Aerial Access Equipment Works with InTempo's DeAnna Freeman to Reduce Month-End Close Time and Train Employees
Fawn Robicheux, Aerial Access Equipment
Baton Rouge, LA
Even the small tips DeAnna gave us are going to add up over times in terms of data accuracy in the system and easy of doing everyday tasks.
Fawn Robicheux
Aerial Access Equipment is an independent aerial work platform and forklift rental specialist company serving Gulf Coast customers from five locations.
DeAnna Freeman, a former InTempo customer and Director of our Professional Services team, spent several days onsite at Aerial Access Equipment to analyze their system processes and make recommendations. Controller Fawn Robicheaux talks about the experience.
"She opened our eyes to some things Enterprise can do that we weren't aware of."
Q: How did you decide to work with DeAnna?
Fawn: We’ve known we needed some training for quite a while. When I started at Aerial Access Equipment, the CFO was also new. Now we’re trying to learn as much as we can about the software. We open tickets with InTempo’s Customer Support team when we need assistance, but I knew it was time to be proactive about getting training. And while DeAnna did provide training, she also opened our eyes to some things Enterprise can do that we weren’t aware of.
Q: Did you have one major 'pain point' or problem you were looking to solve?
Fawn: Yes, we wanted to reduce the time it takes to close the books each month. DeAnna is helping us make process improvements, like automating the many month-end reports we run. We’re working on the solution together, and once it’s done there will be a huge time-savings for me. Right now, I probably spend about four hours each month running just the bookkeeping reports. We also have a KPI (key performance indicator) report that goes out to management. DeAnna is helping us automate this report too, so we don’t have to go in and manually plug in the numbers every day.
Q: What areas of training did she provide that were particularly helpful to you?
Fawn: DeAnna spent time with me, and with our AR and AP people, and watched us work. From there, she started to make recommendations. She was able to show us how to do some things more easily or efficiently, and use shortcuts in our aerial access rental software. For example, one of our employees had been entering invoice headers in a way that created unnecessary work, which led to inaccuracies. DeAnna showed her how she could improve the process. Another example is that DeAnna showed me how to enter items in the system as prepaid, which automatically creates a journal entry every month. This is huge for me, so I don’t have to do manual entries, speeding up our month-end close. We also got training on Roleplay and Reporter. Like the saying goes, “You don’t know what you don’t know!” Even the small tips DeAnna gave us are going to add up over time in terms of data accuracy in the system and ease of doing everyday tasks.
“She’s a fantastic resource because she’s not only very knowledgeable about the system, she also has an accounting background.”
Q: Do you have plans to work with DeAnna in the future on continued improvements?
Fawn: We have a lot of things we want to work with DeAnna on. Two that come to mind are physical inventory and AP accruals. We took inventory last year but didn’t have a tried-and-true process in place. DeAnna has recommendations on steps to follow. AP accruals are something we’ve never done as a company, so we’re starting to clean up the report for that. We didn’t even know there was a report in the system that would provide the information so easily. And that’s just the beginning. It’s so beneficial to know you have a person you can go to for answers as questions come up. We’re hoping to work with DeAnna on an ongoing basis, here at the office and also with WebEx. She’s a fantastic resource, because she’s not only very knowledgeable about the system, she also has an accounting background. I highly recommend that all InTempo customers think about inviting DeAnna onsite to do a “checkup.”
"Are there things you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t, because you lack the time or don’t know enough about the system? Just by observing your processes, I can make recommendations that will save you time and give you better results. Even simple changes can make a world of difference to you and your staff." -DeAnna Freeman
Contact DeAnna for advice or training Send an email | Call 888.950.2221x31