Acumatica Software Integration Saves Produce Broker Time and Money

Acumatica Integrates Specialized Produce Sales Software, Saves Produce Broker Time and Money

Industry: Distribution

Application Replaced: Quickbooks

Migrate from Quickbooks to Acumatica

Key results for Consolidated West Distributing

• Integrated system allows automatic flow of financial data, cutting data-entry in half
• Enhanced financial reporting meets internal and external requirements
• Remote access improves monitoring of finances and productivity
• License for unlimited users allows business to grow with no additional per-user cost

OVERVIEW

Founded in 2001, Consolidated West could not link its sales management software with its accounting software. In 2016 the company switched from QuickBooks to Acumatica and achieved the needed software integration, gaining significant time savings from eliminating double data entry.

SITUATION

Consolidated West began operating in 2001. The company’s CFO, Ron Krieger, says they continually had challenges linking their specialized sales software with their accounting software.

Because they couldn’t connect the two systems, Mr. Krieger says, he always had to do double-data entry: “We would have to take all the information and then redo it again in QuickBooks.” He adds, “It was a lot of number-crunching for me, which I wasn’t happy about.”

After 10 years the CFO says he grew frustrated with QuickBooks’ limitations, especially as the company’s operations grew: “It’s not applicable to a sophisticated business like ours.”

Mr. Krieger says Consolidated West found new financial software, which they tried to use but found it so challenging that it reduced some staff to tears. He reports, “We spent quite a bit of money trying it, but it was antiquated and didn’t meet our needs, and they could never get it to work.

That was a real problem. It was basically used for growers, for people who plant the products, not for brokers likes ourselves.”

At that point, Mr. Krieger says, “I was extremely disappointed, because now I had to go back to my old system.” But then he heard from a friend who’s a CPA, he says, “He was looking at Acumatica and said you might want to talk with these people. I said if we could use our sales program, and integrate it with Acumatica, that would really be the best way to go.”

SOLUTION

Consolidated West CFO Krieger says before finding Acumatica he had looked at other ERP Software options, but they didn’t address the firm’s needs. “None was flexible enough for us,” he says. “They wouldn’t make changes. Acumatica seems to try to make changes where it’s necessary. That was the key thing.”

The CEO of the firm that had developed the produce sales software, Frank Marafino of Advanced Technology Innovations (ATI), also considered Acumatica the best option to integrate with their software. He reports, “The underlying tools and development environment in Acumatica ERP Software seemed very powerful. That’s what led me to it.”