How Ramp helped Viking Well Service institute a more efficient expense management process

Viking Well Services makes multiple large-ticket purchases on a regular basis. The procurement team’s typical purchases include repair parts, certifications on various pieces of equipment, general job supplies, equipment rental, and back office software. The company didn’t have a clear procurement process, which eroded efficiency and transparency for the finance team. “People were just going out and buying what they needed, and they would have a purchase order number,” says Senior Controller Chris Lowdermilk. 

On the expense management side, Viking had two problems to solve. “We were using AmEx cards under the name of one of the partners, and we needed to move away from that,” says Chris. 

The company needed an improved procurement process, as well as a corporate card solution and an expense management system with granular spend controls.

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“We found Ramp, and it fit our two needs at once,” says Chris. By implementing Ramp, Chris and his team were immediately able to solve their corporate card issue, both by giving cards to specific employees and by issuing one-time cards that enable single purchases and payments. 

With Ramp Procurement, Viking was able to consolidate its bills and purchase orders in one central place. “Having the purchase order and bills all in one place just makes a whole lot more sense for the type of business that Viking’s doing, because you can simplify it down to a one-line-item type deal,” explains Chris. Chris can now leverage Ramp’s matching mechanism to track multiple payments from various invoices on a given PO. “That’s really important for control purposes, for visibility,” says Chris. That new process enables Viking to better understand how much is left on an open PO.

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Whereas Viking’s prior process was fragmented and opaque, instituting Ramp has helped the finance team gain visibility--and, thus, better control--over corporate spend. “Having the purchase order drive the approval process has been a game-changer for efficiency,” says Chris. “Once something is approved as a PO, it gets processed for payment. It’s a one-level approval for myself, and it’s ready to go.” 

Ultimately, that level of visibility leads to better control over corporate spend and budgeting. “Honestly, it just eliminates those surprises,” says Chris. “Ramp gives us instant visibility into our spend in a nice dashboard. The ability to sync all the transactions and see what our expenses look like pretty much on a daily basis is great.” 

The simplicity with which Chris can view all corporate transactions is a hallmark of Ramp’s that characterizes the entire user experience. “The simplicity and speed of Ramp has definitely improved compliance,” says Chris. 

Ramp’s speed has been a clear selling point, as it has personally saved Chris several days each week of his own time. 

“Our AP process was previously all manual. In the month-end close review process, you would have to go in and drill through to the invoice to see the whole transaction. Probably half of my week was spent doing that. Now, for the most part, we can see right in the general ledger what the transaction looks like.” 

Likewise, Ramp has expedited time to close each month. “Before Ramp, we’d have to wait on a statement from the partner who owned the card. Then we’d still have to take our own time to code everything. That took about 10 days. With Ramp, that process is down to 2.”

That time savings has enabled Chris to focus on more strategic initiatives that will pay dividends for the business in the long run, like digitizing field tickets and revenue, and working with the partners on a new complementary venture to Viking.  

“Ramp is simple, efficient, and timely,” says Chris. Ultimately, it’s these attributes that make Ramp an excellent partner for Viking.