How One Co-op Eliminated User Bottlenecks and Turned Hours of Reporting into Minutes
Customer: Hunger Mountain Co-op
Website: www.hungermountain.coop
Location: Vermont
Industry: Natural Foods Retail / Co-op
Former System: Microsoft Dynamics GP
New System: Acumatica
Customer Profile: Hunger Mountain Co-op is a large, member-owned natural foods cooperative serving the Vermont community.
Download The Challenge:
Like many growing organizations, Hunger Mountain Co-op saw the writing on the wall. Dynamics GP’s end of life was approaching, and they faced several operational constraints with their system that hindered their finance team’s
productivity:
- User Limitations Created Bottlenecks
- Technical Maintenance Burden
- Remote Work Constraints
- Limited Financial Reporting Capabilities
The Solution:
Working with their long-time technology partner CAL Business Solutions, Hunger Mountain made the strategic decision to migrate to Acumatica Cloud ERP. CAL had supported the co-op through their years on GP, and when Microsoft began phasing out the legacy platform, CAL guided them toward a modern cloud-based solution that would eliminate their operational constraints and allow for further growth.
Smooth Implementation with On-Site Support
Smooth Implementation with On-Site Support The transition to Acumatica was carefully managed by CAL Business Solutions. One aspect that the Hunger Mountain team particularly valued was having CAL’s implementation specialist on-site during the transition. Beyond just technical expertise, CAL’s approach centered on truly listening to the co-op’s specific needs and workflows. Rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all solution, the CAL team worked creatively to configure Acumatica in ways that made sense for Hunger Mountain’s unique cooperative structure and finance operations.
Equally important was CAL’s ability to keep the project focused and on track, helping the team prioritize what would deliver the most value while avoiding the common pitfall of getting distracted by every possible feature or customization. This combination of attentive listening, practical problem-solving, and steady project guidance proved invaluable in ensuring a smooth migration and rapid user adoption.
The Results:
Since implementing Acumatica Cloud ERP with CAL Business Solutions, Hunger Mountain Co-op has experienced significant operational improvements:
Eliminated User Access Bottlenecks
The move to Acumatica removed the three-user limitation. All 6-8 team members now have concurrent access to the system, enabling them to work simultaneously. This transformation is made possible by one of Acumatica’s key differentiators: its consumption-based pricing model that includes unlimited users. Unlike traditional ERP systems that charge per user, Acumatica’s approach means Hunger Mountain Co-op isn’t penalized for giving their entire team the access they need to do their jobs effectively.
Even more important for long-term planning, as the co-op continues to grow and potentially adds more staff to their finance team, they won’t face escalating licensing costs or difficult decisions about who gets system access. The unlimited user model provides both immediate operational flexibility and cost predictability as the organization scales.
Seamless Remote Work Capability
“Remote work is seamless,” says Tom Wright, CFO at Hunger Mountain Co-op. “It makes no difference as long as you have your laptop where you are, which is great.” The cloud-based platform enables the finance team to maintain full productivity whether working from the office or remotely.
Streamlined Technical Operations
Gone are the days of regularly remapping drives for data imports—Acumatica’s cloud architecture handles these processes seamlessly in the background.
Enhanced Financial Reporting
As a member-owned cooperative, Hunger Mountain Co-op regularly needs to create extensive financial reports for multiple stakeholders. From the board of directors to department managers to member-owners, each requires data formatted and presented in different ways. In GP, generating these reports was not only clumsy but extraordinarily time-consuming, often requiring the finance team to manually manipulate data and recreate similar reports in different formats.
While Acumatica’s out-of-the-box reporting capabilities offered a significant improvement over GP, the team recognized they needed even greater flexibility to efficiently serve their diverse reporting audiences. Working with CAL’s implementation team, Hunger Mountain implemented Velixo, a powerful Excel-based reporting add-on for Acumatica. The impact on reporting efficiency has been dramatic: “My monthly report that I create is probably 30 or 40 pages, and I can output that in minutes versus hours and hours,” Wright explains. “It’s kind of like going from an old tractor to a Ferrari.” The combination of Acumatica’s
robust data structure and Velixo’s Excel-native flexibility has given the finance team the ability to slice, format, and present financial data in whatever way each audience needs, without starting from scratch every time.
Faster Payments and Stronger Controls
Acumatica has simplified Hunger Mountain Co-op’s payment processing in ways that save time while improving financial controls. The ACH and check payment processes are more straightforward than they were in GP, reducing the steps required to get vendors paid. Beyond just efficiency gains, the CAL team helped Hunger Mountain implement approval workflows within the accounts payable bill entry process. These built-in approval steps help catch errors before payments go out, adding a layer of accuracy and control that protects the coop’s financial integrity without slowing down the team’s work.
Real-Time Banking Visibility and Efficient Data Import
One of the most significant operational improvements has been in banking reconciliation. In Great Plains, the team had to wait until the end of the month to clear transactions. With Acumatica, they can now reconcile and clear banking transactions as they happen, providing much more current cash position information. “We’re much closer to our goal of real-time analysis of cash on hand,” Wright notes. Additionally, for vendors with high transaction volumes, Acumatica’s Import Scenarios has proven invaluable. Rather than manually entering dozens of bills from the same vendor, the team can now import them in batches, saving hours of data entry time each month.
Planning for Deeper Integration
Looking ahead, Hunger Mountain Co-op sees significant potential for further streamlining their operations. The team is excited about connecting their Catapult POS system with Acumatica and then extending that integration to inventory and purchasing functions. The CAL team has also discussed implementing Acumatica Bank Feeds to further automate banking reconciliation processes. These future enhancements would create an even more connected operational environment, reducing manual data transfer and providing greater visibility across all aspects of the co-op’s business.
Ongoing Partnership with CAL Business Solutions
Tom Wright, who joined Hunger Mountain Co-op approximately 18 months after the Acumatica implementation, has experienced firsthand the value of CAL’s ongoing support. “I’ve had a fair bit of interaction with Chrissy at CAL in particular, and she’s been great. She’s been able to solve 90% of my issues pretty much in the moment, and the other 10% I’ve worked with other people on the support team with success.”
When asked about working with CAL Business Solutions, Wright’s assessment is straightforward: “CAL is responsive, great to work with, and easy to work with.”
Building on Success
Beyond the day-to-day operational improvements, Acumatica has opened new possibilities for Hunger Mountain Co-op. The integration opportunities with their Catapult POS system by ECRS could further streamline operations and enhance data visibility across the organization.
Wright also values the broader Acumatica community. After attending the Acumatica Summit conference, he noted, “That was really helpful. Meeting more of the CAL team there and even their other customers was good networking. I learned a lot by seeing all the possible options.” For cooperatives and natural food retailers looking to modernize their financial systems and eliminate operational constraints, Hunger Mountain Co-op’s experience demonstrates the value of partnering with an experienced implementation partner like CAL Business Solutions and choosing a flexible, cloud-based ERP platform like Acumatica.
