Here’s the thing they don’t tell you when you take over finance at a high-growth startup: if your systems aren’t built to scale, everything starts to crack. Revenue looks strong on paper, but cash flow gets unpredictable. Sales is closing deals fast, but no one’s reconciling deductions or tracking trade spend. And the finance team? Drowning in spreadsheets, duplicate entries, and processes that no longer serve the business.
That was where we were at N!CK’S. We had the growth. We had the momentum. What we didn’t have were the systems to sustain it. Our lean team was pulling off miracles, but we were burning time on work that shouldn’t have required human hands in the first place.
We didn’t need more people—we needed leverage. So, we automated. Not for the buzzwords or because we had a tech directive from above. We did it because the only alternative was to stall or burn out.
Fix What’s Costing You Most
We didn’t start with a perfect roadmap. We started with the mess.
Trade and deductions were draining time and money. Sales ran promotions and finance dealt with the fallout—late, reactive, and usually without full context. We implemented Promomash to bridge the gap. It gave us visibility from promotion planning through to deduction resolution, aligning two departments that had been operating in silos.
EDI was another major bottleneck. Our setup with TrueCommerce wasn’t built for our pace of growth. Every integration was labor-intensive. We switched to SPS Commerce, a full-service EDI provider, to simplify and scale without needing extra headcount. That shift alone paid off quickly in time saved and reduced error rates.
Collections and invoicing improved significantly through automation inside NetSuite. We built workflows to track payment statuses, trigger reminders, and keep cash moving without manual oversight.
Reporting had been a resource drain—manual pulls, formatting, and reconciliation. We kept it simple with NetSuite dashboards, Excel automations, and standardized metrics that gave leadership accurate, real-time insight without delay.
What Actually Changed
The results were measurable—and fast. We reduced manual OTC work by 90%. Aged receivables dropped. Reporting cycles got shorter. The team stopped firefighting and started owning strategy.
But the biggest transformation wasn’t technical—it was cultural. When smart people get time back, they use it. They lead cross-functional projects. They find new solutions. They finally get to think.
Simple Tech Stack, Serious Impact
We didn’t build a bloated tech environment. We made intentional choices that aligned with business needs:
NetSuite as our ERP backbone
Promomash for trade management
SPS Commerce for EDI
Tallie for expense reporting
Netstock to support demand and inventory planning
Supersync to power integrations
Rippling for payroll and HR operations
Each tool was chosen to solve a problem. And we made sure the team was trained, the processes were documented, and that the systems didn’t just work—but worked for us.
Advice for Finance Leaders Ready to Scale
If you’re in the middle of growth—or hoping to get there—here’s what matters:
Start with the pain points. Fix the bottlenecks your team complains about the most.
Automate with intention. Every workflow should serve a business goal, not just replace a task.
Don’t wait for perfect conditions. Perfection kills momentum. Solve the biggest problem now.
Measure everything. Track time saved, DSO, reconciliation speed, error rates, and team capacity.
Final Thought
Finance is evolving. It’s no longer just about compliance and reporting—it’s about control, clarity, and scale. The right systems don’t just make work faster—they make the business stronger.
If you’re still relying on manual work, disjointed tools, or outdated processes, the cost isn’t just efficiency. It’s risk, burnout, and missed opportunity.
Automate with purpose. Build systems that give your people the freedom to lead. And give yourself the space to focus on what matters most: driving the business forward.
