For over three generations, Loman Garrett has proudly served North Carolina with reliable, sustainable HVAC solutions. Recognizing that their reliance on outdated Excel spreadsheets and QuickBooks Enterprise was hindering growth, the family-owned company sought a transformative upgrade. Partnering with aACEsoft, they implemented a customized, fully integrated ERP system that streamlined operations, enhanced accountability, and boosted efficiency across all their subsidiaries. This strategic move not only modernized their business processes but also ensured that Loman Garrett could continue thriving and honoring their legacy for future generations. Discover how aACEsoft empowered Loman Garrett to embrace innovation while maintaining their strong family values.
Challenges & aACE Solutions
Loman Garrett is a family-owned company dedicated to bringing reliable, sustainable HVAC solutions to customers throughout North Carolina. With a long, proud history that spans three generations, Loman has helped businesses and schools throughout the state modernize their infrastructure. But internally, they were relying on an outdated mix of Excel spreadsheets and a QuickBooks Enterprise solution they had long outgrown.
The leadership at Loman Garrett knew they needed to make a change if they wanted the business to continue growing and thriving for future generations. They brought in consultant Dot Wagner to help them revolutionize their operations. As soon as she met the aACEsoft team, she knew she’d found the right partner to bring into the Loman Garrett family.
A Fully-Integrated Alternative to QuickBooks Enterprise
Loman Garrett brought Dot in to solve a thorny database issue. What she found was a much deeper problem than they’d bargained for. “I looked at [the database] and went straight to the CEO’s office,” Dot recalls. “And I said, ‘Why the heck are you guys still on QuickBooks?’ And that’s what started this whole adventure.”
Loman is made up of several companies, with an HVAC rental business, Airnetik, among the largest. QuickBooks offered an integration with a rental solution, but Loman had implemented it in one of their smaller subsidiaries with disastrous results. “It was so bad that not only did they have to get rid of that software, they had to totally rebuild QuickBooks afterwards,” Dot explains. “So I was definitely looking for something that was all fully-integrated on the same platform.” Fortunately, aACE fit the bill.
Rental Inventory and Fixed Assets
“Airnetik rents HVAC solutions to construction sites, because we are in the South and it gets hot here,” Dot says. “It’s difficult to work under those conditions, so construction companies will rent HVAC units for their sites.” They also rent to facilities such as schools, hospitals, or data centers – all places where maintaining air quality is critical and time is of the essence when a building’s existing equipment fails. It’s vital that the Airnetik team knows what they have on-hand, what condition each unit is in, and when each unit was last serviced. And when a unit is rented, they need to know where it’s going and how long it’s going to be there. Searching for a solution that could track all of that information on top of more standard business management functions was like searching for a unicorn.
“The aACEsoft team custom-built a rental solution exactly to our specifications,” Dot says. “No other company was going to do that. They all said we would have to buy a separate package on top of their ERP software and mind-meld it together – not interested,” she continues. “aACE was the only one that was able to write a custom package so that it works seamlessly in the rental side of the business while tracking inventory in a very specific way that is different than selling inventory, because you basically sell the inventory and then you bring it back and it’s the same unit. So that was really a big selling point for aACE.”
Extensive Logging Provides Transparency and Peace of Mind
Another problem that Loman had experienced with their previous solution was a lack of accountability. “QuickBooks has no security,” says Dot. “People could go in and do a fake transaction, and then go back two months later and totally change it. If there’s a log somewhere in QuickBooks, I could never find it. So not only was there no security, but you were unable to track individual transactions.”
aACE’s advanced logging features make it easy to tell who made important changes to a record and when. Additionally, aACE’s user groups allow system administrators to control who can view, edit, create, or delete which types of records in the first place, preventing employees from gaining access to records outside their purview. “Now I can go into the log file and see who did what, when, and where. It’s wonderful,” Dot continues. “We had to break a few people of some bad habits when we implemented aACE. Now we have an audit trail – imagine that!”
Dot also credits aACE’s drill-down, drill-around capabilities with improving transparency throughout the company. “Whether you’re looking at invoices or you’re looking at receipts, to follow those transactions is so easy to do in aACE compared to QuickBooks,” she explains. “Our old system made us jump through hoops, print reports we didn’t need – I mean, it’s ridiculous. So I’ve really been spoiled with the ability to do research in any area very easily because the process is all the same.”
And of course, aACE’s Advanced Search is the cherry on top of the accountability sundae. “You’re able to search on any field in that form, or any combination of fields, which makes the search capability infinite,” Dot says. “Whereas the other solutions I looked at only had fixed searches for whatever they thought you needed. So with aACE, and particularly with that Advanced Search capability, we’re able to tailor our information-gathering to a wonderful, wonderful degree and get exactly what we need.”
