We had the pleasure of speaking with Finance Project Manager Ann-Sofie Wigert. As the go-to person for leading new system implementations and other internal changes at Veidekke, she had a lot to share about choosing, implementing, and using Skovik.
User-friendliness that speaks for itself
Our conversation began with Ann-Sofie sharing with us what made Veidekke choose Skovik to begin with:
“We selected a few candidates for consideration. Some were providers already handling our payroll and accounting, others were more similar to your solution. As a group, we then set some must-haves and nice-to-haves, and user-friendliness for the end-users came out on top. That’s what mattered most to us”.
When asked if Skovik has lived up to their expectations around the user-friendliness of the system, Ann-Sofie says that it absolutely has. She then elaborates:
“We haven’t done a survey or anything but the reactions after we had gone live were all the same: people found it easy. Initially, we considered holding general training sessions or large group meetings to explain how Skovik works. But because Monika [Veidekke’s customer success manager] told us it doesn’t tend to be necessary, we skipped it, and it went really well”.
She continues:
“I guess you can measure it by the number of questions we’ve received since going live, which is incredibly few. And we’re a company with several thousand employees. That speaks to how user-friendly the system is”.
In capable hands
Monika gave helpful advice throughout the implementation process, Ann-Sofie says.
“It’s been incredibly helpful. In the beginning we struggled a bit with figuring out what categories we actually needed. So getting suggestions was really valuable. It’s easier to pick and choose between different options than to have no idea where to start”.
Ann-Sofie continues:
“She also gave suggestions around warnings that flag incorrect submissions, and other helpful features we could set-up. And the fact that she sometimes challenged our thinking, asking why we wanted to do things a certain way and suggested alternatives, was really valuable too”.
The implementation processes overlapped with summer holidays and other internal projects at Veidekke, but Ann-Sofie notes that Monika remained available and quick to respond. It was valuable that she stayed committed throughout
, Ann-Sofie says. The whole process went very smoothly with your support
.
The benefits of a system like Skovik
The day-to-day use of the system has also been a smooth experience for the admins, Ann-Sofie says. Built-in features like automatic error checks, policy validations, and tax rule handling help with accuracy, and having their subsidiaries gathered in the same expense management system has helped as well:
“When everything flows through the same channel, we can create more consistency. And because we’re working in a more similar way to each other now, we’re able to help each other out in a much better way. No matter where someone is located, they can jump in and approve an expense”.
Ann-Sofie says her number one reason for recommending Skovik is because of its user-friendliness, but she also mentions the fact that it’s a separate solution, and not part of a broader payroll or accounting system, as a reason for recommending us.
“I think it’s a good idea to go with a system that’s independent of your payroll and accounting system. Skovik only focuses on expense management and making it user-friendly. With bundled systems, the focus tends to be elsewhere. So I would say going with a standalone system makes sense”.
She adds:
“Setting up a new system might appear more effortful than switching on a feature in your current software, but in this case, it’s absolutely worth it. And implementing Skovik was a lot easier than I thought it’d be”.