From Franken-Model to Financial Freedom: How SpotOn Transformed Their Planning Process with Pigment
The Company
Industry: Software & payments technology for restaurants, retail businesses, and enterprise venues
Founded: 2017 by Doron Friedman, Matt Hyman, and Zach Hyman
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Valuation: $3.6 billion (as of May 2022)
Total Funding: $900 million raised over 8 rounds
Key Outcomes
Manual to Automated
Half-day reporting processes now run automatically
Multiple Files to Real-Time Scenarios
Instant scenario planning vs. Excel version management
Reactive to Strategic
Finance team shifted from "FP&R" to true "FP&A"
Public Company Standards
Analytical capabilities that exceed previous benchmarks
Challenge: Breaking Computers and Breaking Points
SpotOn's finance team had reached a breaking point with their planning process. What started as a clean, well-intentioned Excel model had evolved into what Tim Reidy, VP of Finance, called their "Franken model" – a sprawling creation that had grown to version 95.
"You're still sitting there waiting for 5 minutes for it to open, 10 minutes for it to close. We were breaking computers."
The technical limitations were only part of the problem. Manual reporting based on this complex model was equally painful. "My reporting was just an absolute nightmare. I was trying to consolidate reports from many different systems and I spent half a day just taking all those reports, reformatting them, and then consolidating them."
Meanwhile, the business was asking increasingly sophisticated questions. Potential clients wanted ROI metrics, but the finance team lacked the quantifiable insights to provide definitive answers. With multiple major system implementations already taxing the organization, the finance team needed a solution they could implement autonomously.
Solution: Choosing Flexibility and Partnership
Tim’s experience with planning tools like Oracle Hyperion and Planful gave him clear insight into what SpotOn needed. While many established providers offered quick implementations, they came with significant constraints on future customization.
"With a lot of the services that we were looking at, there were some great ones that could be out of the box, you could be up and running really quickly,” Reidy said. “But you were then going to be a bit more constrained on what we were able to do over time."
Pigment stood out for its infinite flexibility and vendor-level planning capabilities that other platforms couldn't match. Selecting Pigment meant taking a calculated risk on a newer platform over established brand names. "Pigment, I think, was a bit more of a flyer. I was taking a personal risk at doing that, but really felt it was going to be worth it in the long run."
With SpotOn's technology team already stretched thin, Tim needed an implementation approach that wouldn't add to that burden. "I really wanted to make sure that I was not going to be reliant upon our technology team to get things done and be beholden upon anyone else. I really wanted us to control our own fate."
SpotOn chose Bright Point for their collaborative approach and clear roadmap to autonomy. The partnership emphasized building internal capabilities rather than creating dependency.
When Pigment introduced enhanced scenario planning capabilities mid-implementation, the collaborative partnership proved its value. Rather than viewing this as a setback, the teams worked together to incorporate the new functionality, ensuring SpotOn could take full advantage of Pigment's rapid innovation cycle.
Results: Night and Day Transformation
"When I think of a year ago versus now, it's a night and day difference on stress level,” Tim said. “Forecasting for us now is a much easier process. We know where the inputs are. We know everything is tightly connected."
The manual reporting nightmare has been eliminated entirely. Where Tim once spent half a day consolidating reports from multiple systems, Pigment now automatically feeds information into customized reports. This automation has freed the finance team to shift from reactive reporting to strategic analysis.
"For an FP&A team, the joke is always a lot of teams are FP&R, we're just reporting. And you're not getting to the A,” Tim said. “You need time to digest. You need something that becomes more routine and you get a lot of that painful work automated. And that's where I feel like we have moved a mile into the right direction."
The scenario planning capabilities have revolutionized their forecasting approach. Instead of saving multiple Excel files for different cases and hoping everyone used the right version, SpotOn can now toggle between scenarios instantly within a single system.
These improvements haven’t gone unnoticed at the executive level. SpotOn's CFO, who had experience with planning tools at previous public companies, has been impressed with the capabilities. "Her comments on a regular basis are, 'Oh, my God! I can't believe I made you wait this long.' She had experience with a separate provider and said, 'We were a public company, and we didn't have anything close to the level of detail that you've been able to provide with Pigment.'"
"My experience working with the team at Bright Point is the gold standard for what a customer relationship should be. They are truly a partner. They listen to what we need and help us find solutions."