{"id":9927,"date":"2021-09-09T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=9927"},"modified":"2026-02-12T04:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:37:17","slug":"blue-river-petcare-doubles-accounting-efficiency-and-saves-75-hours-amid-triple-digit-annual-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/blue-river-petcare-doubles-accounting-efficiency-and-saves-75-hours-amid-triple-digit-annual-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue river petcare doubles accounting efficiency and saves 75 hours amid triple-digit annual growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/accountants\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Accountants<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBlue river petcare doubles accounting efficiency and saves 75 hours amid triple-digit annual growth\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2021-09-09T15:22:00-04:00\">September 9, 2021<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Blue river petcare doubles accounting efficiency and saves 75 hours amid triple-digit annual growth\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/blue-river-petcare-doubles-accounting-efficiency-and-saves-75-hours-amid-triple-digit-annual-growth\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/andrew-sevillia\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/08\/andrew_sevillia_profile.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Andrew Sevillia\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Andrew Sevillia<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For Blue River PetCare, trying to use QuickBooks to manage dozens of locations in a fast-growing multi-entity environment would have been something like, well, herding cats.&nbsp;It\u2019s a scenario that the nationwide network of veterinary hospitals avoided with a well-timed upgrade to Sage Intacct as it expanded from&nbsp;20&nbsp;locations in 2014 to&nbsp;over 145&nbsp;today, across 31 states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We knew we&#8217;d have to hire a lot more accounting staff if we stayed on QuickBooks, and&nbsp;still&nbsp;we\u2019d be wasting time on inefficient manual processes,&#8221; as Controller Amy Ward says in our new&nbsp;Blue River PetCare customer success story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With its 2015 move to Sage Intacct, the Chicago-based company has financial management scalability to support triple-digit year-over-year revenue growth, up&nbsp;nearly&nbsp;12-fold&nbsp;from 2014 to 2021. And it\u2019s able to execute on goals of acquiring 20 to 30 new clinics a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSage Intacct allows us to innovate and scale with growth,\u201d said Tiffany Hanken, accounting manager. \u201cIt can seem daunting to be acquiring 20 to 30 clinics a year, but the technology lets us embrace that goal. We have a lot more time to focus on growth, special projects, and new initiatives to help the company move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-42-reduction-in-monthly-close-time\">A 42% Reduction in Monthly Close Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Selected after an evaluation of Microsoft Dynamics GP, Sage Intacct has equipped the Blue River accounting and finance team to rack up impressive gains in efficiency and insights. For example, the team has:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Boosted overall accounting efficiency 2x<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eliminated 75 hours a month of manual work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reduced monthly close time 42%, from up to 12 days\u00a0down\u00a0to just seven<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Accelerated the pace of intercompany settlements from quarterly to monthly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delivered deeper insights for business decisions with Sage Intacct\u2019s dimensional reporting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2,500-employee company has seen big time savings in journal entries by using Sage Intacct templates to help automate the process, after initially doing that work manually in Sage Intacct. And it\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/sage-business-cloud\/intacct\/product-capabilities\/core-financials\/accounts-payable\/\n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">streamlined accounts payable<\/a> with capabilities to upload bills covering multiple clinics and items, eliminating previous manual data entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe do anywhere from 250 to 750 checks a week, so we probably would have had to double our AP staff as we grew if we had kept doing it the old way,\u201d Ward said. Time savings in both journal entries and AP add up to about 50 hours a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blue River is saving another 20 hours a month in biweekly payroll journal entries imported into Sage Intacct from PayCom, their HRIS&nbsp;system. And with automation, Blue River shifted from quarterly to monthly intercompany settlements, saving up to seven hours while improving data accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIntercompany used to be very manual, but if everything goes smoothly it&#8217;s a 30-minute process from start to finish,\u201d Hanken said. \u201cBefore it could easily take more than a half-day at the end of the quarter if you had to dig into data to find an error that happened three months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-smooth-close-with-sage-intacct-and-nbsp-floqast\">A Smooth Close with Sage Intacct and&nbsp;FloQast<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Those efficiency improvements helped Blue River reduce its monthly close time from up to 12 days&nbsp;down&nbsp;to seven, a 42% reduction also aided by a close management solution from&nbsp;FloQast, a Sage Intacct partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSage Intacct and&nbsp;FloQast&nbsp;work really well together,\u201d Ward said. &#8220;Given our multi-entity setup and fast pace of acquisition, they allow us to scale relatively smoothly without adding too much to