For businesses managing subscription-based products, automating revenue schedules in Salesforce transforms efficiency and accuracy. This case study explores how a media company improved revenue tracking by automating these schedules. By focusing on automation, Astreca’s certified Salesforce consultants helped the company solve multiple pain points and elevate its financial reporting process.
In this case, the media company sells subscription-based products, such as monthly and yearly service plans. However, the client faced several significant challenges with manual revenue scheduling:
Manual Processes: Creating revenue schedules required multiple clicks, which slowed down workflows. This delay, in turn, negatively impacted opportunity product schedules.
Inconsistent Data: Manually entering data led to revenue calculation errors. Because of that, revenue data-driven decisions weren’t as good as they could be.
Reporting Difficulties: Planned versus actual revenue reporting was cumbersome, which upset forecasting accuracy.
Complex Subscription Plans: With varying subscription and project durations, tracking revenue became more complicated and error-prone.
These issues resulted in inefficiencies across several teams, including sales and finance. The company realized that to scale operations, they needed a robust solution.
To address these challenges, the company worked with us to build an automated solution within Salesforce. Here’s how we teamed up and tackled the problem:
First, we leveraged Salesforce’s standard revenue schedule functionality and added several customizations to meet the client’s needs. In this case, we used Apex classes and triggers to automatically generate revenue schedules based on product types and program dates. Of course, this reduces the number of manual steps needed and drastically improves data consistency.
Next, we automated the start and end dates for the revenue schedules based on the opportunity’s program dates. Whether the subscription is monthly or yearly, the correct dates generate automatically. As a result, it reduces manual input and prevents common errors related to date misalignment.
Seamless data integration ensures automated schedules reflect accurate revenue projections across departments. Therefore, we sync data between sales and finance, ensuring any updates on the opportunity page are immediately reflected in the revenueÂ
schedules.
The automation allows for better reporting. The client now generates reports that differentiate between planned and actual revenue. They also view revenue data broken down by financial year or quarter. In effect, this makes business forecasting much more accurate.
As with any complex Salesforce implementation, there were some technical challenges.
Developing the Apex code required to handle all the various subscription scenarios and product types took significant effort. The solution had to work with the Revenue Schedule object, inaccessible to tools like Salesforce Flows. Subsequently, all automation was built from scratch using Apex.
Astreca put validation rules in place to ensure that incorrect or inconsistent data didn’t enter the system. If errors arise, the rules trigger an alert, preventing discrepancies before they can affect financial reporting.
Ensuring the automation worked seamlessly with existing Salesforce processes required thorough integration testing. Certainly, each new feature was rigorously tested to ensure it didn’t disrupt other parts of the system.
After implementing the automated solution, the media company saw immediate benefits:
Faster Revenue Schedule Creation: Astreca cut the time spent generating revenue schedules from hours to minutes. As a result, sales and finance teams no longer need to manually create each schedule, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks.
Improved Data Accuracy: Automation significantly reduced the errors that often occurred during manual data entry. Doing so led to more accurate revenue forecasts and a clearer picture of future revenue streams.
Better Reporting and Forecasting: Now, the company easily compares planned and actual revenue with enhanced reporting tools. This improvement helps guide business decisions, leading to better financial planning.
In summary, by automating revenue schedules in Salesforce, the media company solved multiple pain points, including inefficiency, data inconsistencies, and reporting challenges. Now, the business can track revenue accurately and generate insightful reports, all while saving time.
Automating revenue schedules within Salesforce enabled the media company to streamline operations, improve data accuracy, and enhance its reporting capabilities. Now, armed with accurate revenue data and precise forecasting tools, their teams can focus on driving growth.Â
This case demonstrates the power of automation in reducing manual processes, minimizing errors, and optimizing business operations—especially for companies that offer subscription-based products.
Salesforce’s customization capabilities allowed us to craft a solution that perfectly fits the client’s needs. So, if your business is still handling revenue schedules manually, it’s time to explore automation options with Astreca.
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