GraVoc

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive Director of Accelerated College Experiences

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

ACE provides coaching and training programs to college students and professionals in workplace and talent development programs in higher ed, community, and corporate organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GraVoc to accomplish?

• Replace Excel with a ‘relational’ database to capture, analyze and report student data internally and externally - to organizational clients and donors who support our coaching services and programs.

SOLUTION

How did you find GraVoc?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select GraVoc over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Other

How many teammates from GraVoc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

ACE was looking for technology to support the business – not reshape the business to fit the technology. The requiresments were:

• It must be user-friendly for coaches, so they can focus on coaching and not figuring out how to work with the technology. 
• Eliminate redundant entries
• Front-end error checking 
• Review information via a variety of different data points, e.g., CUM GPA, College/University, etc.
• Develop basic reports that included:  
  • Monthly status updates to clients 
  • Semester and year-end summaries, e.g., Grades by Coach, the Master List, and Academic Year-End summary tables.

The project involved the following components

• Requirements/Needs Analysis
• Design
• Implementation
• Testing
• Training  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Gravoc met all project timelines and fulfilled all requirements.

The customized Dynamics 365 database saves ACE hundreds of hours each month previously spent on capturing, verifying, and reporting data. Coaches now utilize a centralized platform to record and access student information—including contact details, classes and grades, coaching notes, and monthly summary reports on student challenges and progress from their first year to graduation. Administrators use the same database for internal analysis and to generate reports for clients and donors.

Key features that have made a significant impact include:

• Data views that enable quick searching and review across categories such as client/partner, learning institution, coach, academic level, and individual student.
• Entering information once, instead of repeatedly entering the same data in multiple spreadsheets.
• Front-end error checking to ensure data accuracy.
• Real-time access and updates to student records before, during, and after each coaching session.
• An audit function that enables system administrators to track when and who made changes to a student record, making it easier to correct errors.
• A flexible, user-friendly reporting tool. 

Coaches rated the database between 4.5 and 5, with 5 being the highest rating on user-friendliness and utility.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The GraVoc team demonstrated exceptional listening skills. They took the time to understand the needs and language of our ACE team, identified our pain points with the old system, and translated those needs into a customized solution that worked effectively for us. GraVoc guided us through design choices to optimize our budget, and we held regular status meetings to manage both development steps and costs. They created a clear implementation schedule that both organizations followed and provided comprehensive training for system administrators and end-users. Their online documentation made our transition to Dynamics 365 seamless.

What was your primary form of communication with GraVoc?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

In addition to their exceptional listening skills, they respect budget and deadlines and proactively worked to ensure that they were met.

Now, more than three years post-implementation, GraVoc continues to provide prompt, high-quality support. Even as a small organization of up to 18 people, we have always been treated as a priority, with questions addressed quickly. Our system continues to meet our needs and has the flexibility to evolve alongside our organization.

Are there any areas for improvement or something GraVoc could have done differently?

We have no recommendations for areas of improvement at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Controller of Miller Proctor Nickolas, Inc

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Boiler sales and service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GraVoc to accomplish?

• Create a portal to sync two network systems together.

SOLUTION

How did you find GraVoc?

Referral

Why did you select GraVoc over others?

Great culture fit

How many teammates from GraVoc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

They sucessfully set up a portal that connected a new system we started using to sync it to our existing Acocunting software.  This helped allow all the financial information in the new system flow into our existing Accounting software.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

It reduced the amount of time it would take us to manually enter all the informaiton from our new system to our existing accounting software.  Probably saved us at least 20 man hours a week because we did not have to manually enter the information ourselves.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They were always responsive.  They always understand exactly what we needed.  Anytime we wanted to make revisisions or updates to our original requests, they were always helpful and were able to do for us.

What was your primary form of communication with GraVoc?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were very knowledgeable, and they were able to offer effective alternatives to make it easier for us than what we originally requested.  They offered up good ideas that would be better to do.

Are there any areas for improvement or something GraVoc could have done differently?

We we were very satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of accounting and finance at Gardner Resources Consulting, LLC, a temporary staffing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GraVoc?

We needed help converting QuickBooks data to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, setting up Business Central, and training staff on the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GraVoc converted our QuickBooks data and imported it into Business Central. The team also set up the platform and trained our staff on how to use it.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–5 teammates from GraVoc.

How did you come to work with GraVoc?

Someone referred GraVoc to me. I chose them over other options because they had high ratings, their pricing fit our budget, and they were referred to me.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–December 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We considered the project successful because we completed the accounting system conversion ahead of schedule and without disrupting financial operations. We migrated all historical data accurately, reduced the month-end close from eight days to five days, cut reconciliation errors by approximately 75%, and automated several manual processes that saved the accounting team about 25 hours per month. We also achieved full user adoption within the first quarter after go-live. The most significant result was the automation of our accounts payable and receivable processes.

How did GraVoc perform from a project management standpoint?

GraVoc delivered ahead of schedule. We communicated via virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

GraVoc's great communication and detailed project schedule were impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for GraVoc to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of iPublish Media Solutions, an IT company. We provide self-serve advertising platforms for newspapers, enabling multi-channel ad campaigns and order input for categories like obituaries, public notices, real estate, and classifieds. We serve over 700 websites and major newspaper groups across the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GraVoc to accomplish for your advertising platform or business?

We hired GraVoc for PCI audits.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GraVoc helps us with our PCI attestations. They help us complete our self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) and assist our company in establishing a written information security program (WISP) and a securities and procedures document.

What is the team composition?

We work with 2–5 teammates from GraVoc.

How did you come to work with GraVoc?

We found them through a referral. We chose them over other options because they had high ratings, were close to our geographic location, and their pricing fit our budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2015, and the project is ongoing. The project is a yearly project that begins in the fourth calendar quarter of each year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

GraVoc has helped us complete a satisfactory SAQ-D. All proper security measures suggested by GraVoc have been implemented, and all of our systems are significantly more secure due to the implemented procedures recommended by GraVoc.

How did GraVoc perform from a project management standpoint?

GraVoc has delivered on time. We communicate via in-person meetings, email, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive or unique about them?

GraVoc is very easy to work with and extremely flexible with our schedule.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they need to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a controller of Preowned Auto Logistics

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are transportation brokerage, that transport vehicles throughout the US and Canada

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GraVoc to accomplish?

• Implement a new ERP system (Business Central)

SOLUTION

How did you find GraVoc?

Online Search

Why did you select GraVoc over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from GraVoc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The scope of work was to get our accounting system off QuickBooks to Business Central. We were looking for the best way to recongize revenue and expenses accurately and have tools and processes in place to assist the accounting team with their day to day tasks

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We were able to go from closing the books from 15-20 days down to 5 days. We are also able to report accurate and final financial statements to executives and outside sources.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Gravoc and the project team were always on time and ready for next steps of the project. They were always available for training and issues that came up during and after implementation.

What was your primary form of communication with GraVoc?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

How dedicated they were to understanding the business and processes we have in place to make sure they could set up the functionality to our standards. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something GraVoc could have done differently?

N/A