“I had done my research about aACE and the references were consistent: aACE had the experience and knowhow to get this done. Once we committed to using aACE, they asked me to trust them. I did and they delivered, and the process was much smoother than I ever anticipated learning just how much this program can do for us.” -Wendy Donenfield, CPA; M & R Controller
When aACE met M & R in April of 2010, they were using an off-the-shelf solution and a handful of database, Excel, and Word workarounds to manage their operations. Each and every transaction required substantial work from users because of their complex conversion and compliance requirements. It was a slow and potentially error-prone process that needed to be improved. M & R management researched a handful of options, but no software vendor could accommodate their unique requirements without painful workarounds – until they found aACE.
CHALLENGES & aACE SOLUTIONS
Complex Conversions
Text and cover paper is procured in units of 100 pounds but priced and sold in metric tons, and customers place orders by sheets or cartons. For each transaction, users of M & R’s previous software solution had to manually calculate the conversions between each unit of measure. aACE automates these calculations to improve accuracy and alleviate the bottleneck caused by this process.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Compliance
In order to maintain FSC certification, M & R is audited annually to ensure compliance with their standards. aACE reports can be customized to meet even the most particular business needs.
Workaround Solutions
M & R used to rely on an off-the-shelf solution with a handful of workarounds that required a lot of manual work from each user. This made for a time-consuming process that was prone to human error. aACE can be customized for the needs of most business without the use of messy patchwork solutions.
Accounting Hassles
M & R previously did a lot of accounting work in Excel at the end of each month to manually account for products in transit. aACE’s inventory tracking handles this automatically so M & R can avoid labor-intensive workarounds.
RESULTS
Automated Conversions
aACE eliminated the need for time-consuming calculations by automating the conversions between the various units of measure; what once took M & R users an hour now only takes five minutes. For instance, inventory is stored and valued in metric tons even though it is purchased in units of 100 pounds. Users can enter sheets or cartons as requested by the customer; the “quantity” value (metric tons) is then automatically calculated based on the Sheets Per Carton and M Weight ratios for the Fine Printing Paper product. Purchase orders are auto-generated from the sales orders, and the quantity used for procurement is based on the CWT quantity (metric tons converted to pounds divided by 100).
Easier Accounting
aACE’s Cost of Goods Sold solution was customized to account for ownership of products while they are in transit. For M & R this eliminates a substantial amount of month-end accounting work previously performed in Excel.
International Compatibility
Updates were made to various records and processes to accommodate M & R’s international logistics and shipping requirements. Documents were customized to account for bilingual requirements given M & R’s substantial business in Central and South America.
Compliance Made Easy
All processes and documents in M & R’s aACE solution are FSC compliant. The solution contains an FSC compliance report, making the annual FSC audit substantially easier than in previous years.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Here’s what M & R’s Controller, Wendy Donenfield, CPA, has to say about the results of their aACE implementation:
“The new system has been a great success. The staff was able to learn how to use it quickly. I have more tools at my disposal for resolving open orders and finding wayward invoices. We all spend less time processing day-to-day transactions and month-end processes, and reports have been customized to our specifications.
aACE was the ONLY system in our price range that was able to automate the computations necessary for us to buy and sell one of our main product lines. Additionally, the program was customized further to accommodate all of our product lines that have different parameters. [I would recommend aACE to] any company that needs a seemingly-impossible-to-achieve customized accounting system that will take them from inputting a transaction to the general ledger.”
Do you or someone you know need a change from one-size-fits-all ERP tools? Check out our videos to learn more about whether aACE business management software for Mac and PC can help accelerate your company.
