the older system.

“From a technology and operations point of view, Acumatica ticks all the boxes,” says Drake. “It’s engaging for users, scalable, flexible to meet your needs, and grows with you as a business. Acumatica has helped us expand and grow into new markets that have a positive impact on our business.”