Case study
A dental group went from 18 clinics to 36, and the budget, the board reporting and the covenant scenarios kept up.
Clareo used to export NetSuite data and build its statements and budget in huge linked Excel files, one or more tabs per clinic. It built its first budget in Vena while still learning the tool, finished it faster than the year before, and now every VP and regional manager does their part of the budget in the same system.
Last updated
Send this to your CFO18 to 36
Clinics on the same system
Clareo had 18 locations when the project started in 2025
Year one
Full budget done faster than prior years
Built in Vena while the team was still learning it
Nightly
NetSuite data pushed into Vena
No more exporting to Excel to build reports
In their words
“MCC helped us implement Vena to streamline budgeting, reporting, and forecasting across our 25 clinics. Even in the first year of implementation, we significantly reduced the time and manual effort required for our annual budget process - replacing multiple Excel versions with a much more efficient workflow.”
At a glance
- Company
- Clareo
- Industry
- Dental clinic group (roll-up), private-equity backed
- Entities
- 36 locations in Quebec (18 when the project started)
- Finance team
- Small: Simon, a controller who runs the month-end close, and a few employees
- Platform
- Vena
- Source system
- NetSuite (nightly), payroll system being integrated
- Scope
- Financial and board reporting, budget with workflow, workforce planning, operational reporting by clinic
- What we worked on
- Budgeting and the people planCovenant and lender reporting
Why now
Clareo grows by buying clinics. The growth made the Excel-based reporting and budget unbearable, and Simon chose to start before it got worse, not after.
Before and after
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| NetSuite data was exported and the financial statements and reporting were built in Excel. | NetSuite pushes to Vena every night, and the reports update themselves. |
| The budget lived in huge Excel files with many tabs, one or many per location, all linked together by hand. | One budget in Vena, with workflows that give every budget owner their tasks, reminders and deadlines. |
| People waited on finance to pull reports and send them by email or SharePoint. | VPs, regional managers and the CEO track results against budget during the month, in Vena. |
| Covenant compliance and cash-for-acquisition scenarios were slow to turn around. | The team runs those scenarios on actual data and answers the board's requests much faster. |
| Payroll was dollars only. | Workforce planning by clinic, with planned hours and headcount compared to actuals from payroll. |
What we built
- Moved the budget into Vena first, keeping the way the team already worked, then upgraded the templates after a working session in Toronto.
- Connected NetSuite so actuals load every night.
- Built workflow for the budget, so every VP and regional manager completes their own part, with automatic tasks and reminders.
- Built workforce planning by clinic, with scheduling, regional salary levels, and planned hours and headcount compared to payroll actuals.
- Coached the team to build their own reports. Clareo has since built dozens of reports for its departments itself.
Who worked on it
Charlie LiuChief Happiness Officer
Eugene ChengChief Customer Officer
Budget still in linked Excel files, one tab per location? See whether this fits.
“The board meetings also have more value now, because we're able to present data more accurately and faster.”
Their advice to another VP Finance
“If I had to redo it, I'd really take a step back and take a good look at what we should do, instead of trying to recreate what we were already doing.”
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