A Unique Discovery Process
It didn’t take long for Dot to realize that Loman needed to upgrade their business management software, but finding the right fit was another matter entirely. She did her due diligence and narrowed the list down to three: Acumatica, NetSuite, and aACE.
Right from the start, aACE set itself apart from the rest. While other ERP companies rely on flashy presentations to sell their software, aACEsoft invites potential customers to take an in-depth look at the solution, first through the ShowMe website (a library of aACE how-to webinars) and then, as prospective customers get deeper into the ERP shopping experience, through our unique Discovery process.
“When Cory [Elliott, aACE’s Director of Sales] told me, ‘Well, we can give you a sandbox that you can play around in to your heart’s content and really explore the software,’ to be honest with you, I didn’t believe it at first,” Dot says with a laugh. “And then of course I took that wonderful offer and I went to Acumatica and NetSuite, and of course they’re going like, ‘There’s no way. We’ll let you look at it with us, but you’re not going to play around in our software.’”
This ability to explore aACE helped give Dot confidence that the solution would work for Loman – before spending a penny in licensing fees. “Being able to do that really accomplished a couple of things,” Dot explains. “First, it pointed out functionalities in aACE that I was not aware of. And second, it gave me a wonderful opportunity to create a similar environment to what we already had here. That allowed me to show it to people and get their feedback without jumping through a whole lot of hoops.”
Through the Discovery process, Dot was able to get staff buy-in before purchasing the solution, setting up Loman for a much smoother transition. “I could create an invoice, an order, do an accounting function, whatever, and show them exactly what they’d be doing,” she says. This gave her the opportunity to solicit feedback on precise workflows, which Dot would then take back to the aACEsoft team. Often, the software already had whatever functionality her team was looking for. If a feature wasn’t available in the out-of-the-box version of the software, aACEsoft would note it for possible customization.
“Having that opportunity to play around in a sandbox was unbelievably great,” Dot says. “And it gave me the feeling that the aACEsoft team wasn’t afraid of anything. I didn’t get that feeling when I started asking hard questions about the other solutions.”
Results
Seamlessly Managing Multiple Entities in a Single aACE Solution
With several smaller companies under the Loman umbrella, multi-office accounting functionality was a must. aACE makes it easy to manage multiple entities all in one aACE solution. “Jumping from one company to another is seamless, and the consistency there is very, very important,” Dot says. “With QuickBooks, we had to log out of one and log back into another. But in aACE, if you’re looking for something and you’re in the wrong company, getting back to the other one is like boom – two seconds,” she adds, meaning only a click or two away.
Dot also praises the consistency of aACE’s design, which enables users who’ve learned a workflow in one company to be able to perform it in another without additional training. “The consistency between the different companies is seamless, even though they have different business models. Everything looks the same.”
And each entity uses the same chart of accounts, making accounting a breeze. “In aACE, we’re able to manage the chart of accounts once, not twice,” Dot explains. “In the old system, we would try to have a chart of accounts that perhaps mirrored that of the other company, but it was a manual process. If I created an account for one company, I’d have to go in and create it again in the other. In aACE, I just create it once and it’s available for every company. It makes the Profit & Loss reports very consistent, too.”
A More Effective Use of Time
By streamlining some of Loman’s workflows down to the tiniest details, aACE has helped them use their time more efficiently. They’re also able to obtain more accurate data by reducing the need for manual data entry and the errors that come with it. That greatly increases the amount of productivity they’re able to get from their workforce.
“I think what aACE has allowed us to do is expand our capability,” says Dot. “Whether that means fulfilling an order from a customer and getting those details correct, or how in the accounting system a purchase order flows into a purchase which ties into the order and the invoice, so everything is trackable from any of those documents.”
“In QuickBooks, everything was independent,” she continues. “You would create a purchase order and not have an order attached to it, or you’d order something from a vendor and not know where it went. In aACE, everything is linked. That ability to track things has led to a better use of our time, so our staff can meet the customers’ needs much quicker and with much less of a headache. They’re able to do more; they can process more orders now because the accountability is there and the trackability is there.”
This increased efficiency has allowed Loman’s staff to focus on higher-level work. One employee, for example, used to spend time chasing down paperwork to ensure that everything balanced correctly. “Now he’s able to assume responsibilities for the service department, which in turn freed up a sales person to actually focus on sales,” Dot says. “And he really needs to focus on sales, because if he doesn’t sell anything, we don’t get paid.” One automated workflow freed up two staff members to focus on the parts of their jobs that are most vital to the business.
