Customer Story
SMT Africa
SMT Africa Streamlines Budgeting & Planning with Bizview
How a heavy equipment distributor gained speed, visibility, and control across 20 subsidiaries by implementing Bizview with KOKAI.
ABOUT SMT
SMT (Service Machinery & Trucks) is a Belgium-based full-service distributor of construction machinery and commercial trucks, providing equipment sales and after-sales support across several continents. Founded in 2010, the group rapidly expanded through West and Central Africa and now operates in 30 countries worldwide, employing around 2,000 people and generating an estimated €700–800 million in annual revenue. Africa remains a core market: SMT’s African division spans 25+ countries from Algeria to Zambia. Through approximately 20 local subsidiaries, SMT Africa represents leading brands like Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Trucks, and Mack Trucks, delivering equipment solutions and after-sales service across the continent.
What used to take days of chasing Excel files, we can now do in minutes in Bizview. Our leadership finally has a clear view across all subsidiaries to steer the business with confidence.
Salma, Head of Controlling, SMT Africa
THE CHALLENGE
Before Bizview, SMT Africa managed its budgeting and financial planning using standalone Excel spreadsheets in each of its ~20 subsidiaries. This Excel-driven process led to several major challenges:
Time-Consuming Consolidation
Aggregating 20 separate budget files was slow and labor-intensive. The central finance team spent days manually consolidating data, delaying critical insights.
High Risk of Errors
With each subsidiary maintaining its own Excel model, version control was difficult. Inconsistent formulas or manual entry mistakes could easily creep in, undermining data quality.
Inefficient Collaboration
Adjusting plans or scenarios was cumbersome. Sharing updates across dozens of files via email made it hard to track changes or get timely feedback, reducing overall agility in the planning process.
Lack of Visibility
There was no real-time, unified view of financials. Headquarters had to wait for every unit’s spreadsheet, meaning limited transparency into country-level plans until consolidation was finished.
These issues not only consumed valuable time but also introduced strategic risk – management lacked a single source of truth for decision-making. As Salma put it, “the Excel approach was becoming unsustainable; we knew a misstep or delay was inevitable if we continued that way.”
Solution Selection
“Bizview stood out because it offered all the functionality we needed without overcomplicating things. We could get it running quickly, which was a huge factor for us,”
SMT Africa recognised that a dedicated planning and budgeting solution was needed to replace the Excel chaos. The finance team began evaluating various software options, from ERP add-ons to specialised FP&A platforms. Their key requirements were clear: simplicity for end-users, flexibility to adapt to SMT’s business model, and speed of deployment. They also wanted a cloud-based system that could integrate with their existing financial setup without a heavy IT project.
After careful consideration, SMT chose Bizview – a modern, web-based budgeting and forecasting platform – partnered with KOKAI for implementation. Bizview stood out as a solution that met all the criteria. It offers an integrated FP&A platform that combines planning, reporting, and analytics in one cloud solution, yet is user-friendly and highly configurable. Importantly, Bizview’s cloud deployment promised a fast rollout and minimal infrastructure burden.
The platform could flexibly accommodate SMT’s various
budget models (sales, parts, service, etc.) and support both top-down and bottom-up planning. Bizview also offered robust connectivity with other systems, supporting integration with 140+ ERP solutions and external analytics tools like Power BI – a big plus for SMT’s technology roadmap.
Equally vital was the choice of implementation partner. SMT engaged KOKAI after seeing their expertise with similar projects. KOKAI demonstrated a clear understanding of SMT’s challenges and how Bizview could address them. With a focus on rapid, iterative deployment, KOKAI assured SMT that the solution could be up and running quickly – in a matter of weeks for initial budgeting – which was critical to the team. “Bizview stood out because it offered all the functionality we needed without overcomplicating things. We could get it running quickly, which was a huge factor for us,” says Salma regarding their decision.
Implementation Experience
Once the decision was made, SMT Africa and KOKAI kicked off the implementation. The collaboration was close-knit and agile. KOKAI’s consultants worked hand-in-hand with Salma’s controlling team to configure Bizview to the specific needs of SMT’s multi-country operations. They started by centralising SMT’s chart of accounts and budgeting templates within Bizview, mirroring what was previously done in Excel. Throughout the process, KOKAI’s availability and professionalism stood out – their team was “always just a call away” whenever SMT had questions or last-minute changes. Regular check-ins and workshops kept the project on track and everyone engaged.
A critical aspect was integrating Bizview with SMT’s existing ERP system to pull actuals and master data. KOKAI’s deep understanding of ERP integrations ensured that data flowed seamlessly between systems. They quickly grasped the intricacies of SMT’s ERP setup (such as the structure of entities and accounts) and configured connectors so that each subsidiary’s actual figures could feed into Bizview automatically. This integration meant that when planning in Bizview, SMT’s users could easily reference up-to-date actuals and prior budgets, eliminating manual data imports.
Salma notes that KOKAI’s team showed genuine commitment, saying “they felt like an extension of our own team, guiding us through every step.”
