American Telesis has been providing Wide Area Network solutions since 1992. Utilizing a Complete Suite of Data and IP Products, they offer Private Lines, Dedicated Internet, MPLS, Frame Relay and Managed Services. As a complete service beginning with the sale and going through maintenance and ongoing support with a 24 hour network operations center, American Telesis is the go-to company for those in need of a secure, encrypted and firewalled network. With several locations across the United States, American Telesis provides network solutions to banks, communication companies, financial markets, the US government and more. Going above and beyond to meet the needs of their clients, they have been able to provide an exceptional service resulting in consistent year over year growth.
American Telesis Realizes the Need for a More Specialized Software Solution
As they grew, they began to realize that their internal software solution was no longer meeting their needs. Michele Green, Controller for American Telesis recalls, “We had been using Peachtree which is a great system for smaller companies, but we were quickly outgrowing its capabilities. We needed something that would give us greater flexibility and allow for our continued growth.” American Telesis needed software that would enable them to customize invoices for clients, run specific reports as well as have more than one person in the system at a time, none of which was possible with their current solution.
What’s more, due to their specialized industry, American Telesis needed a solution that could handle very specific and complicated tax billing requirements. Michele explains, “We have clients throughout the United States many of which do business in multiple states. According to regulations, one half of their fixed-line circuit is located at ‘Location A’, and the other half at ‘Location B’. We then have to accrue one half of the tax to the first location and the other half to the second. This means that the tax rates not only vary by customer, but also by circuit. For example, let’s say we have a client who has two circuits. One runs from New York to Chicago and the other from Los Angeles to Phoenix; four different locations with four different sets of state taxes, not to mention in some cases city and county taxes that also get applied. We needed a system capable of calculating the specific sales tax amounts for each client and their location(s), and then blend a final figure back into the invoice so that the customer sees the total in one line.”
Accounting Systems Inc. Provides the Answer
American Telesis went to work searching the internet and researched every business software system they could find. They eliminated those that were geared for the small and very large companies, and focused on finding one that was both user friendly and customizable.
Michele recalls, “We kept coming back to Sage MAS 90 (Sage 100), and as we researched it further we found that ASI was a preferred provider. We then received some strong recommendations from customers who said that if we were going to hire a solution provider, we had to go with ASI because they are incredible…which is so true! What I remember most about the team at ASI is that in the beginning they just listened. They let us explain our needs, go through several ‘what if’ scenarios and let us come up with a complete picture of what we needed. That picture ended up being a solution that was even more flexible than we had first thought. Fortunately, ASI was more than capable of customizing the system to fit our requirements. I was extremely thankful that ASI was founded by CPA’s. This background allows them to understand the accounting and mathematics that go behind the processes, thus ensuring we get what we really need out of the system.”
Thanks to ASI, American Telesis Is Better Than Ever
The conversion went off without a hitch even though the timeline was slightly lengthened due to American Telesis’ desire to rebuild each invoice from scratch rather than using an interface to transfer them out of Peachtree and into Sage MAS 90 (Sage 100). Meeting all of their specific requirements, their new solution allows American Telesis to provide invoices in multiple formats, calculate tax, and streamline their entire business process to be more efficient.
“Something I love about this software is that before I can come up with improvements, they’re already included in the next upgrade. It’s like they know what I need before I know I need it,” exclaims Michele. Additionally, American Telesis’ partnership with ASI and Sage MAS 90 (Sage 100) have produced an incredible return on investment. Michele estimates that the system saves them an entire day’s worth of work each month! Even better, despite significant growth, American Telesis has been able to maintain the same back-office staff levels, something that would not have been possible without an extremely efficient software solution.
“I’ve been a CPA for a long time and can say that this system is among the easiest to use that I’ve come in contact with,” reflects Michele. “ASI really came through for us in so many ways. Not only did they help us install the software and customize it to meet our specific requirements, but they helped us create specialized reports to show us the tax rates for the locations that have changed in the last month so we don’t have to go through line by line looking for them. In addition I have been extremely impressed by the level of customer service provided by ASI. They are always available when I call with a question, and even came down to help me over a holiday weekend when an upgrade knocked out most of my custom invoicing on billing day! They worked Friday night and Saturday restoring the system, and re-performing the upgrade so I could run invoices on time. It was a huge life saver!”
Ultimately ASI was instrumental in helping American Telesis identify exactly what they needed in a new solution. Michele advises, “I’d strongly recommend ASI to anyone who needs a better software solution. My advice would be to not tell them what you think you need, but tell them what you want. They are going to really listen to you and see a bigger picture than you can, making sure you get everything you need from a new software investment.”
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