How a Logistics Company Saved $100K on ERP Licenses and Centralized Procurement Across 80 Locations

Company: Riverstone Logistics
Locations: 80+ across the East and West Coasts of the United States
Industry: Logistics & Transportation
Website: https://rlx.us/
Company size: 1,000+ employees
Using Precoro since: August 2024
Users: 159
Client’s rating of Precoro: 10/10
Featuring: Bryan Krauter, Accounting Director

This case study focuses on Riverstone Logistics, a fast-growing U.S. logistics provider operating across multiple locations on the East and West Coasts. As the company expanded its footprint and service capabilities, procurement volumes increased rapidly, putting pressure on existing processes and tools.

Historically, Riverstone relied on NetSuite not only as an ERP but also as the primary system for operational purchasing. More than 150 operations employees created purchase orders directly in the finance-oriented system, which led to rising license costs, usability issues for non-finance users, and growing administrative overhead. While NetSuite worked well for accounting, it wasn’t designed to support high-volume, day-to-day purchasing by distributed operational teams.

As the business continued to scale, leadership recognized that this approach would become increasingly inefficient. Each new location added more requesters, more spend, and more complexity. Routine operational purchases, from fuel and equipment to maintenance services and uniforms, became harder to control and track in a consistent way. To support further growth without losing visibility or control, Riverstone began looking for a dedicated procurement layer that could work alongside their ERP. This search ultimately led them to Precoro.

The Problem: Growing Pains in a Rapidly Scaling Organization

As Riverstone Logistics expanded, several critical procurement pain points emerged:

• High NetSuite license costs
  More than 150 operations employees needed access to submit purchase orders. This dramatically inflated ERP licensing spend, making NetSuite an expensive tool for simple daily tasks.
• Lack of usability for field teams
  NetSuite’s interface was too complex for operational staff who work in fast-paced environments and need to submit requests quickly while staying focused on core logistics tasks. Many team members found the system unintuitive or overwhelming, leading to delays or inaccurate data entry.
• Fragmented systems and duplicated work
  Purchase orders were scattered between NetSuite and an internally built homegrown tool. This split workflow created confusion, required manual duplication, and increased the risk of errors, especially during reconciliation periods.
• Weak internal controls
  Without standardized workflows, clear approval layers, or department-level thresholds, the company struggled to govern spending effectively. Budget owners lacked visibility into ongoing purchases, making it difficult to monitor financial commitments and prevent unnecessary or unauthorized expenses.
• Process gaps in confirming receipts
  Operations staff often skipped the step of confirming goods receipts, leaving accounting teams without accurate data when closing reporting periods. This created mismatched records, delayed month-end close, and introduced financial risk.

We don't want so many people in our financial accounting system. We were looking for a solution with great user experience that would tightly integrate with NetSuite and provide a catalog restricting people from ordering whatever they want.
— Bryan Krauter, Accounting Director

Riverstone needed a system that would bring simplicity to end users, standardization to procurement workflows, and control to the finance team without disrupting daily logistics across 80+ sites.

Why Riverstone Chose Precoro

Riverstone evaluated several procurement platforms, prioritizing solutions that offered native ERP integration, granular role-based permissions, and proven scalability across multi-location operations. The system needed to be intuitive enough for non-technical users while providing robust financial controls for the accounting team.

The decision was shaped by several advantages that stood out during evaluation:

• Fast deployment
  Precoro was fully implemented in just six weeks without requiring IT team involvement, thanks to the native NetSuite integration and guided onboarding.
• Clean and intuitive UI
  The simplified interface allowed operational employees to adopt the system quickly, minimizing training time and eliminating usability issues that existed with NetSuite.
• Ability to scale across 80+ locations
  Role-based access, structured approval chains, and consistent workflows made it easy to onboard new locations and maintain centralized standards.
• Hands-on customer support
  Riverstone received personalized support, clear onboarding guidance, and continuous assistance during the transition period, crucial for a company with distributed teams.

When we were looking at a couple of other systems, Precoro's user interface was easy to understand and follow. When you log into that system, look at it, and get comfortable with it, it makes a big difference, right?
— Bryan Krauter, Accounting Director

Solution: A Seamless Procurement Foundation with Precoro

Riverstone needed a risk-free transition that wouldn't disrupt their ongoing logistics operations. With 80+ locations handling daily purchasing activities, any implementation had to maintain business continuity while gradually shifting workflows from NetSuite to a dedicated procurement platform. Speed and seamless integration were essential, but so was ensuring zero operational downtime during the rollout.

Precoro provided Riverstone Logistics with a dedicated procure-to-pay platform that significantly reduced operational friction and replaced fragmented, costly processes with a clean, scalable workflow.

Key elements of the rollout included:

• Centralized requisitions, automated POs, and 3-way matching to ensure every purchase followed a structured, transparent process.

• Direct integration with NetSuite, synchronizing suppliers, items, invoices, and payment statuses in real time while reducing manual entry.

• Configurable approval workflows, allowing Riverstone to set rules based on department, spend limits, and user roles, bringing clarity and discipline to budgeting.

With Precoro, operations teams gained a simple, intuitive interface, while the finance team gained stronger governance and real-time visibility into spend across all locations.

Results: Tangible Improvements in Cost, Control, and Operational Efficiency

Following implementation, Riverstone achieved measurable improvements across cost reduction, operational control, and financial accuracy. By centralizing procurement in Precoro, they eliminated the need for expensive ERP licenses for operational staff, streamlined workflows across all locations, and gained real-time visibility into spending, all while maintaining the rapid pace of their business growth.

After adopting Precoro, Riverstone saw several tangible outcomes:

• $100K annual savings
  Eliminating unnecessary NetSuite licenses allowed Riverstone to cut ERP costs dramatically while ensuring only finance and key personnel accessed the accounting system.
• 130+ requesters centralized in one platform
  All purchasing requests now flow through Precoro, giving full visibility into what is being purchased, by whom, and why.
• 500 monthly requests managed by one procurement specialist
  Streamlined workflows and automation allowed a single dedicated team member to oversee hundreds of requests without administrative overload.
• Accurate financial reporting
  3-way matching and improved receipt tracking significantly increased financial accuracy, reducing reconciliation delays and risks at month-end close.

Precoro has also helped us from a control perspective, which we didn't really do before. We're happy to move away from our homegrown tool and NetSuite to Precoro, where we can now manage budgets easily.
— Bryan Krauter, Accounting Director

Key Takeaways

For rapidly growing companies with existing ERP systems, adding a dedicated procurement layer is essential to maintaining control and visibility as operations scale. By implementing a centralized procurement platform like Precoro, businesses can see and approve spending before it happens, significantly reduce software licensing costs, and provide requesters with an intuitive tool they'll actually use rather than bypass. This approach ensures that growth doesn't come at the expense of financial oversight or operational efficiency.

Before Precoro

• 150+ operations employees requiring expensive NetSuite licenses for basic PO creation
• Complex ERP interface overwhelming non-finance users
• Fragmented purchasing across NetSuite and homegrown tools
• Weak spending controls and limited budget visibility
• Inconsistent goods receipt confirmation creating financial reporting gaps

With Precoro

• $100K in annual ERP license savings
• 130+ requesters using an intuitive, purpose-built procurement platform
• Single procurement specialist managing 500 monthly requests
• Centralized visibility across all 80+ locations
• Automated approval workflows with department-level controls
• 3-way matching ensuring accurate financial reporting
• Real-time budget management and spending oversight