Cargas Systems Case Study

“You want managers to be leading the team, providing guidance, taking care of those higher-level tasks. Using BlueSnap allows me more time to tackle other projects we have our sights set on.”

Sara Maxwell, Manager of Accounting Operations, Cargas Systems

Who Is Cargas Systems?

Cargas Systems is an employee-owned software and professional services company selling and integrating ERP and CRM software from major technology brands, including Microsoft, Sage and Hubspot. Cargas helps businesses streamline their accounting, supply chain management, and sales and marketing processes so customers can focus on growing and running their businesses.

Founded in 1988, Cargas first established a relationship with BlueSnap for its clients. As the company experienced significant growth over the last 10 years and its customer base evolved, the Cargas team realized they needed an AR automation and payments partner to supplement the other solutions they sell.

Doug Price, manager of Sage Intacct systems consultants at Cargas, had successfully implemented BlueSnap integrations with previous customers. “As we were going through another implementation, I realized we needed a partner agreement,” he says. “Not only is BlueSnap a good solution, but it’s a good partner arrangement.”

“BlueSnap is always at the top of my list,” explains Price. “They can handle multi-entity. They can do multi-currency. They do AR. They do order entry. They do custom fields. They do user-defined dimensions. They handle every single nuance that comes across with any implementation.”

The Challenge

When Cargas partnered with BlueSnap as an AR automation and payments integration for its clients using Sage Intacct, it had already implemented an accounting and payments solution for their own business that integrated with the ERP.

“The integration between Sage Intacct just never integrated well with [that payment solution’s] system,” says Sara Maxwell, manager of accounting operations at Cargas. “We experienced issues — duplicate invoices, for example — along with other struggles. The major issue was that the support team was really difficult to work with, not really responsive or proactive, even through system-wide issues.”

This proved difficult for Cargas, which emphasizes customer relationships in its own business. “Customer care and our relationship with our partners, providing that level of support and care is important to us. And we never felt like we had that relationship with them,” says Maxwell.

“The final nail in the coffin,” as she puts it was that their previous provider upgraded its integration with Sage Intacct, causing Cargas’s integration to break. At that point forward, “I was the integration,” says Maxwell. Instead of leading her team, she was going into the two systems, uploading the invoices into one and recording the payments into the other.

Cargas needed an AR automation solution that would help them better serve their customers while also alleviating strains on their team.

The Solution

After experiencing firsthand how seamless implementing BlueSnap AR Automation was for Cargas customers — as well as how well the partnerships were faring — Price recommended BlueSnap to Maxwell and other members of leadership. “I didn’t want to make the decision for them; I just guided them through the process and got them to a decision point,” Price says. “In our last conversation, I said, ‘BlueSnap wins every time.’”

“It’s very easy to connect the system,” says Maxwell. “I think we walked through that in one day. The documentation is strong in how to do it. I connected the sandbox system to our sandbox by myself, so I think that speaks highly to the simplicity of setting it up.”

Now, Cargas uses BlueSnap to send automated payment reminders every 10, 30, 60 and 90 days and appreciates that BlueSnap provided advice on automated communications to try.

“With BlueSnap, it just works,” says Maxwell. “As we implemented BlueSnap, my team asked, ‘We don’t have to email the invoice to anybody?’ And I said, ‘No. You just generate the invoice.’ It gets picked up by BlueSnap and it’s going to go through BlueSnap automatically. I don’t have to review the basic invoice going out. That seems so minor, but it saves a click and one more thing to think about.”

The Results

Switching to BlueSnap equips Cargas with a reliable, customer-focused solution. “We were looking for a partner that has the same mindset we do: let’s make life easier for the customer,” says Price. Here’s how BlueSnap is making life easier for Cargas:

Clear Communication: Automated email cadences streamline communication for the team and their customers. With Cargas’s previous provider, invoices were getting lost because they were coming from the system’s no-reply email, but BlueSnap sends communications to customers from the company’s email service provider. “I love that I can look in Outlook and see everything that’s gone out through BlueSnap,” says Maxwell. “If customers have a question about the invoice, they can respond to the email without logging into the portal or finding another email address — they can just reply. It eliminates a lot of steps for everybody and also makes it clear.”

Improved Collections: The entire accounting team at Cargas likes that BlueSnap offers a Pay Balance Link that points to the entire amount the customers owes. Even when Cargas is communicating about a single invoice that is past due, the team now includes this link, which encourages customers to pay the full balance due rather than just the invoice in question. “Things like that in BlueSnap have really made it easier to collect payments,” says Maxwell.

Surcharges & Compliance: Cargas takes advantage of BlueSnap’s surcharge capabilities and appreciates the BlueSnap’s team proactive communication around surcharges and compliance. The team did not receive this type of guidance from their previous provider. “It just gives me confidence,” says Maxwell. “BlueSnap knows the laws around that. [Our last system] was just not capable of doing that kind of analysis when charging those fees.”

Payment Customization: Many AR solutions limit customization by customer, not by transaction. With BlueSnap, the Cargas team has the flexibility to set up auto payments for specific types of transactions while leaving other payment schedules up to the customer. This creates a better customer experience and, ultimately, helps the business get paid on time.

Internal Information Sharing: Maxwell has found the notes functionality in customer records to be a great resource for her team that helps with collections. “I put a note on someone’s account the other day that they just will not respond to emails. You’re going to have to pick up the phone and call this guy,” she says. Her team has found great efficiency in now having a centralized location for this type of information that everyone on the team can access.

Flexibility: Their previous payment platform required Maxwell’s team to submit a support ticket every time they wanted to make adjustments or customizations. With BlueSnap, “I can make changes myself without involving the support team,” says Maxwell. “It’s nice to be able to adjust things for your audience if you see something not working the way you expected.”

In the future, Maxwell sees her team taking advantage of BlueSnap’s CRM capabilities to better serve Cargas’s customers. “Someone at BlueSnap had the foresight and knowledge of how CRM systems work to add that into the collections module, really understanding what would make my job easier.”

For now, BlueSnap has given Maxwell more time back to lead her team. “I think the situation with [our previous system] was taking up a lot of my energy,” Maxwell says. “You want managers to be leading the team, providing guidance, taking care of those higher-level tasks. Using BlueSnap allows me more time to tackle other projects we have our sights set on.”