How complete visibility helps Holded save on SaaS

Holded was founded in 2016 to reinvent Cloud ERP software for small businesses. It joined forces with Visma in June 2021 to keep leading the digitalization of freelancers and SMBs in Spain.

Holded was created to provide cloud-based ERP for fast-growing businesses and it quickly found traction in the market. All this growth came with increased software complexity. With each team managing software purchases separately, SaaS spend quickly spiraled. The challenge was, with limited visibility into the tools each team was using and when these contracts were due for renewal, it was difficult for the finance team to get these costs under control.

This wasn’t the only challenge though. Without proper oversight and collaboration, contract owners would renew subscriptions without renegotiating or fully engaging the finance team. This left the leadership team with very little confidence that each department was negotiating the best prices and terms on their contracts. It was at this point the company began looking for a solution to help.

The finance team at Holded had three goals: to improve cross-functional visibility of software contracts, to create a more cohesive procurement process, and to identify cost savings by properly negotiating contracts. Up until this point, it wasn’t always clear when a contract was up for renewal and the finance team felt it had limited oversight, which inhibited their ability to effectively negotiate.

After being introduced to Vertice, the leadership team immediately understood the value of the platform. They were drawn to the fact that it would provide them with invaluable insights into the organization’s SaaS spend and could help unlock cost-saving opportunities.

The decision to purchase was driven along by an impending strategic contract. After going through a spend audit and seeing the type of savings that could be expected from Vertice, while also experiencing the professionalism and responsiveness of the team, the finance leaders were convinced it was the right decision.

One of the first priorities for Holded was to improve visibility. During the onboarding process, Vertice helped uncover additional contracts that the finance team wasn’t aware of. The team quickly realized they were spending far more on SaaS than they thought. Getting all of this visible in a single platform helped them become more strategic about how and where they would invest in future spend.

It also helped create centralization and control around the procurement process. Vertice allowed department heads to manage their contracts individually within the platform while still alerting the finance team about any relevant changes. By utilizing the integration with Slack, the finance team was instantly notified when there was a new contract.