Kayem is a family-owned business with deep roots in New England. As the largest processed meat company in the region, Kayem combines cutting-edge technology with local traditions to create a range of delicious pork products. CFO Patrick Monkiewicz is responsible for approving and reconciling employee purchases, as well as finding innovative ways to reduce spending.
Challenge: Delays and confusion caused by manual expense reporting
Before Center, Kayem used a legacy credit card for travel and a standalone, outdated expense solution. Every month, the sales team reconciled transactions from weeks earlier, often dealing with paper receipts and delayed data entry. Employees spent significant time tracking expenses. Without real-time visibility, the finance department couldn’t identify budget overages promptly. By the time expense reports arrived— sometimes 60 to 90 days later—they had to adjust P&L statements, often too late to make timely decisions.
“Our current system didn’t give us an accurate expense picture. If you’re spending too much in a certain area, you need to be able to respond, versus overspending and finding out three months later when it’s almost too late.” –Patrick Monkiewicz, CFO, Kayem
Solution: One platform to streamline expenses, travel, and offer real-time reconciliation
Kayem needed a solution that would automate tedious expensing and allow its employees to focus on growing the business. Monkiewicz had tried separate credit cards and expense reporting systems, but that had been tedious, time-consuming, and ultimately not worth the wait.
Center’s real-time spend visibility, ability to manage travel expenses seamlessly, and quick reconciliation caught Monkiewicz’s attention. With Center, Kayem employees could snap a picture of a receipt on a company trip and expense it immediately. In addition to expensing, Center simplified how Kayem’s employees handled their travel-related purchases, making it easier to track and categorize these expenses. This saved them valuable work time that would have been spent filing receipts and balancing the ledger book. The finance department could quickly categorize expenditures, helping Monkiewicz see where they were over budget and where they had more financial cushion. And with an integrated expense system, reimbursements were a breeze.
“With Center, I feel like I have a seat at the table. We get ongoing support, and enhancements are constantly being made to improve the platform.” –Patrick Monkiewicz, CFO, Kayem
Impact: Flexibility, visibility, and customization help keep Kayem on budget
Now, with Center, there’s no waiting for expenses to slowly trickle in—and no redoing complicated P&L reports when they finally do. Instead of taking months, expenses and travel-related charges appear immediately, and are input in an average of 6 days and reconciled or reimbursed in 5. This helps the finance team make sure Kayem is keeping to its budget and allocating spend in a smart and strategic manner.
“Having real-time visibility into spending means we don’t have to carve out office time for expense reporting—it’s all done as you go.” –Patrick Monkiewicz, CFO, Kayem
Monkiewicz also highlighted the benefit of having Center’s support available to their employees directly. “Even users are using the support for different reasons, so I’m not the support desk anymore,” he said. With 24/7/365 availability via chat, email, or phone, the team can quickly resolve issues without bottlenecking internal resources, freeing up valuable time for everyone.
Seeing their actual budget makes it easier to save, and Monkiewicz reports that a smart investment in an integrated platform has saved them the $8,000 they used to spend on expense software, not to mention over $25,000 as a result of more efficient workflows.
Flexibility is what Kayem and Monkiewicz love most about the Center platform. They can temporarily raise an employee’s food budget while they’re at a large conference and tell the system to automatically revert to the old ceiling when the employee returns. As a result, their trust in the platform has grown because Center incorporates the team’s feedback into enhanced versions of the platform.
Since implementing Center, Kayem Foods has seen many benefits, including:
- Streamlined reconciliation process for faster P&L accuracy: Instead of taking months, expenses and travel-related charges appear immediately, and are input in an average of 6 days and reconciled or reimbursed in 5
- Real-time visibility into spending to prevent budget overages: Center helps the finance team make sure Kayem is keeping to its budget and allocating spend in a smart and strategic manner.
- Flexible credit limits and on-demand adjustments for travelers: Temporarily raise an employee’s food budget while they’re at a large conference and tell the system to automatically revert to the old ceiling when the employee returns.
“We used to wait 60 to 90 days to adjust the P&L. With Center, we’re able to get real-time visibility, which has made a huge difference.” –Patrick Monkiewicz, CFO, Kayem