Premier Carrier had been using an antiquated accounting system, which the software developer actually discontinued and stopped supporting. “We had been able to continue using the system since then because the data entry piece worked well enough, however, finding entries to edit has always been cumbersome and time consuming,” stated Donna Goliti, at Premier Carrier, Inc. The company knew it was just a matter of time before their old system wouldn’t support their needs any longer, so the search started for a replacement.
Their primary objective was to find a system that would be supported while making the accounting functions easier, faster and more reliable. Premier Carrier talked to several software vendors, but none had a solution that worked the way the company needed to work. The systems would require Premier Carrier to change and adapt to those systems, and they all seemed cumbersome with no option for customization. This changed however, when they talked to Karen O’Lane, Owner of Micro Business Systems about Sage MAS 90 (sage 100).
The Solution
MAS 90 (Sage 100) provided everything the company was looking for and so much more. Premier Carrier described to Karen how they operated and what they were looking for in a new system. “I was so happy that Karen truly listened to what I wanted,” proclaimed Donna. She continued by stating, “Karen was able to come up with a design to do precisely what I described.”
Through a collaborative effort with Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI), Karen was able to work with ASI to customize the software to work for Premier Carrier’s exacting needs. The company wanted a custom freight billing data entry screen, with custom fields for load number, freight bill number and shipper numbers. With multiple customers possible for the same Load number, this required special logic.
The freight bills update to standard MAS 90 (Sage 100) invoices, but in order by customer number, so that each customer in the billing cycle has a range of sequential invoice numbers, then in order by load number. This makes it easier for Premier Carrier’s customers to see what they were billed for the week minimizing questions, and Premier Carrier gets paid faster. The customization automatically creates Transportation Broker Agreements for owner/operators. It fills out all of the information, eliminating manual steps. The commission/payment information from the Transportation Broker Agreements automatically transfers to the liability company and creates the payable invoices. All of this saves Premier Carrier substantial time.
“We also incorporated ASI Additions’ Equipment Maintenance module,” recalls Karen. “The Equipment Maintenance component was a huge bonus to Premier Carriers, as previously this information was tracked manually.” Equipment Maintenance tracks all maintenance work as well as lifetime limits for any type of equipment maintained by the company. Equipment types, maintenance labels, maintenance tasks and trigger intervals are all user definable.
The Results
“Initially, we didn’t see the need to buy five user licenses, since only two people were accessing the old system,” stated Donna. “But this system is so easy, now I’m excited about having the rest of the office team use MAS 90 (sage 100) for more than just entering freight bills; it’s been great to share some of my workload.”
The records for maintenance on Premier Carrier’s equipment had always been manual, and now it’s all in the computer. The company can simply print a report when they need it instead of thumbing through piles of paper in file folders. According to Rob, “I really like the Equipment Maintenance Module. Data entry is quick, and I get the reports I need, easily.”
Brian Kelly, President of ASI stated, “We work with other resellers all the time, but there are some that are like an extension of our office. Karen O’Lane with Micro Business Systems exemplifies that statement. It’s great to collaborate on a project like this and see the end user receive so much more than they ever expected.”
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