Choosing an ERP – How LetsBuild chose and implemented NetSuite

What we’re going to talk about:

• LetsBuild resulted from two construction software services in different countries teaming up to provide the best product possible.
• After the merger, the new company was met with the complication of numerous invoicing and finance software packages that were in place. The new CFO and Head of Finance searched for a way to consolidate the information and workflows.
• After exploring different ERP options, LetsBuild decided that NetSuite was the perfect fit.
• NetSuite provided LetsBuild with a consolidated platform that made their financing and invoicing seamless and allowed them to get updated data in real-time shared across the company.

Most entrepreneurs have the goal of scaling their business. While venture capital might provide a first step, without the proper tools – particularly in the area of finance – it’s easy to get lost in a jungle of paperwork and miss crucial insights needed to make informed business decisions.

For LetsBuild, their rapid growth and merger brought about the need to consolidate all data and get future reporting in real-time. When the new finance team leaders – CFO Lars Rolf Jacobsen and Head of Finance Kaska Haczek – joined the company, they found themselves doing the painstaking work of finding solutions to a general level of disarray. Having to reorganise this way every few months was neither an efficient nor a sustainable solution, so they had to find an alternative.

Let’s look into how LetsBuild began their search for a business processes solution that fit their needs, provided a future proof set up and smoothed out their reporting kinks.

If you’re a European-based B2B SaaS startup looking for advice and potential investment, we can help. Contact us, and let’s get the conversation started.

 

LetsBuild

LetsBuild is leading a new breed of tech suppliers to the construction industry. Its platform uses mobile and cloud solutions to digitise the on-site workflows, communication, planning, and analytics of construction projects.  

The company was born in 2019 when APROPLAN, a Belgian company, merged with GenieBelt, a Danish company. Right now, LetsBuild has close to 900 active customers with an ARR of approximately €6 million, but it’s still growing quickly. They’ve established three legal entities in two countries, selling primarily to customers in 10 European countries.  

When they merged, both APROPLAN and GenieBelt came in with their own platforms, as well as the accompanying sales and accounting methods, which made consolidating the two look like a steep hill to climb. Of the 130+ employees at LetsBuild, the finance team was initially comprised of 7 people, and when Jacobsen and Haczek joined the team a year ago, they were immediately confronted with both a rapidly evolving company and a scramble of financial information. 

There were different local accounting systems with manual consolidations carried out by a third party. Customers had all been invoiced through different platforms—SalesForce, ChargeBee, Encore, e-conomic, Recurly, ExactOnline, and more. Their business expenses were spread out between Spendesk, Pleo and various credit cards issued to employees. There was a severe lack of any system of record, and the same tasks were performed via different platforms, which was further complicated by the lack of reconciliation between those platforms. With no solid accounting processes and more than 7 finance people working in silos, surprises were the rule rather than the exception. 

Between all of the systems LetsBuild had inherited, there was no way for Jacobsen and Haczek to reconcile the numbers without playing a frustrating game of connecting the dots.

All these complications meant that the company lacked clear visibility on costs and revenues – and even worse struggled to report a true ARR number, which is essential for tracking business growth and manage customer relationships. Accurate financial numbers are crucial for successful planning, and it’s difficult to ensure this when the numbers are scattered across different software packages that have no integration or reconciliation with each other. The financial team needed real-time data to make the right decisions in the company and forge connections with the sales staff.

 

Choosing an ERP

The team at LetsBuild knew that the company was only going to get bigger, and Jacobsen and Haczek knew that they needed to put in a scalable Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) to match the company’s growth. 

Their goal was to implement a system that would allow them to consolidate the numbers, bring the numbers closer to decision-making, and give all teams transparency. Since the company has legal entities in Denmark and Belgium, the ERP needed to be as automated as possible and to allow for all vendor invoices to go through the same channel and give a consolidated view on customer data and revenues.  

The team first analysed what kind of customers they were selling to. Before the merger, the two companies had been selling to smaller customers. With a high level of credit card segments, platforms like ChargeBee and Recurly made sense. But now, as a combined company, the clientele consisted of global enterprises, and those deals needed to be customised. 

Evaluation of their current finance setup and accounting software showed that they needed to enhance the systems and the structure to factor in the company’s growth plans and operational efficiencies. 

LetsBuild began the hunt for a platform that allowed for more flexibility in the billing process and setting up opportunities.

 

Types of ERPs

ERPs all serve the same purpose, but they mainly vary in how they’re deployed.  

There are four main kinds of deployment. The first kind, on-premises ERPs, are more hands-off as a product. The system lives with the business, and the company not only manages the software themselves, but assumes full responsibility for security, maintenance, upgrades, fixes, etc. On the other hand, cloud-based ERPs operate on remote servers managed by a third-party provider and offer options for single- and multi-tenant (i.e. company) solutions. Hybrid ERPs fuse elements of cloud and on-premises deployments. The final type of deployment is an Open-source ERP, where the system fully lives within a company, with a customisable cloud system, and where the business is entirely in charge of it. 

