How Precision Neuroscience streamlined systems and slashed data entry with Ramp

Historically, Precision Neuroscience leveraged multiple products for its procurement and expense management process—and that led to a staggering amount of manual data entry. 

“Every day, I had to log into various platforms to do data entry and data sync,” says Financial Controller Brian Lautenbach. “I was logging in and out and flipping between entities all day, and it was just not sustainable.” 

The company’s procurement process was equally tedious, characterized by a reliance on a master spreadsheet. “We’d put purchase orders into a spreadsheet, which then went through another software program,” explains Brian. “Once it got approved, I would take that Excel sheet and transfer it into a formalized purchase order. It was a very clunky process, and one of my biggest pain points.” This meant Brian would need to spend an entire day doing data entry, then the company would rely on an outside accounting firm to handle much of the AP coding.

This fragmented, highly manual process was equally tedious for other Precision employees. “These employees are working very hard on developing a life-changing device,” says Brian. “Every individual piece of software has a learning curve.” Brian sought to improve that user experience by streamlining the various logins and systems into one central platform designed with end users in mind. 

Precision Neuroscience partnered with Ramp to deploy an all-in-one solution for procurement. “By switching to NetSuite and Ramp, we eliminated the rest of the tool set,” says Brian. “That allowed us to become much more nimble.” 

Brian and his team configured Ramp with their ERP system, input their desired settings, and automated certain rules, codes, and controls. “It’s now a one-stop-shop, and it’s been a huge time saver,” says Brian.

The previously time-intensive, manual procurement process is much improved. “Now anybody purchasing items can get a quote from a vendor, upload the quote, remove any line items they don’t need, fill in the vendor information, and submit the PO in Ramp for approval,” says Brian. Because the company has set up automatic approval flows in Ramp, the PO gets sent directly to the vendor about 50% more quickly.

“Ramp’s OCR has been so useful on the procurement side,” says Brian. “It automatically takes all the information from the quote and saves all the data entry that we would have otherwise had to type into a purchase order.” That saves a couple of minutes for each PO–which is significant, given that the company submits 20-30 POs each week.

What’s more, Ramp’s technology helps reduce errors and duplications. “It’s so nice, because if a vendor sends an invoice twice, I can just forward it to Ramp, and Ramp immediately flags it as a duplicate. Then I can just delete it.” That’s very different from the manual process Brian had to do previously, which would require searching the system and potentially routing multiple invoices for approval. “Then I would find out that I had wasted everybody’s time,” Brian says. “Leveraging the technology has made an astronomical difference.” 

These tech-powered time-savers are particularly helpful for Brian, who’s the only person on his team. With Ramp, Precision Neuroscience has been able to significantly reduce its reliance on its outside accounting firm.

The results of these time-savings include better visibility, easier access to financial information, and a faster month-end close. “I’ve been able to cut month-end close to 1-2 days,” says Brian. That’s helpful both for his own time management and for his relationship with the rest of the team. “We’re now able to deliver financial results sooner to tell people if they’re over or under budget, and we can deliver our spend results to investors,” he says. “The sooner we can do that, the better.”

Precision Neuroscience has been able to launch higher-value strategic projects with the time Brian and the team has regained. “We did an ERP implementation, which has been a big time investment for me,” he says. “Thanks to Ramp, we’ve been able to focus less on AP, credit card, coding, and data entry, and more on system setup and configuration that can position us for long-term success.”

Brian feels that Ramp is invested in ensuring that success. “I feel like I have a partner with Ramp, because I can communicate so easily with the programmers and give product feedback,” he notes. “I feel like they appreciate me as a customer, which is huge. I’ve never had that before—and I’ve been in accounting for over 10 years.”