Updated 1/18/2023
MetaMetrics, Inc. is the developer of the widely adopted Lexile Framework for Reading and Quantile Framework for Mathematics, scientific measures of academic achievement and complementary technologies that link assessment results with real-world instruction. After a majority investment by private equity firm Pamlico Capital, MetaMetrics needed to prepare for rapid growth and expansion by replacing its legacy systems with new core financial and customer management solutions. MetaMetrics tasked Armanino with deployment and integration of Sage Intacct, Adaptive Insights and Salesforce to streamline and automate business and accounting processes, and gain accurate and real-time visibility into business performance.
For more than 30 years, MetaMetrics, Inc. has helped improve education for learners of all ages and ability levels. Well known for its widely adopted Lexile Framework for Reading and Quantile Framework for Mathematics, MetaMetrics specializes in making data actionable to accelerate learning for all students.
After years of success with its products in the education market, it was time for the company to gain more control over, and insight into, its own internal data, namely its financial and customer data. It had long outgrown its legacy systems such as QuickBooks, relying on time-consuming spreadsheets and other manual efforts to compensate.
Following a majority investment by private equity firm Pamlico Capital, the company quickly realized that its outdated software had to go, and a roadmap was created to replace it with new enterprise resource planning (ERP), financial planning and analysis (FP&A), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The new technology stack would give the company the oversight and insight it needed to fulfill its new strategic business plan.
“The legacy systems we had in place at the time of the Pamlico investment were not only extremely inefficient for a company of our size, but also didn’t have the sophistication we needed for managing the new growth strategy we envisioned,” says Todd Sandvik, senior vice president of corporate strategy and finance at MetaMetrics. “It became fundamentally important to make it easier to ask any question of our data and get answers quickly.”
Knowing that MetaMetrics needed additional resources and expertise to implement the new systems efficiently, Pamlico Capital introduced the company to Armanino, one of the 25 largest independent accounting and consulting firms in the U.S. “On the advice of Pamlico, we spoke with Armanino about where we wanted to go with our technology roadmap and were really impressed with the depth and breadth of their expertise and services,” says Sandvik. “We immediately sensed that we had found a trusted partner to help with the heavy lifting required to modernize our systems.”
After evaluating several ERP platforms, MetaMetrics chose Sage Intacct, a cloud-based financial management solution. It also selected Adaptive Insights for its FP&A solution and Salesforce for CRM. “With these powerful new systems, our overarching goal was to capture more detail, gain visibility into every corner of our business, and better support our complex business needs such as managing intellectual property,” says Sandvik.
MetaMetrics engaged Armanino to plan, deploy, migrate and integrate the new technology stack, starting with the ERP solution. An end-to-end Sage Intacct implementation, customization and integration consulting provider, Armanino also has one of the largest certified Adaptive Insights development and implementation teams in the nation and is a certified member of the Salesforce Partner Network, providing deployment and integration consulting.
As the Sage Intacct deployment progressed, Sandvik and his team soon recognized opportunities to add modules such as contract management, expense management and reimbursements to further streamline and automate processes. “We would add a module and realize ‘wow,’ this can make our processes much more seamless, real-time and informative,” says Sandvik. “We were excited about all the ways we could take advantage of the new system and build off of it.”
With Sage Intacct, Adaptive Insights and Salesforce deployed, MetaMetrics is already seeing numerous benefits. “The biggest areas of improvement so far are, first, the incredible efficiency gains that give us back a ton of time and, second, the peace of mind we have that the data is accurate and complete,” says Sandvik. “We spend less time dealing with spreadsheets and trying to figure out if we have the right number, and more time communicating, analyzing and partnering with other business leaders to help them make informed decisions.”
MetaMetrics’ monthly financial close is no longer a race against the clock. “Our close is now precise, timely and reliable every month,” says Sandvik. “Reporting also takes far less time than in the past, only a few days compared to weeks of going back and forth to get the right data for the board or a special project.”
Sandvik is amazed by how dynamic and efficient planning has become. “As long as I’ve been participating in the budget process, it’s been a challenge,” says Sandvik. “This year was a relative breeze. We finished our budget two or three months sooner than we normally would.” This despite the fact that the business has grown rapidly in revenue and headcount over the past two years, increasing the complexity of strategic business planning.
The company found a trusted partner when it decided to work with Armanino, and the relationship has since expanded to include other consulting services. “Armanino brings perspective to every engagement, challenges our assumptions, and helps us really understand where we want to go with the technology,” says Sandvik. “I don’t know if there’s a part of Armanino that we haven’t yet touched, but they’ve helped us with everything from ASC 606 compliance to business strategy. When we have an issue or question that associates with a new challenge, our first thought is of Armanino.”
With significant progress made on achieving the milestones along MetaMetrics’ technology roadmap, Sandvik says that this is where “things get really exciting” for his team as they adopt more sophisticated approaches such as iterative planning and real-time modeling. “The work we’re doing with our technology stack and Armanino is transforming how we think about the business strategically, from top to bottom,” he says. “It’s an exciting time for the whole accounting and finance profession and for businesses like ours.”
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