As a national non-profit organization, the U.S. Travel Association has been the voice of the U.S. travel industry for over 75 years. The Association serves over 1,100 leading travel organizations by identifying significant opportunities and challenges for the sector, lobbying for favorable policies related to travel, offering education initiatives, and providing industry-specific data and analysis for its members. However, to offer such vital benefits, the U.S. Travel Association operates on membership subscriptions, which means reviewing subscriptions, sending invoices, and following up on unpaid dues for the finance team. To further streamline its finance operations and increase remote capabilities during the 2020 pandemic, the U.S. Travel Association decided to migrate from the Microsoft Great Plains ERP to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
THE PROBLEM: Migration from Microsoft Great Plains to Business Central
Migrating from one ERP system to another is never a quick or straightforward procedure, and it can take up to six months for organizations to complete the process. For an organization looking to increase its remote capabilities, the migration needed to take place as quickly as possible. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the finance team decided it was the best time to upgrade their current ERP. By switching to Business Central, they would shift their hosting to the cloud, expand their reporting capabilities, and reduce overall costs. While the association has a fairly simple reporting structure, they wanted to be completely confident of a smooth transition to their new ERP.
The SOLUTION: Seamless Migration with a Proven Solution
To ensure a timely and smooth migration, the U.S. Travel Association partnered with Gorilla Expense to migrate its expense reporting automation solution from Great Plains to Business Central. Together with the Gorilla Expense team, the association mapped out their goals and timeline, set up a sandbox, and began testing. The migration process from Great Plains to Business Central took four-to-six months to complete, including customization for tracking membership dues, new members, miscellaneous fees, sponsorships, advertising, and other related expenses.
Due to its plug-and-play configuration, Gorilla Expense took only a week to complete its role in the migration.
The U.S. Travel Association team also relied on Gorilla Expense for additional support when needed. Not only was the migration accomplished in a timely manner, but the U.S. Travel Association group was able to adapt to the new platform quickly. Additionally, the migration has enabled the U.S. Travel Association to establish the groundwork for more advanced automated and detailed reporting. This, in turn, has facilitated role expansion across the organization, resulting in 100% visibility and faster turnaround times for payments and expense reports.
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