Grafix Plastics Saves Two Days on Month-End Close with Spreadsheet Server

• The team at Grafix Plastics knew they needed a more efficient monthly reporting process but were waiting for the right product at the right time.
• They learned of Spreadsheet Server, an excel add-in that integrates with their ERP to automate manual processes and streamline reporting.
• Since implementation, month-end close is completed two days sooner thanks to automated report generation and more efficient transaction drill-downs.

For 60 years Grafix Plastics has been a leading supplier of plastic film and sheet plastic for industrial, commercial, and consumer purposes. Grafix Plastics sells a wide variety of custom-manufactured commodity and specialty films to over 1,000 different industrial and manufacturing customers, from startups and small businesses to Fortune 100 companies. As a go-to resource in the plastics industry, Grafix is dedicated to a mission of innovation, detail orientation, product knowledge, and commitment to outstanding customer service.

It Was Time for a Change

For years, Grafix Plastics Industrial Products division president, Jordan Katz, knew that his team needed a better internal data management solution, but the old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ kept him from making a change. While Katz was aware of Spreadsheet Server’s ability to streamline Grafix’ reporting, he did not see the need for an eminent change because the system the business had in place was working.

Until it wasn’t.

When their office manager – the single owner of Grafix’ general ledger and monthly reporting – announced her upcoming retirement, Katz knew the time had come to make a change. It was the perfect opportunity to invest in Spreadsheet Server and see how it could create efficiencies and help improve their internal processes.

Spreadsheet Server Was a No-Brainer

For many businesses, there is a lengthy research and discovery process involved when deciding which software to invest in, but for Grafix Plastics the decision couldn’t have been easier.

“We’ve been using SYSPRO as an ERP platform since 2001 and along the way, we became aware that there was this Excel add-on that would allow us to probe our financial data and ERP data in a little bit more of a direct way,” Katz explained.

Why Spreadsheet Server was the first, and only, choice for the team at Grafix Plastics:

• Spreadsheet Server would integrate seamlessly with their ERP to get them up and running quickly.
• They now have the ability to drill down to transaction data to find and fix errors and inconsistencies.
• They can automate previously manual processes, saving time and eliminating the potential for errors.
• They can share financial reports directly with their accounting partners and both teams can work within the same version without a drawn-out back-and-forth save process.

“The way Spreadsheet Server pulls and formats data from different sources and modules during drill-down is a major time saver and very impressive. It fulfills that need to be able to not only automatically generate our financial statements in real-time, but to be able to drill down and pull out all the data.” 

Faster Processes and Better Results

Real-Time Drill-Down

The main feature Katz was looking for, and the benefit his team enjoys the most when working with Spreadsheet Server, is the ability to drill down to transaction-level general ledger data in real time without leaving Excel.

“Being able to have that live view into the data in detail becomes enormously helpful when trying to close and balance,” said Katz. “I mean, it would take forever if we were using traditional reports, so it really is a huge benefit.”

Native Excel Functionality

Part of why Katz was so interested in Spreadsheet Server was that it is an Excel add-in that allows his team to easily export data from SYSPRO into Excel with one click rather than spending time on manual downloads and CSV files.

Spreadsheet Server provides Grafix Plastics with:

• Short setup time.
• Minimal user training.
• Speedy return on investment.

“Spreadsheet Server is pretty straightforward to navigate through,” said Katz. “The great thing about it is once it’s set up, it’s great. It’s bulletproof.”

Timely Collaboration

Thanks to Spreadsheet Server’s integration with SYSPRO, Grafix was able to improve its financial statement review process with its accountants.

“Spreadsheet Server lets us send our accountants our financial statements with backup sheets and they can just send us back their comments and updates within the reports,” Katz explains. “We can repeat the comment and update process as often as needed without having to redo the reports. They automatically update.”

Not only has the improved efficiency in the financial statement review process saved time and energy for accounting, but it has allowed Grafix to decrease its accounting budget by decreasing billable hours.

Pre-Configured Queries

Katz and his team have been extremely impressed with the way Spreadsheet Server pulls together relevant data during drill-down.

“Before Spreadsheet Server, even though I had a mastery of the SQL tables in the data, if I had to do an investigation on something that went over across different modules, the data would be in different formats,” said Katz. “It would take time to fuse the various sources so that the data could work with each other. And that already happens in the Spreadsheet Server drill-down. That’s enormously powerful and time-saving.”

What’s Next for Grafix Plastics

Currently, Spreadsheet Server is being used primarily for financial reporting, but there are many other potential applications for internal data management and processing. Katz intends to evaluate each department’s data and reporting needs and train new teams on Spreadsheet Server as it makes sense to do so.

“Because our financial information is accessible right there in Excel, Spreadsheet Server completely eliminated the need to compile financial statements,” said Katz. “It cuts our month-end closing time by one to two days per month.”

To see how real-time reporting with Spreadsheet Server can help your organization, schedule a demo today.