Restoring time and confidence with Coupa
Project overview and objectives
A fast-growing real estate technology company was thriving on innovation but struggling behind the scenes. Finance and procurement teams were juggling manual processes, disconnected systems, and inconsistent supplier onboarding. Each invoice approval meant hours of reconciliation. Each month-end close brought late nights, mounting stress, and a creeping sense that no matter how hard they worked, they were falling behind.
Team members were working weekends just to keep up — sacrificing family dinners and free time to chase numbers and fix avoidable errors. There was no space to think strategically, let alone breathe.
What we did
In search of a smarter way forward, the company partnered with Clearsulting to bring structure, speed, and relief to their finance operations. Together, we implemented Coupa’s Source-to-Pay suite with a sharp focus on what really mattered: making daily life easier for the people behind the processes.
“Working with our implementation partner to deploy Coupa has been my most seamless experience working with a consultant so far. They provided a well-rounded team of experts, kept us on track through a complicated design and testing process, and trained us effectively for a successful go-live.” – VP, Finance and Accounting
Our approach was hands-on and deeply collaborative. We:
- Listened first — uncovering pain points, bottlenecks, and emotional tolls during our kickoff.
- Designed for people — tailoring automation to reduce redundant work and improve confidence.
- Trained with empathy — through one-on-one coaching and open office hours that helped team members feel supported, not left behind.
From automating supplier onboarding to eliminating manual invoice processing, we focused on freeing up time and reducing friction — not just improving metrics.
Impact
Life after go-live looks — and feels — completely different.
Now, the finance team approves invoices in under 2 days and expense reports in less. But the bigger win? They’re no longer missing their weekends. They’ve reclaimed time, reduced stress, and built trust in their systems. With Coupa now integrated into their ERP and four outdated systems retired, the team has space to focus on what they were hired to do — not just survive another close cycle. As one executive put it:
“Working with our implementation partner to deploy Coupa has been my most seamless experience working with a consultant so far. They provided a well-rounded team of experts, kept us on track through a complicated design and testing process, and trained us effectively for a successful go-live.”
Results that matter:
- 94 days – Invoice approval cycle time
- 60 days – Expense approval cycle time
- 4 legacy systems eliminated
- More time for life outside of work