Citrosoft

Having the World's biggest brand as a competitor could be daunting... but Citrosoft are taking on Coke and winning, in the Nottingham area at least!...

 
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  • Market Sector: Soft Drinks Manufacturer
  • Established: 1986
  • No. of employees: 15
  • With Benchmark since: 1990

 

Based in Nottinghamshire, England, Citrosoft is a leading draught soft drinks supplier providing products, equipment, and related maintenance and back-up services for licensed and catering premises.

Citrosoft’s Operations Directors, Clare Raine believes that their choice of accounting package plays a key role in the successful management of Citrosoft’s finances. “Originally, we were looking for a way of automating the accounts” explains Clare. “Some friends recommended Benchmark’s original Snip for DOS software , explaining that it was similar to Sage but easier to use – it did everything we needed it to do”. That was in 1990.

As Citrosoft grew, they upgraded to Chancellor, Benchmark’s advanced accounting suite for Windows. Clare Raine explains, “Once we had Chancellor, it all fell into place. We learned the new system and what we could do with it, and that’s been the biggest advantage – the sheer flexibility of the package and the reporting capabilities.”

The software has saved Citrosoft much in the way of both financial cost and administrative man-hours. “Without Chancellor we would have needed to hire at least one other administrator – there just aren’t enough hours in the day,” Claire explained.

A significant benefit for Citrosoft was the ease with which members of staff were able to use the basic features of Chancellor after only a brief training period. “It’s easy to train people to use Chancellor. You give them a few sets of basic rules, and they’re away.”

As the business has grown, the advantage of being able to speak directly to the programmers at Benchmark has benefited Citrosoft not only with regard to technical support, but also with aiding the discussion and development of new features.

Benchmark knows how important it is to work with their customers to develop the best software. “Over the years, we’ve had a good relationship with Benchmark” explains Clare Raine, “because they pick up on user suggestions, and the next time you get a new version, you might notice a new feature that someone has suggested, and they have implemented. It’s forever evolving.”

In addition to making use of their reliable and flexible accounting solutions, Citrosoft also uses Benchmark’s payroll and CRM software, which are both seamlessly integrated with the accounts. “We’re very pleased with the payroll,” explains Raine. “It’s so much easier and more flexible than other payroll packages.”

The CRM software has also become a key part of the efficient running of the business.

“It has changed the way we control our whole business and has made us much more efficient…we couldn’t be without it now.  Without Cream we would be reacting to any problems, but by using it we can be proactive and…it has definitely saved us from losing customers.

It definitely saves us money and we provide a much better service to our customers…we’re in a very competitive business.”

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