In this exclusive Acceleration Case study as part of the Future Office of the CFO program, read about how an organization digitally transformed, the partner they leaned on during the transition, and the outcomes of their investment. This business, Lucidworks, reviewed the time intensity of manual processes, especially their month-end close, and how this inefficiency was holding back their department. With the help of Tiplati and accounts payable automation, Lucidworks experienced a 50% time reduction to financial close. With this time back, the business can more efficiently scale while maintaining financial controls.
Business Challenge – Finding a Way to Modernize Finance Process
Lucidworks is a search-based platform that uses the cloud to make it possible for customers to find products through various online retail stores. This cloud software provider is designed for multiple industries, as they work with several international vendors while also handling numerous currencies.
However, overseeing the month-end close process was a difficult challenge due to everything being done manually. The finance team spent a lot of time each month manually entering bills, as they were often finishing the books after business day 11. Employees processing a bill often had to perform 40-50 wires manually, which took up a significant amount of time.
The senior accounting manager at Lucidworks needed to know where all of the money was going to help better manage department budgets and forecast trends. Finding a way to prevent overspending while strengthening financial controls was a top priority.
Software Solution – Tipalti
While searching for a modernized financial process, the team at Lucidworks decided to partner with Tipalti to help streamline its operations while also improving its accounts payable process and PO systems.
Tipalti offers one central hub, enabling suppliers to quickly provide W-8s and W-9s while including their preferred payment methods. Employees at Lucidworks no longer have to spend time searching for documents, as the entire billing process is much more straightforward. Tipalti handles all payments, which saves everyone a lot of time.
The team at Lucidworks can now operate more efficiently, as Tipalti provides multi-entity support while also handling international payment methods. This makes it much easier to comply with cross-border tax and all of the regulatory laws. Using this software solution helps to eliminate costs and improve operational efficiencies.
PO matching also makes it easier to develop financial strategies and better manage spending. Instead of trying to convert currencies, these tasks are handled automatically, as all of the bills are paid through Tipalti and can be exchanged into any currency. Simplifying this process is essential to growth for an international business.
The Results
Even throughout the pandemic, Lucidworks was able to overcome numerous challenges impacting their industry. Using automation makes it possible to remain strategic for overcoming financial losses. It also helps to manage expenses during the pandemic better and makes it easier to forecast for the remaining year.
Now Lucidworks closes accounts payable on business day five with the help of automation. Ultimately, this equates to a 50% financial close reduction. The ERP system is also integrated within NetSuite, as it allows Tipalti to streamline financial activities. Employees no longer need to manually input invoices into NetSuite.
Once Tipalti approves an invoice, it automatically syncs to NetSuite. Auto-syncs also happens once the bill is paid, as this entire process is streamlined to be much more efficient than the prior system.
The team at Lucidworks can now focus on improving its software to further enhance the user experience due to the automation of accounts payable. Lucidworks will continue to innovate the future of search while scaling at a global level and maintaining better financial controls.
