A construction and engineering firm speeds month-end close while eliminating paperwork, saving time, and gaining real-time visibility into expenses.
About Emerald Aire
Emerald Aire is a commercial contractor based in Auburn, Washington, serving the Seattle area. Its team of 100+ employees designs, constructs, and services award-winning HVAC systems.
Before Center: Limited Visibility and Late Closes
With the majority of the team working out in the field, employees were using a combination of bank cards and ARCO fuel cards to cover everyday purchases, including fuel, parking, materials from Home Depot and Lowe’s, and routine vehicle maintenance like oil changes and tire repair.
Visibility into purchases was very limited, and the expense process was so cumbersome that it required the finance team to print out individual card statements and match them up to receipts each month. The finance team, already stretched thin, was consistently behind on closing the books by more than a month—meaning August expenses weren’t booked until October.
CFO Rodney Vieira knew there must be a better way, and he began evaluating expense management solutions to replace his bank card, fuel card, and outdated paper processes. Ultimately, Vieira found Center.
Customizing a Center Solution
Emerald Aire was up and running 3 days after their kickoff call, and their setup matched their accounting system from day one. The Center team worked closely with Vieira’s team to import all of the job codes, phase codes, and vehicle IDs so they could tackle job costing right away.
After Center: Real-Time Visibility and Better Insights
Emerald Aire issued CenterCards to management, salespeople, project managers, supervisors, and drivers. Vieira particularly appreciates Center’s self-service card administration—he can quickly and easily issue new cards, put cards on hold, and adjust limits without calling a bank. And the crew loves the new process, too.
“You get an alert right away. They take a picture of the receipt, code it to job 1, phase 2, and hit submit. They’re done and can just throw away the receipt. It’s very quick and easy.” Rodney Vieira, CFO
Veira reports that his finance team immediately gained a month on their month-end close process. They are now booking transactions in the month they actually happen and matching revenues with expenses in the correct period, with faster billing and more accurate job cost tracking.
With 70 vehicles, fuel and maintenance costs can really add up. The Emerald Aire team now uses Center’s Customizable Policy Controls to capture vehicle IDs and odometer readings for these purchases. Vieira and the fleet manager use Center’s reporting and insights to analyze mileage and maintenance costs by truck.
Just over a year in, Vieira is confident that Center is delivering significant ROI for Emerald Aire.
“When you consider the time savings, eliminating paperwork, and tiered rebate, my department is delivering significant savings. It’s a big deal.”
Find out more about how Center helps companies save time and money, or schedule a demo today.