Greenclose Hotels Shrinks Reporting Cycles with Spreadsheet Server

In brief

• Greenclose Hotels struggled with manual processes, leaving its finance team without the tools to do their jobs quickly and efficiently.
• Spreadsheet Server shaved off over 60% of its reporting cycle, leaving the company with more time for value-added analysis.
• Thanks to automation technology, the company is in a better position to correctly gauge the health of the business.

Greenclose Hotels is a provider of homegrown hospitality in countryside and coastal settings throughout Europe. Committed to making guests feel at home wherever they are, Greenclose Hotels stretch from the stunning scenery of North Wales to the beauty and diversity of the New Forest.

Greenclose Hotels prides itself in exceeding expectations while providing exceptional food and drink in luxurious surroundings. The customer comes first at Greenclose Hotels, providing respect, commitment and professionalism, backed up by a firm belief in environmental and ethical principles.

Dragged Down by Time-Consuming Processes

When Mike Lashmar joined Greenclose Hotels as Finance and Commercial Director last year, he encountered outdated processes and systems. Running data for management reports was prepared manually in Excel. “It took quite a long time to get any management information, and it was so linked down the chain it wasn’t actionable,” Mike said.

At the time, Mike was part of a team of four people. Because their processes weren’t automated, it would take a month or more to run period-end reports. “Many hotel groups take 3-5 working days to generate reports, so we were behind the industry standard,” Mike continued. “Hotels are 24/7 businesses that don’t stop. It’s a continuous process. If you get data and insight late, you’re already behind.”

Manual reporting runs the risk of human error, a detail Mike was keenly aware of. “Manual reporting is a huge risk,” he said. “If you’re a finance director presenting error-prone data to the board, you’ve ruined your credibility.”

Weighed down by manual processes, Mike found he didn’t have the right tools to do his job.

Introducing Spreadsheet Server

Greenclose houses its data in NetSuite, but ERP-native reporting can be complicated and require specific knowledge of the system. Mike set out to find a solution that would enable him and his team to streamline processes, speed up reporting cycles, and access more accurate data without the need for advanced knowledge. He sought out technology that would provide him with:

• A single source of truth
• Ease of use
• Real-time data
• Greater visibility into supply records and customer records

After an in-depth search, Mike found Spreadsheet Server, which provides hotel data and finance teams with access to live data directly in Excel for reporting and analysis. Spreadsheet Server offered Greenclose the self-service capabilities it needed to speed up and modernize its reporting process. Spreadsheet Server offered Greenclose Hotels:

• Fast installation and implementation so Mike’s team could hit the ground running
• A user-friendly Excel interface to enable even non-technical users
• Deep, transactional-level drilldowns to enable management investigation of reporting

Results

Spreadsheet Server empowered Greenclose Hotels to:

• Save up to 20 days off Greenclose Hotels’ reporting cycle
• Increase the accuracy of its reports
• Work in a familiar, Excel-based format

Doing More with Less

With Spreadsheet Server, the team at Greenclose Hotels was able to shave weeks’ worth of work from their reporting cycle, enabling them to do more with the resources they already had. The impact was staggering. Where it once took them a whole month, now the team can generate month-end reports in just 10 days. “With software systems, you buy something from a sales team and during implementation, you find out what you’ve really got,” Mike explained. “But Spreadsheet Serves does exactly what it says on the tin.”

The investment wasn’t something Mike took lightly. “We think really carefully about where we spend our money at the moment because it’s a tough market,” he said. “We’ve got a cost-of-living crisis where people are spending money more conscientiously. The impact of inflation has been huge with the cost of food and beverages. It’s tough at the top and at the middle. Being able to report quickly and understanding our numbers better than our competitors have been crucial.”

Drilling Down into Data

With the help of Spreadsheet Server, Mike can drill down into accounts, allowing him and his team to report more quickly, more accurately, and with greater detail. “Our numbers are much more credible. We can get more value out of our data,” Mike said.

It has also helped the company tackle soaring inflation and market instability. “We’re constantly restless to do better,” Mike said. “It’s a tough world out there with costs going through the roof and people conserving their money. We now have the ability to put a microscope on any P&L we want to.”

Mike’s team can now better understand costs with a single click. Before, they had to find the relevant code within their ERP, then manually find invoices. Ultimately, they achieved significant time savings by streamlining this process. This allows them to spend more time on value-added analysis. “Spreadsheet Server has taken a huge burden off keeping score,” Mike explained. “It’s now about what we can action.”

Distribution Manager

Another of Spreadsheet Server’s features that Greenclose Hotels uses frequently is Distribution Manager. Distribution Manager is a Spreadsheet Server add on that automatically saves and distributes files on a schedule you set, ensuring recipients will always receive the reports they need on time.

“With Distribution Manager, we can send the restaurant P&L easily and separately in the click of a button,” Mike said. “The ability to distribute quickly to anyone in any format has been a huge advantage.”

The hospitality industry thrives on accessible, accurate data. After implementing Spreadsheet Server, Greenclose Hotels has sped up its reporting process significantly while enjoying access to the most up-to-date information straight from NetSuite. In the future, Greenclose Hotels looks forward to expanding its use of Spreadsheet Server for even more time savings on its month-end reporting processes.