"I knew instantly that this was the tool I needed. No other solution came even close."

One-stop shop for all financial data 

When CFO Andreas Andersson joined the Swedish Spark Vision, he immediately knew that he wanted to optimise the financial reporting process across the various branches of the organisation. It was also clear to him what requirement the new software he was seeking had to meet. Shortly afterwards, he was introduced to BrightAnalytics through a demo. He immediately knew that he had found what he was looking for. 

“Because we operate in various countries – from Sweden to Bulgaria and Italy to Spain, France, and Germany – our financial data is very dispersed. In all those countries, we work with local accounting packages,” Andreas begins his explanation. The data Spark Vision received from the various countries up until a year ago was therefore not uniform, making it difficult to consolidate. “Before we collaborated with BrightAnalytics, we made provisional entries in our accounting package every month, and then at the end of the year, we collected the actual data from our foreign entities. After that, a long and time-consuming process began where we had to reclassify entries, data, and figures in Excel. The entire administrative process could take up to three months.“

No other software stood a chance

That changed when Spark vision began working with BrightAnalytics a year ago. Since then, they have been implementing it in all their foreign branches.  “I’ve worked in the financial world for a long time and know the market and the available tools very well. When I started as CFO at Spark Vision, I had the opportunity to choose a tool that could truly offer what I was looking for. I knew exactly what I wanted: I needed something different,” Andreas explains. He invited several suppliers, including BrightAnalytics. However, after the demo, the decision was made immediately. “I knew straight away that this was the tool I needed. No other solution even came close. What was decisive for me was the ability to gather all the dispersed data effectively. Since we’ve been using BrightAnalytics’ software, it has become much easier, and we now have a one-stop shop for all our financial data.”

Minimal chance of errors

It provides Andreas with enormous time savings, as he explains: “As soon as we have the data from the various branches, we only need to click a button to see ready-to-use figures that we can work with. If there’s a new general ledger account, we get a notification, ensuring we don’t miss anything.” Additionally, the multi-currency tool in BrightAnalytics made it possible for Spark Vision to view all data in a single currency. “In Sweden, we work with the Swedish krona, in Spain with the euro, and in Bulgaria with the Bulgarian lev. When our data is linked to Bright, a conversion happens automatically so we see the numbers immediately in one currency. It goes so smoothly that I almost forgot to mention it as an advantage. Thanks to this handy tool, we also avoid errors in reporting that can arise from converting currencies, a risk that exists when doing this manually.”

Full control

He is also enthusiastic about the Customer & Suppliers app. “It gives us insight into outstanding invoices, payment terms, and more, allowing us to closely monitor payments and send reminders when necessary. This gives us complete control over the invoicing process and the invoices we send out, as well as those we receive from our suppliers. As a result, we can track the status down to individual invoices, taking into account the specific payment terms we agree upon with customers.” In this context, he also enjoys using the Cash Forecasting app: “For us, it is important to know when there will be cash inflow or shortfall so that we can plan accordingly.”

No problem attitude

Finally, he mentions BrightAnalytics ‘no problem attitude,’ as he puts it. “What I really appreciate about this system is that I have control over the modules I work with. I’m not dependent on an external software developer and can implement changes myself. And if I do have a question or request, everything is possible with BrightAnalytics. They help us think beyond problems and work with us to find solutions. I really value that. When there was recently an issue at our branch in Italy, not only did the customer success manager from BrightAnalytics notice it, but he also contacted us and followed up on the progress afterwards. That’s a huge bonus for me because I don’t always have the time to follow up on every detail myself.”

He also sees the software growing further with Spark Vision. “Now that we have a good understanding of how everything works, we can expand to other countries. And that’s another advantage: as we grow, we can do so with BrightAnalytics and start using additional apps, like operational reporting. It’s great that this software can evolve with the international context of our company.”