The ideal type of deployment depends on the size of a business and its needs. The name of the product itself may be deceptive and suggest that it’s only aimed at enterprises, but with the rate of digital change and cloud-based computing these days, there are products that can work for businesses of any size.  

Cloud-based ERPs are the most popular solution for small businesses because they’re more cost-efficient and easier to integrate.  

Medium-sized businesses that do not have the benefit of a large IT team also tend to lean toward cloud-based solutions, while those who are more tech savvy or who have a greater need for customisation will opt for an on-premises or hybrid model. 

Larger businesses running at peak performance need software that can handle all aspects of their brand. Enterprises generally have several subsidiaries that have to be accounted for, with minimal effort. Many enterprises use an on-premises system simply due to familiarity with a system they’ve always used, whereas others use the hybrid model to keep their on-premises software connected with their subsidiaries in the cloud. Recently, larger businesses with the hope of further expansion are taking on the task of converting to a cloud-only approach.

 

Picking the Right ERP

The finance team of LetsBuild had a list of goals they wanted their ERP to accomplish: 

• One integrated, scalable platform to be used company-wide
• Realtime and transparent data
• Standard processes
• Real-time reporting
• Global consolidation
• Connect sales and finance teams and define clear areas of responsibilities for both teams
• Allow the finance team to become a business partner and active contributor in the management team

NetSuite possessed the consolidation capability to integrate LetsBuild Denmark and LetsBuild Belgium into the same finance system. The platform offered centralisation of the finance information and processes, and the reporting capabilities were extensive, flexible, and able to slice and dice financial details. Because of the spread-out nature of their business, LetsBuild wanted a cloud-based system. 

On top of that, NetSuite provided fully customisable segmentation and a way to streamline the process to reduce the non-value-added activities. The platform contained a future-proof system that supported the company’s growth plans.  

NetSuite also came with an automation capability and the ability to build upon the platform by adding additional modules as needed. Both Jacobsen and Haczek had worked with NetSuite in the past and knew what the ERP was capable of. 

It became rapidly apparent that NetSuite was the solution that ticked all the boxes. The finance team took it to the board and received unanimous approval, including from their investors, Fortino, who supported the initiative fully by giving board-level sign off, and then becoming more deeply involved at an operational level later down the line.

 

Implementing NetSuite

Implementing NetSuite in LetsBuild took place in three phases: pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation. 

Pre-Implementation

Although much of the pre-implementation had been taken care of before choosing NetSuite, the finance team had to double-check all the details to ensure optimal set up. 

This phase included reanalysis of the current setup and various systems used and extensive data cleansing across financial and customer data. Once the finance team was satisfied with the information they wished to plug into the ERP, they set up a Chart of Accounts and Segmentation of their data to match the new system design.  

Implementation

LetsBuild initially opted to go with NetSuite’s base model. The NetSuite Startup Edition costs less than their other packages as it includes zero implementation cost, because implementation in this level of package is all on the buyer. LetsBuild therefore started their own data mapping, data migration, and processes mapping. As they began implementing the system themselves, it became quickly clear that, due to having multiple subsidiaries and two base currencies (DKK and EUR), they needed to upgrade their package to NetSuite OneWorld, in order to include implementation assistance from NetSuite.  

A further advantage to having this model was the possibility to add on extra modules, which LetsBuild did, adding on a bank reconciliation solution, vendor invoice scanning solution, and vendor invoice approval flow managed by NetSuite partner FastFour. 

Post-Implementation

The team began the post-implementation phase by double checking the accuracy of all the data, allowing them to review and identify redundant segments and what needed to be added in the future.  

Once everything was ready to use, they could move on to user training to help familiarize employees with the system. This final stage also included optimisation of the system throughout the company.

 

The Gains

Bringing NetSuite into LetsBuild turned everything around for the finance team. 

They received a centralised finance system for the whole company while retaining the base currency of each subsidiary. LetsBuild got their information in real-time quickly with a segmentation aligned with Salesforce. This allowed them to slice and dice their reported revenue and cost data need to run the company and for the teams to make informed decisions.  

They could also consolidate into one currency at the click of a button. The team reduced month-end processing because of the centralisation of the system, daily updates, enhanced reporting, and accessibility of financial information.  

LetsBuild were also able to build a far more streamlined finance team, with 4 people instead of the original 7. 

In short, their process was easily taken care of within NetSuite, and they could focus on building their company. 

Jacobsen and Haczek are thrilled to say that their investment is paying off, and they feel confident that they will be able to scale with the NetSuite platform. Jacobsen is excited with the initiative and its success, “I admit, it was a bit of a bumpy start, but it’s so satisfying to have everything in place and up and running so smoothly. I really enjoy that it’s deepened our connection with Fortino too, as they’ve shared our experience in their ideas and thought leadership sessions with other portfolio companies. It’s so great to share our success and know that we can help other companies scale in this way!” 

If you’re a European-based B2B SaaS startup looking for advice and potential investment, we can help. Contact us, and let’s get the conversation started.