NetSuite’s stairway to financial success for growing SaaS business.
Physitrack are a global digital healthcare provider who specialise in telehealth consultations and online exercise courses to improve the wellness of its users. The business grew its revenue by 152% during the COVID-19 pandemic and went public to expedite their expansion, allowing them to grow from 1 –10 subsidiaries within months. The business currently boasts staff on four continents, customers in 17 time zones and patients in 187 countries
In this webinar, Angel Bautista (EMEA Industry Solution Advisor for Software & Services at Oracle NetSuite) is joined by Head of Finance at Physitrack Plc, Matt Poulter, along with Ross Lata and Stephen Campbell (Co-Founders and Directors of MacroFin), to explore how Physitrack, as a fast-growing SaaS company, drove success through the implementation of NetSuite.
Amongst other topics, this first webinar uncovers the ways in which Physitrack identified a need to change systems, and the process they followed to prepare for the transition. We also look at how their partnership with MacroFin, which provided a unique blend of senior financial and technical consultants, helped shape the successful outcome of their NetSuite implementation.
Phase 1 – Preparing for the project:
Team Readiness
A critical step for businesses undertaking an ERP implementation project is to ensure that their team is ready and that the correct combination of experience, ability and availability is present within the business.
Sharing both client and partner-side experience of successful implementations, the panel address a number of key areas to review and discuss with your team when considering a new finance or ERP solution, including:
- Are we ready to adopt an ERP system?
- What data do we need historically and moving forward, do we have that, where, in what format and how can it be migrated?
- What would be the benefits of a cloud ERP be for our business specifically?
- What specific financial processes does our business require?
- Who can be responsible for key tasks alongside their current day job?
Matt (Physitrack) also shares his top tips on how his team prepared for the project, discusses what he learned from the process and what he would do differently next time.
Digital Transformation Strategies
Progressing into the actual review process, the conversation moves on to aligning any investment in new technology with the business’ wider digital transformation strategy.
Matt (Physitrack) explains that due to the virtual nature of their business, and the international expansion, cloud technology was central to the Physitrack’s growth strategy. This, combined with a need access to real-time financial information across all subsidiaries, in different countries and currencies, meant that Physitrack needed a system which was designed to handle complex and evolving international setups, as well as an implementation partner who brought as much financial experience, as technical expertise to the table.
Discussing how ERP can fit into a bigger digital strategy, fuelled by automation and visibility of critical information, the team from MacroFin contribute additional tips and considerations of custom reports and off-the-shelf SuiteApps.
Looking beyond the core financial elements of a project, such additions can really cement a successful implementation by addressing key requirements, such as AP Automation. In Physitrack’s case specifically, e-Invoicing was critical for the business’ Swedish subsidiary and could be managed natively in NetSuite using Zone Capture (formerly Fast Four Scan & Capture).
It is important to think about your specific business needs before embarking on an ERP implementation, a strong implementation partner should also contribute to this discussion by bringing a solution perspective driven by experience of other similar projects.
The best time to adopt an ERP
Two common questions about ERP adoption:
- Should we implement an ERP system before or after expanding?
- Should we implement across all countries/subsidiaries for the initial go-live date or is it better to implement one at a time?
Before or after expansion?
Driven by years of experience in implementing finance solutions on the client side prior to launching MacroFin, and the lessons from 100+ projects in the last four years, our advice boils down to a simple sentence:
“If you know you’re going to grow, you’ll need to expand your team and resources, or invest in an ERP solution.”
Matt gives an insight into how Physitrack took this advice on board, implementing NetSuite when their finance team was made up of just 3 staff. This allowed them to continue their ambitious growth efforts and expand to 10 subsidiaries without increasing the finance team.
Implement all subsidiaries immediately?
This depends on your business needs, but MacroFin recommend that you focus on implementing your ERP system in your home subsidiary for the initial go-live date. This allows your team to become familiar with the system and identify and resolve any issues that may arise.
Matt discusses how Physitrack initially wanted to go-live with three subsidiaries. However, upon the advice of MacroFin they decided to implement the home subsidiary as the initial go-live, and then implement the other two subsidiaries two months later. Matt then outlines the benefits this had for him and his team, including user adoption and a significantly reduced go-live time for additional subsidiaries, and discusses how they are still reaping the benefits post go-live.
The webinar concludes with the panel answering questions such as:
- How long did this project take?
- How much time does the senior finance team need to set aside for an ERP project?
To learn more about How NetSuite can provide consolidation, recognition, reporting & automation for your business click the link to watch the full Webinar: Watch Pt1 On Demand