headcount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blue River also benefits with commenting capabilities in Sage Intacct, sparing the need to call, email, text, or use a&nbsp;Post-It&nbsp;note to discuss or highlight issues. Sage Intacct \u201csmart rules\u201d also helps eliminate manual checks on data while guarding against inadvertent errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ease of use through a modern, intuitive interface lets a new accounting team member quickly ramp up and speed productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI had never used any sort of accounting software when I joined Blue River, and Sage Intacct wasn&#8217;t hard to learn at all,\u201d Hanken said. &#8220;It&#8217;s set up very easily and it&#8217;s very intuitive as you click through information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-time-to-focus-on-growth-and-innovation\">More Time to Focus on Growth and Innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With the time savings, Blue River finance pros are contributing more value to the business through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/sage-business-cloud\/intacct\/product-capabilities\/extended-capabilities\/financial-reporting\/\n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">enhanced reporting<\/a> and innovations. For example, the team has deployed its first-ever financial planning and analysis solution, Solver,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Lease Query software for lease accounting&nbsp;to help comply with FASB 842 requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have a lot more time to focus on growth, special projects, and new initiatives to help the company move forward,\u201d Hanken said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team also added cost metrics as a percentage of revenue and EBITDA to reports supplied to clinic managers. That\u2019s been especially valuable in managing payroll expenses and vendor spend at the clinic level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We try to be super user-friendly and not dictate how to operate their business, so providing metrics provides a basis to optimize costs and make more real-time decisions at the clinic level,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ease of report creation, customization, and drill-down into detail in Sage Intacct has been a huge improvement over manual reporting in Excel, equipping the team to deliver better information more quickly to executives and clinic managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSage Intacct reporting is very easy, and the dimensions have helped us build things the way we want to see them,\u201d Ward said. \u201cIf someone wants to view something differently, it\u2019s easy to customize a report however the person wants to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hanken agreed. \u201cSage Intacct gives us the ability to report at the level we need to report on and provide quick information to stakeholders without this whole manual process,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-data-driven-decisions-during-covid-19\">Data-Driven Decisions During COVID-19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sage Intacct also helped Blue River adapt when COVID-19 struck in March 2020, with timely data helping guide decisions on curtailed services and reduced staffing hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After initial scrambles, Blue River adopted curbside services and saw business return with a spike in \u201cpandemic puppies\u201d among homebound employees, ultimately doubling EBITDA between March 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSage Intacct definitely allows our business to grow without hiring a ton of people,\u201d Hanken said. \u201cIt also empowers our young team to really think outside the box on how to use the technology and improve processes and culture from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See our full&nbsp;Blue River PetCare customer success story&nbsp;to learn more about how the veterinary clinic network is scaling amid rapid growth with Sage Intacct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Blue River PetCare Case Study<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Blue River PetCare doubles accounting efficiency and saves 75 hours amid triple-digit annual growth.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-3c92c81b-46a1-46a6-86fa-7f6089672b09\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Download<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-740534235-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Two women having business discussion\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-740534235-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Blue River PetCare, trying to use QuickBooks to manage dozens of locations in a fast-growing multi-entity environment would have been something like, well, herding cats.&nbsp;It\u2019s a scenario that the nationwide network of veterinary hospitals avoided with a well-timed upgrade to Sage Intacct as it expanded from&nbsp;20&nbsp;locations in 2014 to&nbsp;over 145&nbsp;today, across 31 states. &#8220;We [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1446,"featured_media":9384,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[158,44,48],"tags":[2,170,420],"business_type":[312],"lilypad":[],"context":[418,429],"industry":[451,452,55,450],"persona":[150,98,151],"imagine_tag":[209,215,436,441],"coauthors":[613],"class_list":["post-9927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accountants","category-strategy-legal-operations","category-technology-innovation","tag-accountants","tag-business-strategy","tag-cloud-financial-management","business_type-accountants","industry-healthcare","industry-hospitality","industry-professional-services","industry-software-saas"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Andrew Sevillia","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1166663659.jpg","imagine_tags":{"209":"Accounting","215":"HR and Payroll","436":"Intacct Accounting","441":"Intacct Payroll And HR"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice 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