Speeding Up Receipt Collection From The Field by 72%
Problem
Credit Card Expense Management
About the Customer
Sullivan Builders, founded in 1995 in Columbus, Ohio, is a award-winning full-service residential and commercial construction company. With a team of adept builders, they offer an array of construction services such as residential remodeling, custom home developments, light commercial tenant finishes, and institutional projects encompassing churches and schools. Holding a prominent reputation in the industry, they've secured multiple awards for their commitment to quality, safety, and overall client satisfaction.
"We've cut labor for our credit card management process from 3+ staff members spending multiple hours per person per week, to just one employee spending 30 minutes a week."
Cheyenne Rawlins
The Challenge
Sullivan Builders grappled with credit card expense management, particularly with collaborating on coding expenses between the accounting team, project managers and field staff. Past experiences with other softwares and manual processes in excel led to labor-intensive efforts. The challenge lay in finding a software that understood their priorities, streamlined their operations, reduced the amount of involvement from senior management and catered to specific needs, thereby eliminating labor-intensive tasks and boosting overall efficiency.
"The motivation to understand our needs and processes’ helped them develop dashboards that cater to and remove the possibilities of errors and customize what our field vs office teams see and use."
Cheyenne Rawlins
The Process
Nigel Gardiner, Sullivan Builder's fractional CFO and Cheyenne Rawlins, Sullivan's Head of Special Projects began looking for a software that could automate their credit card expense management and streamline communications between the accounting team and those responsible for purchasing on credit cards.The team knew about generic expense management solutions like Expensify and Concur but knew these didn't specialize in construction companies, so were interested when Vergo reached out to see if they could be a good fit. Upon demo'ing Vergo, the team at Sullivan were impressed with how focused the product experience was around the workflows that they had in the construction industry: "Working with other credit card management software’s admittedly left us with a bad taste as they were never what we needed, and we often spent an exuberant amount of labor to try and create a process around their systems that meets our needs."
"With Vergo our needs were the priority, always, and their team took the time to understand exactly what our priorities were and how to be of most value to us from first connection."
Cheyenne Rawlins
The Solution
For Sullivan Builders, Vergo had an advantage over other expense management softwares in that the product is built around the workflows in the construction industry. "The motivation to understand our needs and processes’ helped them develop dashboards that cater to and remove the possibilities of errors and customize what our field vs office teams see and use."
Saving Time and Money
Vergo proved to be a cost-effective solution for Sullivan Builders. “We have now automated this system and cut labor for our CC Mngt from three+ staff members + multiple hrs. each per week into one employee for 30 minutes a week.” In addition to saving the team personnel and time, Vergo has reduced the cost for projects and increased morale. “Streamlining the expectations and making sure each dept has everything they need to be successful; it has paid off for us in time, morale, and cost.” Vergo's ability to comprehend specific requirements led to the creation of a world-class software that streamlines communications resulting in reaping dividends in time, morale, and cost efficiency.
Reducing Errors
Unlike Excel, where there's always the possibility of running into human errors, Vergo stands out in error reduction with its world-class software and support. The team's round-the-clock availability ensures seamless issue resolution. "One of the biggest values of working with Vergo has been having 24/7 access to their team to work through any issues / questions that arise." Vergo's meticulous onboarding and implementation create a customized experience, addressing precise needs.By understanding client priorities, Vergo has created error-minimizing dashboards and streamlined processes. "The biggest benefit from their software for us has been the labor saved and confidence in the management process as a whole!"
"If you are a construction company that are spinning your wheels on how to manage credit cards for your team – I highly recommend you give Vergo a shot and book a demo with their team."
Cheyenne Rawlins
Streamlining Expense Management
Vergo's team actively engaged in providing tutorial demos, rapid issue resolution, and customized implementations, resulting in a personalized experience aligned with the company's unique requirements. "During initial onboard and implementation Vergo’s team was incredibly involved in supporting our company; by providing tutorial demos, quickly mobilizing to find development solutions, and implementing for any issue which led to a customized experience and a product tailored to our exact needs." Within a couple of months, the implementation of Vergo's system facilitated automation such as receipt collection and matching transactions, drastically reducing the labor required. "After 3 months we have now automated this system and cut labor for our CC Management from three+ staff members + multiple hrs. each per week into one employee for 30 minutes a week. I believe this alone speaks volumes of what Vergo has done for us.""The biggest benefit from their software for us has been the labor saved and confidence in the management process as a whole!"
Conclusion
In addition to everything mentioned above, Cheyenne highlights the world-class support and responsiveness they received from the Vergo team. "Working with Rich Kane and the developers at Vergo has been an absolute pleasure from first contact through implementation and rollouts." "We have felt completely catered to the entire year we have been working with Vergo, and it has been a breath of fresh air in comparison to other banking software’s we have evaluated."Vergo transformed Sullivan Builders' credit card expense management process, providing hands-on support and turning a challenging process into a major success."if you are a construction company that are spinning your wheels on how to manage credit cards for your team – I highly recommend you give Vergo a shot and book a demo with their team. The hands on, success driven Vergo team made a process that brought us dread one of the biggest wins for our team for the fiscal year."
