How 3Shape uses Pleo to manage their global business spending under one roof
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We launched our multi-entity solution earlier this month to help companies manage spending across teams, offices, countries – the lot. Wondering how it works in practice? 3Shape , an R&D company specialising in 3D scanners and CAD/CAM software for the dentistry industry, is one of Pleo’s biggest fans. With over 2,000 employees spread across the world, it’s safe to say they know a thing or two about the hassle of cross-border spending.
We caught up with Maja Mathisen, 3Shape’s Payroll Specialist, and Filip Birch Lindevall, their Finance Manager, to find out how Pleo has helped solve their growing pains when it comes to company expenses.
The challenges
- Managing two disconnected finance systems
- Keeping expenses under control as the company grows across markets
The results
- One intuitive expense system that frees up time for the finance team
- One solution to cover all local market needs
- Happy end-users who aren’t left out-of-pocket
Great to meet you, Maja and Filip! Tell us a bit about 3Shape and how you came to use Pleo
3Shape is driven by the belief that digital dentistry improves the day-to-day work of all dental professionals. Their mission is to advance and connect clinics and labs, thereby helping them deliver improved treatment experiences for their patients. Founded in the year 2000, the company now has over two thousand employees across 5 continents, with around 500 of those based in Denmark.
As a Payroll Specialist, Maja is responsible for all-things related to salary and company budget. Filip is 3Shape’s Finance Manager, placing him in charge of reporting, cash management, taxes, consolidation and reporting to management.
3Shape has been a Pleo customer for just over a year now, and it’s easy to see the parallels between the two organisations. Both Pleo and 3Shape were founded by fiercely driven innovators and both have been scaling rapidly over the past few years. So it made sense for 3Shape to lean on Pleo’s software to make its growth as smooth as possible.
Having been heavily involved in the roll-out of Pleo across the company, Maja is a bit of a pro when it comes to business spending. “I got the opportunity to implement Pleo in 3Shape. We ordered roughly 200 cards the first-time round” she says. Thanks to a successful test run, they've now launched Pleo in multiple countries in Europe 🎉
Being the finance team at the helm of a rapidly growing company can’t be easy. What were the biggest challenges you faced before reaching out to Pleo?
“The biggest pain was that we had two different systems: one for company cards and one for reimbursements ,” recalls Maja. This made reconciling expenses far more time-consuming and admin-heavy than it needed to be. “Employees would have a lot of reimbursements which could take up to a week to be repaid” says Filip. And bear in mind that “these reimbursements could be expensive, like flights”, leaving employees out-of-pocket for too long.
It’s no secret that making employees use their own money for work purposes is bad for business , so 3Shape’s finance team decided to search for a better system.
You started using Pleo in Autumn 2021, so you’ve had some time to get a feel for it. What’s your experience been like since then?
Thinking about a time BP ( Before Pleo ), Maja tells us how she “had so much trouble with the previous set-up, I was super happy when we heard about Pleo.” The team was thrilled at the prospect of not touching their personal finances for company spending. “Many of them started with a small purchase to see how the system worked, like buying candy – it’s so user friendly!” It’s no surprise that 90% of users are very satisfied with using Pleo 💪
According to Filip, the biggest win is “happy end users.” The feedback has been glowing, and “employees are happy because they have a product that works.” With Pleo offering a physical contactless card and a virtual card, uploading receipts when making a purchase is easier than ever. Filip describes having the virtual card on your phone as a nice to have, making “employees keen to enter the correct information” which, in turn, helps the finance team. It’s a win-win.
For Maja and Filip, Pleo has been a lifeline. “Booking and reporting is much easier, there aren’t any inter-company issues or extra work,” says Maja. Time saved on financial admin frees up more time for the team to focus on “quality reporting and VAT,” confirms Filip. There’s a reason why we help admins save more than 138 hours every year, after all.
Of course, getting up and running with a new system can have its teething problems.
As Filip reminds us, “you’re always a little bit nervous when using a new system, but Pleo explained a lot of these concerns and tried to solve them in the kick-off meeting.” Having played such a big part in Pleo’s implementation, Maja was equally relieved to have “really good customer success managers” on side whenever they had questions.
We love to hear it ❤️ What’s your favourite Pleo feature? (You can pick more than one…)
For Maja, without a doubt it’s Pleo’s Analytics page . “It’s nice to have an overview of both the reimbursements and the company card expenses.” 3Shape processes around 1,000 expenses each month (mainly food and drinks, followed by marketing) so being able to view every outgoing in one place is a huge time saver.
And things are only about to get more hectic. Maja reckons that “now we’ve implemented Pleo in 5 other entities, that’s definitely going to grow.” We can’t wait to watch you take off!
Filip is also seeing the benefits of the Analytics page first-hand. It helps them “highlight what we’re spending money on – is it advertising? Meals with customers? We really love this.” It’s easy to track expenses in Pleo, whether you want to see where the bulk of your money is going or which team is the biggest spender.
“Another big win is the Export page,” says Maja, as it helps them avoid bookkeeping issues and silly mistakes down the line.
Thanks for taking the time to chat to us, Maja and Filip
Pleo helps companies of all sizes manage their expenses across entities. Whether you have employees in two countries or 22 countries, Pleo brings your global business spending under one lens so you can scale faster and make smarter spending decisions. Learn more about Pleo’s multi-entity offering or book a demo with our sales team today.