The Search for a New Accounting Platform
Ken Murray, who previously worked for North-Wend Foods in the 1990s, returned to the company a few years ago as its Controller.
"During my tenure at Fuzzy's Taco Shop, I became familiar with Sage Intacct. Fuzzy’s transition from QuickBooks Enterprise to Sage Intacct was a smooth and successful process. As a result, when I rejoined North-Wend Foods, I was confident in my choice of accounting platform."
Finding the right partner was key for Ken. He wanted to establish a relationship with a firm he could trust and develop a relationship with.
"I learned about Tablespoon from one of Tablespoon's partners, OneDataSource. When I met with Andrew and the Tablespoon team, it was clear from the start that my needs were being listened to and that the relationship I needed was there. Andrew was very easy to work with, and since I had been familiar with Sage Intacct, I knew what I wanted, and the Tablespoon team was able to deliver and tailor Sage Intacct to my needs."
Tablespoon and Sage Intacct
North-Wend Foods used RTI Connect, but it lacked the necessary capacity to meet its requirements.
"RTI Connect was antiquated, and North-Wend Foods had outgrown it. I'm so glad that we made the leap to Tablespoon and Sage Intacct. It was the right decision at the right time."
Sage Intacct easily integrates with North-Wend Foods' other business applications. Ken and the North-Wend Foods finance team wanted to do more with less, utilizing their time and resources better.
"I was nervous about the data conversion with RTI for the backup and the historical data; however, Tablespoon made it a smooth process. It also helped that we had our data in-house. We were able to dump the data out of RTI. I was concerned about formatting for Ryan Sugden, Tablespoon's Principal Solution Architect. But Ryan was great. He built solutions to get around the obstacles. It helped that he had done it before and was familiar with my business and processes. It was essential for us to get it right. We needed that data for audits, budgeting, and a historical backup."
Measuring Early Outcomes
It's essential to seamlessly integrate a new accounting platform without disrupting daily work. The Tablespoon team strives to achieve immediate outcomes without overwhelming you. This was the case for North-Wend Foods.
"There's still so much we have to do, but I'm at a point where I'm operational and seeing the benefits of Sage Intacct. We have a project roadmap with Ryan and are on schedule for where we need to be. This is where Tablespoon listened to my needs, and they did it on my project timeframe."
The Tablespoon team helped North-Wend Foods achieve a faster close process with Sage Intacct.
"A faster close is our main priority, and we've seen improvements since implementing Sage Intacct. However, we plan to further tighten it up with automation by 2024."
They are also tracking statistical data to capture voids in Sage Intacct, something that they weren’t able to do in RTI.
In addition, North-Wend Foods is changing its back-office to Rosnet, a multi-unit restaurant management solution. There will be another phase of implementation because they will get information directly out of Rosnet to Sage Intacct instead of RTI.
So, what else is next for North-Wend Foods and Sage Intacct?
"There's still a lot to do, but we have our eye on dashboards to keep our general managers focused on sales, food, and labor. When they can focus on those three things, everyone becomes a winner." North-Wend Foods also plans to look at AP Automation and explore more options around Sage Intacct and banking. "We'd love to cut down on the calls with AP because we send automatic remit notifications. It would be beneficial to review our aging process as it could improve our overall efficiency."
It's a marathon, not a sprint - that's how some implementations and partnerships should work. At Tablespoon, we are committed to our client's project plans, not the other way around.
"Implementing a new accounting platform can be a stressful process. There are a lot of decisions that need to be made. Tablespoon had a calming, nurturing confidence.”
Dishing on Tablespoon: What three words would you describe Tablespoon?
Genuine, qualified, and nurturing.
