How Sattva Consulting Brought Clarity to its Operations with Oracle NetSuite
Running the business behind, it is where things get complicated.
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100%
Real-time project &
program visibility
One
Unified platform across
finance, ops & programs
Multi-entity
Financials consolidated
across geographies
500+
Employees
Company Size
Founded back in 2009, Sattva Consulting is strategically positioned at the confluence of businesses, government, and civil society. It has been designing and implementing sizeable solutions across several sectors including education, gender equality, climate action, health, and livelihood. It works alongside corporations executing CSR programms, philanthropies providing grant funds, non-profits looking to grow, and governments design initiatives that can benefit millions. In addition to its consulting services, Sattva has developed its own ecosystem, i.e. Sattva Knowledge Institute, India Data Insights, and India Partner Network. It is a large and fast-growing company with over 500 employees working within multiple geographic domains and capable of handling huge operational challenges.
Company Industry
Impact Consulting . CSR & Sustainability . Social Development
We were spending too much of our time managing our own operations and not enough time doing what we are supposed to do. NetSuite has changed this.
The Problem
The situation is reminiscent of the nursery rhyme: There is an element of irony in a company that has been helping hundreds of people to install better systems while the operations of the company itself are managed through spreadsheets. This was the reality Sattva was facing, not due to negligence, but rather due to the fact that the company has grown beyond the available tools. Various active engagements, different types of clients, varied forms of funding, and operations all over the globe present an enormous challenge for the company that still relies on disconnected systems of operation.
Project budgets existed in spreadsheets that were always somewhat outdated; budget overspend was detected after the fact, not beforehand.
Invoices were a monthly challenge, with the different retainers, project fees, and grants, each with its own structures, but without a complete system of integration.
Consolidation of multi-entity finance was done by hand monthly and was slow and error prone.
The use of contacts for consultancy and resources was conducted through conversations and calendaring, not data.
Client reporting took hours that could have otherwise been spent on consulting.
Finance, programs, and operations each had their version of the truth, and none matched.
The Solution
Prior to making any changes, Cinntra spent time understanding how Sattva operated daily regarding project organization, billing practices, and points of friction. Subsequently, the company customized Oracle NetSuite.
The implementation delivered:
- Real-time project accounting uses live budgets to track financial status.
- Automated invoice processing for retainer, project-based, and grant-funded fees.
- Multinational financial consolidation for quick access to global operations data.
- Monitoring of consultant utilization included in the system.
- Clients are provided with reports based on real-time data.
- Single platform bridging finance, operations, and programs.
The Results
Sattva achieved much more than improving their ERP. They got their time back and a business capable of operating at the same speed as their work.
Real-time monitoring of project expenses and no more surprises at the end of the month concerning print utilization.
Automation and speed of the billing process.
Quick and clean consolidation of multinational finance, allowing management to control the overall situation of Sattva.
Immediate availability of data on resource management instead of making assumptions
Time needed for clients' reporting is considerably reduced, thanks to the possibility of the data retrieval from the real-time data.
Interconnected operations in finance, accounting, and other departments.
Your mission deserves an operation that can keep up with it?
If your organization is managing complex programs and growing teams across tools that were never meant to work together, Cinntra can show you what one connected system looks like.
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