Orchestra BioMed is a US-based biomedical innovation company providing high-impact solutions for large unmet needs in procedure-based medicine, primarily focused on the development of interventional devices, bioelectronic and neuromodulation therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. As the company grew they realized that they needed to find a more sophisticated business management platform that would allow them to automate tedious manual processes. We sat down with their Corporate Controller, Josh Aiello, to learn more about their experience.
Tell us a little about yourself, Josh.
I am the Corporate Controller at Orchestra BioMed, Inc. My background includes over 8 years in public accounting as well as corporate accounting. Our Company implemented SAGE Intaact in Q1 2019 and since then we have built our accounting department using the ERP system.
Why did you decide to implement an ERP system?
The prior system was QuickBooks and the company had little to no electronic processes or controls. We were starting with nothing and looking to build a highly functioning system. Since many of our employees were located around the US, we wanted to put systems in place that would allow us to process transactions remotely. Our team had no experience with Sage Intacct but wanted to utilize the technology as much as possible.
Which solutions did you consider?
We considered other ERP systems but ultimately determined that Sage Intacct was the right fit for us.
How have you integrated Intacct with your other accounting processes?
Since implementing the ERP system, we have incorporated electronic PO and invoice approvals, electronic approval of ACH’s, electronic approval of checks, integrated an employee expense reimbursement tool (Abacus) with SAGE, integrated our sales payment gateway (Authorize.net) with SAGE, and created many custom reports for financial reporting.
To implement these processes, we often relied on the expertise of RKL. The team there has been and continues to be helpful in all aspects of our processes. They are involved in our brainstorming, planning, testing, implementing, and “go-live” phases. We view them as an extension of our team and would not experience the success we have today without their assistance.
How would things be going if you had NOT implemented Intacct?
It would have been challenging for our organization to have the systems and processes in place that we do today. It would have required much more time, resources, and effort and even then, I am not sure we would have been able to be where we are today.
Why did you choose RKL?
I had worked with another publicly-traded company that used a different version of Sage and RKL had helped with that. I wanted to reach out to RKL again to see if they could help this time and was introduced to one of their Sage Intacct Solution Architecthts. It has been extremely valuable.
What are some of the benefits that you’ve seen?
Significant amounts of time have been saved to process invoice and sales transactions. Approval routing is stored electronically for record retention as well as using as a reference. Our financial reporting process is now accomplished monthly vs. annually. Additionally, due to Covid-19 and employees working remotely, our processes were not impacted at all. Since we did the planning and building of our process’s months ago with the intent to be able to work from anywhere, we were able to flip a switch easily to work from home seamlessly. It has been a great experience with Sage Intacct and RKL has been an integral part of our progress.