BRIX Holdings Streamlines Financial Operations with Sage Intacct and Tablespoon | Tbsp

BRIX Holdings is a Dallas-based multi-brand franchising company specializing in food service chains. The company's mission is to provide entrepreneurs with superior franchise opportunities and to propel its brands into nationally and internationally acclaimed chains. The current BRIX Holdings portfolio includes Red Mango®, Smoothie Factory + Kitchen®, Souper Salad®, Orange Leaf®, Humble Donut Co.®, Pizza Jukebox, and Friendly's®.

Situation:

BRIX Holdings utilized several accounting systems and outsourced accounting providers across seven different brands, including Great Plains, HomeBase, RightViewWeb, and Infosync. Managing financial operations across these various accounting platforms was a challenge. These disconnected systems led to inefficient processes, prolonged month-end close cycles, and challenges in delivering timely, accurate financial insights to their board of directors.

Seeking a more efficient and scalable solution, BRIX Holdings partnered with Tablespoon to transition to Sage Intacct, a cloud-based accounting system designed for growing businesses.

Challenges:

Before adopting Sage Intacct, BRIX Holdings faced several critical challenges:

1. Prolonged Month-End Close Cycles: With financial data scattered across multiple accounting systems, closing the books was time-intensive. Reconciling data across various systems consumed valuable resources and delayed financial reports.
2. Cumbersome Bank Reconciliations: Bank reconciliations were a manual, error-prone task, further complicating the financial close process and introducing inefficiencies into cash flow management.
3. Limited Board Visibility: BRIX's board required timely and accurate financial reports; however, fragmented systems hindered the finance team's ability to provide real-time, actionable insights.

"I think our challenges were unique. We had seven different brands under our corporate umbrella, and about five of those were using Great Plains, one was using HomeBase, and our biggest brand, Friendly's®, was using RightViewWeb. We were attempting to integrate multiple accounting systems into Sage Intacct simultaneously," said BRIX Holdings' CFO, Rick Brown.

Solution

Tablespoon worked closely with BRIX Holdings to consolidate their financial systems into a single platform with Sage Intacct.

During the implementation process, BRIX Holdings experienced internal turnover of their implementation project lead.

"The Tablespoon team demonstrated a high level of flexibility, patience, and knowledge throughout the implementation process. There were several starts and stops and challenges with the turnover and the multiple accounting systems, but Tablespoon remained collaborative and supportive. We're in a great place now with Sage Intacct, and it's all thanks to the support and partnership we had with Tablespoon."

The Tablespoon team helped with:

1. Accounting System Consolidation: Tablespoon helped BRIX Holdings migrate from multiple disconnected accounting systems to Sage Intacct, creating a unified platform for managing financial data across all their family of brands.
2. Process Automation: By automating key processes like bank reconciliations, Tablespoon and Sage Intacct reduced the reliance on manual data entry, improving both speed and accuracy.
3. Custom Reporting for the Board: Tablespoon customized Sage Intacct's reporting tools to generate real-time dashboards and tailored financial reports. These provided BRIX's board with detailed insights into each brand's performance and overall financial health.

"Invoicing and bank reconciliation, as well as generating trial balances and other reports, are 100 times more user-friendly in Sage Intacct compared to the other systems we have used, particularly Great Plains."

Results

The implementation of Sage Intacct delivered significant improvements across BRIX Holdings' financial operations:

1. Accelerated Month-End Close: Month-end close times were cut significantly. Before implementing Sage Intacct, BRIX took three weeks to close the month. Now, they accomplish it in just ten to twelve days, achieving an improvement of over 50%!
2. Streamlined Invoicing and Bank Reconciliations: Sage Intacct has enabled BRIX to streamline their invoicing and bank reconciliation processes, making these processes more efficient. BRIX can now invoice straight out of Sage Intacct across all their different brands.
3. Enhanced Reporting and Visibility: They are now able to run more robust reports and gain better insights into their financial performance across their multiple brands.
4. Enhanced Board Satisfaction: Real-time access to financial data empowered the leadership team with timely, actionable insights. This improved decision-making and earned praise from the board for the increased visibility and accuracy.

"Although Sage Intacct is still relatively new to us, we are already experiencing significant benefits. We completed year-end closing in about 26 calendar days, which is significantly faster than in previous years. Last year, we didn't close 2023 until mid-February. Typically, during a regular month—not at year-end—we complete our close in about 10 to 12 days, which is an improvement over our previous process. Our goal is to reduce this to a seven-day close, and I believe we can achieve that without any issues. This marks a significant improvement compared to the three-week close we used to have."

What's Next?

"My team has been unable to accomplish certain tasks due to the multiple accounting system inefficiencies. Now, we will have the opportunity to focus on these tasks, which I believe will benefit both the brand and our overall performance. We will gain more insights and conduct deeper analyses rather than just providing the month-end numbers. I think this will allow us to enhance our contributions significantly."

Conclusion

Tablespoon's mix of restaurant expertise, advanced technology, and personalized support helped BRIX Holdings transform its financial processes, achieving improved efficiency, accuracy, and transparency.

"Tablespoon and Sage Intacct have completely changed how we manage our financials. We're faster, more accurate, and better prepared to make strategic decisions."

Ready to transform your financial processes?

Contact Tablespoon today to learn how we can help streamline your operations with Sage Intacct.