Bridging The Technology Gap

In the complicated world of oil and gas accounting, facing a challenge with your ERP software can feel like trying to cross a great canyon, vast and unknown, that stands between your current business and your goals for its future. As you look out past the gap towards the other side, you see the needs of your business: data you could use to make more informed decisions, improvements to processes, efficiencies to be gained. However, whether it be from a lack of training or a system limitation, your ERP software stands between you and realizing those needs.

At Sagacity, we’re technology consultants, but we like to think of ourselves as technical bridge builders. As you know your business, we know the ERP software it runs on: the system’s capabilities, the backend database tables, the master files, the processes, and the reporting. So when you point at a location across the gap and say, “That is where we need to go,” our team takes our functional accounting and business knowledge and pairs it with technical expertise to build a bridge for your business.

Mind the Gap: Two Recent Bridges We’ve Built

For example, a recent client acquired a large volume of wells that required division of interest (DOI) at a tract level to accurately calculate revenue distribution and regulatory reporting, but upon receiving the data, there was a snag. The divesting company’s ERP software was capable of processing the distribution at the tract level and automatically rolling up the results to present at the unitized well level, while the client’s ERP software was not. This left our client with a significant technology gap. They had received thousands of tract level DOI’s – each containing a wide range of complex ownership obligations – and had no automated solution for unitizing them. Faced with a manual project that could take several months of work, they asked Sagacity to build them a bridge. Partnering with a third party software developer, Sagacity was able to design, test, and implement an automated solution that received tract level DOI data and created a unitized deck as an output, saving time and mitigating the risks of a manual approach.

In another instance, when a client’s ERP software was unable to handle the complexity and volume of their State Severance Tax and Federal Royalty reports, they had resorted to manual manipulation in off-system spreadsheets. But this process wasn’t sustainable: the spreadsheets were clunky, time-intensive, and vulnerable to errors. Adjustments to transactional data in prior periods was a nightmare. They needed a bridge fast. Using Alteryx, a powerful data analytics and process automation tool, Sagacity created automated processes to fetch live transactional data from their ERP software, perform all necessary transformations, and output a formatted EDI file for upload to the State or Federal website. As a result of this bridge, reporting accuracy and efficiency improved significantly, and the strain on company resources was drastically reduced.

Help on the Homefront

Sometimes, it’s not all green grass on your side of the canyon. Perhaps there is a problem with your current processes or data. It happens to the best businesses, and we’re here for that too. Utilizing our extensive experience in client support, data cleanup, process analysis and redesign, and training, we can help you fix the problems in your backyard so that you can get back to focusing on the direction of your business.

A Team of Translators

You can also think of Sagacity as a team of translators. We speak the language of oil and gas accounting fluently, from A/P to WIP. With 25+ years of oil & gas ERP software experience, including SQL database expertise, IT management and strategy, data analytics and reporting, support, and Alteryx process creation, we speak the technical language just as well. As your team of translators, we’ll stand beside you and help you communicate your business needs to your accounting system, translating the functional to the technical. It works both ways too. Your ERP software may be feature-rich, but the terminology and functionality can sometimes feel like trying to learn a different language. Sagacity can train your users to better understand the language of your system, empowering them to maximize its potential.

A Chasm Becomes a Highway

At first, a chasm can be overwhelming, a language barrier frustrating. Both keep your business from its fullest potential. But a well-built bridge turns a chasm into a highway, and a good translator turns confusion into understanding. Interested in how Sagacity can build a bridge for your ERP software needs? Tell us about the challenge you’re facing by scheduling a free consultation. Our team of bridge builders and translators is ready to help you overcome it.