Case Study: Kappen Tree’s Transformation with NetSuite

Transforming Payroll and Billing Processes with NetSuite Launching Kappen Tree to the Next Level

Kappen Tree is a full-service tree firm. Providing tree care services to thousands of residential, commercial, and municipal clients in Michigan.

KAPPEN TREE

Company Kappen Tree	Annual Revenue <$5 Million
Location Michigan, NY	Employees 11 to 50
Industry Utility, Commercial, and Residential Tree Care	NetSuite Modules Deployed NetSuite ERP

Return On Investment

Time Savings Payroll processing time decreased from 10-12 hours weekly to only 1-2 hours.	Cost Savings Saved on labor costs by avoiding hiring more staff, all while upholding its dedication to low overhead.
Improved Accuracy Automating complex invoicing, previously a 15-20 hour weekly task, now takes about 2 hours.	Enhanced Compliance Centralizing safety audits and compliance tracking streamlines field employees’ safety regulation adherence.

Objectives

With the team at goVirtualOffice and a new ERP, Kappen Tree was able to automate and streamline its operations, resulting in significant time and cost savings.

Kappen Tree Service are experts in tree services and vegetation management, caring for the lush greenery that adorned their clients’ landscapes. However, beneath the canopy of their success, Kappen Tree grappled with a thorny problem—outdated and time-consuming payroll and billing processes.

Solution

Kappen Tree has a large field-based workforce, which generated extensive paperwork that was manually transferred to the office, this resulted in a time-consuming and error-prone process, with hours being entered separately for payroll and billing. Due to their commitment to low overhead, they were reluctant to hire additional personnel to handle the increasing workload. They also faced challenges in managing safety audits, tailgate safeties, and compliance tracking across multiple systems.

The implementation of NetSuite was a game-changer for Kappen Tree. It brought several key benefits, including the automation of payroll and billing processes. Field employees could directly input their hours into the system, eliminating duplicate data entry and significantly reducing the time spent on payroll and billing from 10-12 hours a week down to 1-2 hours. NetSuite also automated the creation of complex invoices, such as those required by their largest customer, which used to consume 15-20 hours each week into just about 2 hours. This not only saved precious time but also significantly enhanced accuracy.

Challenges

• Manual Data Entry – Kappen Tree’s field-based workforce generated extensive paperwork, which needed to be manually transferred to the office for processing.
• Complex Billing for Large Customers – Managing this process manually led to inefficiencies, errors, and delayed payments.
• Overhead and Hiring Concerns – Kappen Tree’s commitment to low overhead made it challenging to consider hiring additional personnel to handle the increasing workload.
• Safety Audits and Compliance Tracking – Kappen Tree struggled with managing safety audits, tailgate safeties, and compliance tracking across multiple systems. This fragmented approach made it difficult to track and ensure safety compliance for field employees.

Goals

• Automate payroll and billing in order to reduce the number of manual errors.
• Efficient billing for large customers to save time and improve accuracy.
• Reduce overhead and hiring needs by utilizing automation and efficiency improvements.
• Streamlined safety audits and compliance tracking eliminating the need to manage these tasks across multiple systems.
• Support for business growth by streamlining operations.

Furthermore, NetSuite’s efficiency improvements reduced the need for additional personnel, saving on labor costs and allowing existing employees to focus on strategic tasks like business expansion and implementing new initiatives. Additionally, it centralized safety audits, tailgate safeties, and compliance tracking processes, making it easier to ensure safety compliance for field employees.

Kappen Tree’s workforce continued to grow, even in a challenging labor market, thanks to NetSuite’s streamlined operations. With automation and efficiency, the leadership team could focus on growth and exploration of new opportunities. NetSuite not only improved efficiency and accuracy but also empowered their team to thrive in a competitive market, offering peace of mind that everything is billed and paid correctly.

goVirtualOffice continues to provide excellent service and a scalable platform that allowed Kappen Tree to revolutionize their payroll and billing processes resulting in remarkable time and cost savings. Without NetSuite, Kappen Tree would have needed to hire at least 3 people.

After their initial ERP implementation, Kappen Tree continued on with BOOST-managed services to allow for even further automation and process improvement for the team.

“It just seems a lot of times some of our stuff is extremely specific to our industry and the companies that we work for and it’s super hard to explain even in person, let alone over the phone. But it seems like Tammie (GVO) continuously, time after time, nails it and gets it correct.”

Kyle Kappen

Kappen Tree Success Stories Series