Data Integration Project: A Case Study in Custom Retail Energy Software

The Problem

This client is one of Texas’ largest retail energy brokers.

Prior to working with Entrance Software, one of this retailer's biggest struggles was constantly having to manually convert deal terms from their CRM system to their Accounting system to accurately forecast revenue and expense.

As each new customer deal was closed, the broker produced an 18-month forecasted estimate of usage in Microsoft Excel and entered it into their accounting system. Then, based on these estimates, they generated monthly invoices for their commission, one for each meter, and entered them into a separate system. Information from the deals, such as name of the client and the price, was copied into the invoices by hand.

In order to pay commission to the brokers, the brokerage splits were calculated in Excel and entered into yet another system, along with all the other information related to the deal.

All of these systems used essentially the same data, but the data was unconsolidated and not standardized. With hundreds of deals closing per month, some with more than 100 meters, days were being wasted just copying and pasting and correcting errors in calculation.

The Custom Software Solution

This retail energy broker engaged Entrance Software to design and implement a custom software solution that integrated data from both systems.

Within four weeks, Entrance Software delivered the Data Conversion Tool that automatically converted and migrated all the transactional data from the CRM server to the Accounting server.

After all the necessary information was entered into CRM, company Account Managers could immediately create all the monthly invoices, commission payments, and even house revenue reports for the life of the upcoming contract.

The Results

"We look forward to continuing our relationship with Entrance because of the quality of work you provide."

Brian Bowen
Manager Accounts Receivable