A Finely-Tuned Solution for Precise Vendor Requirements
Loman Garrett primarily sells equipment made by Bard Manufacturing, a leading brand in HVAC solutions. As a reseller of Bard products, Loman handles repairs for Bard equipment under warranty. “Not only do we warranty items that we sell, we also warranty through our vendors items that were bought somewhere else,” Dot explains.
Bard’s warranty process is somewhat unique. If, for example, a part needs to be replaced on an item under warranty, Loman must purchase the part from Bard, complete the repair, and wait to receive a credit from Bard toward a future purchase. Prior to implementing aACE, Loman had no way to track the credits they were receiving, or the ability to tie them to a particular repair job.
“When I first got here, I would see relatively large credit memos coming through,” Dot recalls. “I mean several thousand dollars. I would ask where they came from, which job generated them, and nobody knew. So Loman Garrett was putting out dollars and cents on warranty items with absolutely no way to track whether or not they were ever reimbursed.” Now, Dot says, aACE enables them to see which jobs have been reimbursed, and which credits are tied to each job. “We were never able to do that before.”
aACE has also helped Loman streamline the receiving process. “Bard is our primary vendor, so we’re getting multiple orders that they’ve shipped on a daily basis,” Dot says. “Now we’re able to take that information directly from Bard and import it into our system, taking out the human factor. And because of aACE’s search capabilities, we can easily check to see which orders haven’t shipped. That was one of the things that was falling through the cracks in our old system.”
And when it’s time to pay for all those orders, aACE automates that process, too. Bard requires payments every two weeks, and such a large volume of transactions used to mean manually hunting down each and every one to make sure everything balanced. Now, it’s all done with the touch of a button. “The last time I actually processed the payment for Bard – and it was a huge statement, as I’m sure you can imagine – everything balanced,” Dot says. “It was fantastic. I didn’t have to do a single research project because everything was just there. That was amazing.”
Drop Shipping Made Simple
Loman Garrett drop ships the vast majority of their products; these items are sent directly to the customer’s job site, not to Loman’s address. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need to track these units as well as their on-hand inventory. aACE’s built-in drop shipping tools allow them to do both without the cumbersome work-arounds required by other solutions. “With that functionality, we’re able to receive drop-shipped items without affecting our inventory,” Dot says. “We’re able to differentiate very easily between drop-shipped items and in-house inventory.”
When an item is drop-shipped, aACE manages the receiving process so that each unit is accounted for in Loman’s system. “Even though we’re not technically receiving items in our building, they still flow through the process of receiving the purchase order, making the purchase, and putting it into payables,” Dot explains. “That’s enabled us to track items shipped directly from Bard to our customer as well as items that are either shipped to our warehouse or parts that Bard ships to us when we need to replenish our inventory. The drop ship functionality actually allows us to differentiate between the three kinds of products. It’s great!”
In Their Own Words
Here’s what Dot Wagner of Loman Garrett has to say about the results of their aACE implementation:
“Purchasing ERP software is like getting married. So you not only look at the software, you look at the company behind it. You want to make sure that that company – their attitudes, their response time, their concern about your business – mirrors your culture. And when I first started meeting with aACEsoft, it was apparent that I was dealing with another entrepreneurial company that still believes the customer is important.
I looked at all the big systems. They didn’t have the capacity that aACE does in their core product. Every time I asked about a particular functionality, they would go, ‘Well, we have a module for that but you’ll have to pay extra for it.’ There was this constant repetition of having to add those modules. And some of the modules were not even from their company, they were add-ons from outside sources. With aACE, you have everything in one package.
The aACEsoft team is so patient and so easy to work with. And perhaps the most important thing is that they meet their commitments. If they say they’re going to do something, they do it. And if they can’t do something, they tell me that instead of trying to side-step the issue. So I appreciate their honesty, their commitment to their jobs, their commitment to this company, and their willingness to learn how different companies operate so they can give us the best solution. That’s really important. I don’t ever speak with someone at aACEsoft who doesn’t have some understanding of what our business is.
I would recommend aACE to any service company, any distributor of any widget. And certainly the rental option gives aACE a unique selling proposition that no one else seems to have. More and more companies are going into the rental business in their fields because that’s what their customers need.
We only implemented aACE on March 1st of this year, so we haven’t even scratched the surface of what it’s capable of. Over the next several months we’ll be continuing that exploration process, because it already offers so much more than we could ever possibly imagine. The depth of the software is amazing.”
Interested in learning more about what aACE can do for your SMB? Read our feature highlights to see how aACE can help you take your operations to the next level.
