Customer: SchagrinGAS
Location: Middletown, DE
Solution: Sage Intacct Accounting Software
Family owned and operated since 1932, SchagrinGAS sells and delivers propane to more than 19,000 residential and commercial customers in Delaware, eastern Maryland, and southeastern Pennsylvania. SchagrinGAS sells and services HVAC equipment, hearth products, water heaters, and power generators and also has a division devoted to home water conditioning. With four retail locations and delivery distribution sites across three states, SchagrinGAS is one of the top 50 propane companies in the United States.
To continue their success as one of the leading propane companies in the country, SchagrinGAS needed the support of flexible, modern technology.
Time for an Upgrade
SchagrinGAS had used the same financial software package for nearly 30 years, and while it had worked well in the past, the company was beginning to feel its limitations. The accounting team was losing time to inefficient, manual workflows. Processing accounts payable vouchers was particularly cumbersome, requiring the team to pass documents around the office or even mail them between locations to get the necessary verifications and approvals.
Reporting was also a challenge. With no automated way to obtain information, the team had to spend hours building reports and tracking metrics outside the system in spreadsheets. Closing a financial period could take three weeks or longer, without the ability to distribute financial reports in a timely manner.
To top it off, the IT costs to maintain the existing solution’s hardware were beginning to outweigh the value of the software.
“Our former solution contributed to wasted resources and inefficiencies,” explained Scott Aiello, CFO. “The costs associated with using the system—labor, materials, and maintenance of IT equipment—were becoming excessive. And the inability to make timely business decisions from financial data was costly. These problems had a direct affect on our bottom line.”
The Schagrin team knew a more modern financial solution would give them new tools to streamline operations and improve efficiency.
Committed to the Cloud
As they researched options for new accounting software, Schagrin realized a cloud-based solution was the right fit for their future goals. Cloud-based software would give them the flexibility they were looking for, allowing employees from all locations to share information through one centralized system and access real-time financial data. A cloud solution would also streamline inefficient processes by reducing paper, simplifying approvals, automating reporting, and would eliminate the need to maintain hardware.
When it came to functionality, Schagrin was looking for a solution with robust financial and accounts payable capabilities.
Sage Intacct checked all the boxes on Schagrin’s wish list and came highly recommended by existing customers, who told the Schagrin team the software was easy to learn and use and did not break or produce errors. The AICPA endorsement also carried a lot of weight, but ultimately it was the software’s look and feel and cloud platform that won Schagrin over.
When it came to an implementation partner, Schagrin was looking for someone familiar with their industry and capable of integrating Intacct with their back-office operational software. As a software provider for the energy industry and an Intacct premier partner, Cargas was a natural fit. The Cargas team was familiar with integrating Intacct to industry back-office software, so they were well equipped to do the same for Schagrin.
“The Cargas team was in tune with the goals we wanted to achieve,” said Aiello. “They understood the Intacct solution and had a clear vision for how Intacct should be installed and used by SchagrinGAS Co.”
“The Sage Intacct solution introduced a streamlined and easy-to-understand Accounts Payable module, a flexible financial reporting package, an intuitive GUI for the user, and a cloud-based platform to enable management to have access to real-time reports from any location.”
Scott Aiello, CFO
New-Found Efficiency
With Sage Intacct in place, SchagrinGAS is realizing all of the benefits of a modern financial solution. The software has had a major impact on the company’s AP process. Because of Intacct’s streamlined AP workflows, Schagrin has been able to work with one less member in their AP department after one of their associates retired.
Real-time financial reporting is offering better business insight than ever before, and with the cloud platform, executives are able to access the information they need anytime, anywhere.
“Top-level management is more proactive as opposed to being reactive with the operations of the business,” said Aiello. “There are no surprises at the end of the month because they’re able to know what’s going on from day to day.”
The Schagrin team also took the implementation as an opportunity to look at the company as a whole, really understand how they were doing business, and consider changes.
“The project was not only to introduce a new accounting solution, but a chance to review our processes and streamline our internal mechanisms,” explained Aiello.
With the right software and processes in place and a knowledgeable partner, SchagrinGAS has all the tools they need for continued success.
“Overall, we’re all very pleased with the whole process and the final product,” said Aiello. It’s been a great story, and I think because of the initial homework we did and Cargas did, there were really no surprises. At the end, it really met our expectations.”