Dr Smile is a dental service that offers aesthetic treatments through the use of invisible aligners. It was founded in 2016 by Jens Urbaniak and Christopher von Wedemeyer and is part of the Urban Technology Group. Since its launch, they have partnered with over 250 dental clinics in Europe and helped more than 20,000 customers achieve their best smiles.
Slow reporting from disorganized data collection
After two years of operations and expanding into multiple business entities, the company’s financial process had grown in complexity, making it difficult to manage monthly reporting. Consolidating, cleaning, and presenting data from a variety of data sources became increasingly time-consuming for Dr. Smile’s Head of FP&A, Pierina Nuques. Since there was not a proper workflow in place that provided key stakeholders with visibility into the company’s financials, Pierina and her team struggled to conduct accurate and timely financial reports by the end of each month.
When the new Commercial Finance Director, Heimo Hofmeister, joined Dr Smile, he quickly witnessed the roadblocks that prevented his team from conducting more value-added strategic work. Because they did not have the right processes and technology in place, they were struggling to complete monthly reporting efficiently, and on time. Dr Smile needed to incorporate a strategic finance solution that could help automate data processes and serve as a single source of truth for the entire organization. When they were reviewing the different solutions available, they knew they had to go with a platform that offered a hands-on onboarding and implementation experience that would set their team up for success.
A fast onboarding experience
In order for the team at Dr Smile to create fast reports and revamp their internal processes, they needed a speedy onboarding process that could have their users adopt the platform in no time. Abacum met their expectations with an efficient implementation process, and provided their team with comprehensive training, allowing Pierina to create advanced reports directly in the platform in just four short weeks.
During the onboarding process, Abacum’s dedicated support team led a series of training sessions to educate Pierina and her team on the different features and functions of the platform. They were also given tasks to practice outside of these sessions to improve product adoption and comprehension. This in-depth training process along with weekly status updates allowed Pierina to fully understand the reporting capabilities within Abacum while also allowing her to be autonomous for all her financial reporting needs.
Less time spent on reporting
After the first four weeks, they were able to cut their month-end reporting time from almost two full days of work to just an hour. The Abacum platform completely automated their data consolidation process, which in turn allowed the team to spend more time on value-added analysis to support strategic decision-making among senior management. Nowadays, Pierina can not only create reliable month-end reports fast, but she is also able to collaborate with key stakeholders over vital metrics that make up the inner workings of the organization.
With greater insights, Dr Smile’s finance team can now paint a clearer picture of the company’s overall financials, help senior leadership navigate challenges, and inform critical business decisions - making it an invaluable strategic partner.
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