Three reporting cycles per month, 18 business units, a few clicks

For years, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) struggled with its financial planning and reporting processes due to its reliance on a custom-built, homegrown system. Created with another vendor, this system quickly became obsolete after—in the words of Eric Oliveira, a Senior Financial and Systems Analyst at ASME—they were “left out to dry” by the vendor.

This left ASME with an unsupported, outdated tool that required heavy reliance on IT to fix bugs and maintain basic functionality. As a result, ASME’s Finance team struggled to gather insights or focus on strategic initiatives.

The inefficiencies further extended to ASME’s budgeting and forecasting processes, which were slow and labor-intensive. Staff frequently found themselves bogged down by manual workflows, often working directly out of IT offices to troubleshoot issues during critical periods like budget season. This unsustainable setup consumed valuable time and hindered collaboration—creating bottlenecks that impeded decision-making.

Another major challenge was the fragmented approach to data management. Budgeting relied heavily on importing data from multiple Excel spreadsheets across various business units, which was prone to errors and delays. Consolidating this information into a single source of truth (SSOT) was nearly impossible, further complicating planning and reporting.

ASME needed a solution that could simplify its processes, eliminate the need for disconnected, manual data entry, and integrate seamlessly with existing systems like its accounting platform.

Offering the adaptability and customization its previous system lacked, Jedox proved to be the ideal solution for ASME. After evaluating several vendors, ASME chose Jedox because it allowed the company to go beyond rigid, out-of-the-box functionality and design a system tailored to its unique needs.

Specifically, the extract, transform, and load (ETL) capabilities available through Jedox Integrator and custom reporting options stood out—giving ASME the tools to craft creative and targeted solutions for its planning and reporting processes.

Today, Jedox is an integral part of ASME’s operations, supporting 70 users across the organization—45 planners and 25 viewers. The platform accommodates diverse user needs and is ideal for budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and analysis. Some groups rely on highly targeted reports, while others utilize standard reports or explore advanced visualization options like dashboards. This flexibility ensures that every team can access the insights they need with ease.

Jedox’s intuitive features, such as drop-down menus and drill-through functionality, have simplified the user experience, allowing people to get to the information they need and understand data sources quickly. Other teams can request specific reports and ASME’s Finance team can quickly deliver customized solutions—streamlining collaboration and decision-making across departments.

By centralizing data and automating processes, Jedox has enabled ASME to maintain a SSOT. The time saved on manual tasks and troubleshooting has allowed the organization to focus on value-added activities, driving efficiency and empowering teams to achieve more.

ASME transformed its financial operations, freeing up significant time and resources to focus on more strategic, value-adding activities. Previously held back by labor-intensive manual processes, the organization can now seamlessly generate reports and focus more time on data analysis.

What once required countless hours spent compiling Excel reports—often involving three reporting cycles per month for 18 business units—is now accomplished with just a few clicks in Jedox. Stakeholders can instantly access up-to-date reports using drop-down functionalities, eliminating the tedious back-and-forth of email exchanges. This automation not only ensures accuracy but also saves time, enabling teams to engage in meaningful analysis and decision-making.

Jedox also opened the door to new opportunities in business intelligence and customer experience (CX) insights. ASME’s teams are now equipped to tackle initiatives that were previously out of reach, such as projects with enhanced data architecture and broader analytics.

This expanded scope demonstrates how Jedox transcends the traditional role of financial reporting tools, empowering Finance teams to become more than a “back-office function”. For ASME, Jedox is not just a solution to past challenges—it’s a platform for future growth and innovation.

“Gone were the days of them working in Excel to actually input their financial data. Everything was done in Jedox at that point, so it simplified our process—huge time savings and it’s been a great ride.”

Eric Oliveira, Senior Financial and Systems Analyst