Customer Stories
AAA Washington Sees Quick Implementation, Big Efficiency Gains With FloQast
Have you ever looked ahead to an internal audit, knowing it wouldn’t go smoothly? It feels a bit like a dentist’s appointment where you know you haven’t been flossing and can already feel an ache. Combine that with the complexity of running accounting for an organization like AAA Washington, and you’ve got problems more considerable than a toothache.
The Situation
AAA Washington Controller Ed Lacina and Senior Accountant Eric Martin had their work cut out. They knew they needed to make serious changes to their systems, tools, and procedures, particularly surrounding the Month-End Close. Still, they weren’t looking forward to the lengthy process for implementation or the pushback they might get from a veteran accounting team who’d been with them for years (doing things the same way for most of that time).
While Excel is still a powerful tool that’s stayed the same for the past 75 years (give or take), it can’t solve every problem. Case in point: There’s not a formula in existence that can help you communicate status updates with a busy CFO or get your team to use the checklist you gave them.
“I’ve been through a lot of software implementations, and this was a gazillion times easier. I’ve never had a software company commit to something and actually stick to it. It’s always been overpromised and under-delivered. When FloQast told us that we could be up and running in a month or two, that was the truth.”
ED LACINA, CONTROLLER
The Struggle
Like many accounting teams, AAA Washington was struggling to close the books on time and get the information they needed to the people who needed it. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place, or more specifically, between a close process that wasn’t working and the fear of implementing a new system and new software, and getting buy-in from the team.
In today’s fast-changing marketplace, an outdated system just won’t cut it. Wasting time with manual processes, delaying your ability to give accurate numbers to your leadership team, can sink a business. In other words, the iceberg was melting beneath Ed and Eric’s feet, and they needed to do something quickly to keep the business moving toward its goals.
“I really struggled with knowing where we were at with our Close We use Excel checklists, but if only a few people update them, they’re basically useless. Having the FloQast Analyze tab open and seeing the progress is reassuring for me and means I don’t have to bother anyone asking for status updates … FloQast has helped us change the dynamic of what it means to close our books.”
ED LACINA, CONTROLLER
The Results
FloQast sat down with Ed and Eric to get the full story of how they solved their problem. Learn how they:
- Sped up their monthly Close by several days
- Gained better visibility on the closing process
- Made their financials more useful and easier to share with the C-suite