Despite spanning many countries, the implementation progressed smoothly and on schedule. Any challenges – for example, slight differences in how subsidiaries handled certain budget items – were addressed by KOKAI through configuration adjustments or simple workarounds. The tool was rolled out in phases, with an initial pilot for a few key subsidiaries, followed by training sessions for controllers from all 20 units. KOKAI provided on-site and virtual training to ensure each local finance team felt comfortable using the new system. Salma notes that KOKAI’s team showed genuine commitment, saying “they felt like an extension of our own team, guiding us through every step.” By the end of the implementation, SMT Africa had fully transitioned its budgeting process from Excel to Bizview, in a timeframe significantly shorter than a traditional IT project.
THE TURNING POINT
Results and Impact
With Bizview in place, SMT Africa has achieved a step-change in its budgeting and planning capabilities. The benefits were tangible almost immediately:
Fast, Automated Consolidation: What once took days of manual work now takes only minutes. Budgets from all 20 subsidiaries consolidate at the click of a button, with Bizview automatically aggregating the figures. This accelerated consolidation has freed up the central team’s time during critical planning cycles.
Real-Time Visibility: Management now enjoys full visibility into financial plans across every country, in one centralized system. At any point, regional and HQ leaders can drill down into a subsidiary’s numbers or view up-to-date consolidated forecasts, improving transparency dramatically. Instead of waiting for reports, they have on-demand insight for decision-making.
ERP Integration & Data Integrity: Bizview’s integration with SMT’s ERP means actual performance data (revenues, costs, etc.) feeds into the planning model continuously. Planners are always working with the latest data, and variances between actuals and budget are readily visible. This single source of truth has greatly improved confidence in the numbers – errors from manual data transfer or version mismatches have been eliminated.
Improved Process Quality: The budgeting process is now standardized across all subsidiaries, using consistent templates and built-in workflows. There’s a clear audit trail of inputs and approvals, enhancing accountability. Reviews and approvals that were once done over countless email threads are managed within Bizview, bringing more discipline and transparency to the process.
Enhanced Agility: With scenarios and what-if analysis capabilities in Bizview, SMT Africa can easily run alternative forecasts (e.g. best-case, worst-case) and adjust assumptions on the fly. This was nearly impossible with the old spreadsheets. Now the finance team can provide management with scenario insights in hours, not weeks.
“Our consolidation is no longer a monthly headache – it’s practically instant. More importantly, people across the company trust the budget data now, and they actually find the system enjoyable to use. That’s been a huge win for us.”
Beyond the hard numbers, the transformation has also impacted the finance culture at SMT. The local finance teams feel more connected, as they can see each other’s inputs and learn from best practices via the common platform. The group CFO and executives have commented on the professionalism of the new reports coming out of Bizview – the formatting and consistency lend much more credibility versus disparate Excel sheets. Overall, the planning cycle is shorter, and the quality of discussions in budget review meetings has improved, focusing on analysis rather than data gathering.
User Feedback and Future Plans
According to Salma, user adoption of Bizview at SMT Africa has been very positive.
Initially, there was some skepticism from staff who were accustomed to Excel. However, once the teams started using Bizview, they quickly appreciated its ease of use. The input forms and dashboards are accessible via a web browser, which made it intuitive for users in different countries to adopt without extensive training. “I’ve received a lot of internal feedback along the lines of ‘Finally, a system that makes our lives easier!’,” Salma says. The budgeting process has shifted from being seen as a tedious annual ordeal to a more continuous, dynamic exercise – with rolling forecasts now possible on the platform.
The success of the project has prompted SMT Africa to plan further enhancements. One upcoming development is to leverage Bizview beyond budgeting, by implementing credit management workflows. This will allow the finance team to track and approve customer credit limits and payments through the same platform, adding a new level of financial control. Additionally, SMT intends to deepen its Power BI integration. While Bizview already supplies data to their Power BI reports, the next step is to embed Bizview input forms and results directly into interactive dashboards for management. This will enable executives to not only view reports in Power BI but also initiate plan adjustments or what-if scenarios on the spot. These future initiatives aim to build on the strong foundation, further streamlining finance operations.
Salma notes that having a modern tool has also sparked interest from other departments. For instance, the sales team is interested in whether Bizview can be used for sales forecasting, and HR has inquired about workforce planning capabilities. In the coming year, SMT Africa plans to explore these possibilities in collaboration with KOKAI. The overarching goal is to establish Bizview as a central hub for performance management, expanding its use cases while maintaining the simplicity that users value.
KOKAI’s Proactive Expertise
A crucial element in SMT Africa’s successful transformation was the partnership with KOKAI.
KOKAI is a Nordic consulting firm specializing in financial planning and analytics solutions, and an elite implementation partner for Bizview’s provider insightsoftware. They brought a wealth of experience to the table – KOKAI’s team has implemented Bizview for hundreds of clients and honed best practices over years of projects. For SMT, this expertise was evident from day one. KOKAI took a proactive approach throughout the project: before configuration even began, they conducted workshops to understand SMT’s business in detail, anticipating potential challenges (like multi-currency consolidation and varying local requirements) and addressing them in the project plan. During implementation, KOKAI’s consultants not only executed the technical setup but also acted as advisors, suggesting process improvements and guiding SMT on how to leverage Bizview’s features for maximum benefit.
KOKAI’s hands-on, collaborative style made them more than just an external vendor – they became a trusted ally to Salma’s team. Whether it was adjusting a data model, refining a report layout, or brainstorming a solution for an unforeseen issue, KOKAI was always ready to help, often going beyond the original scope to ensure the outcome was successful. Their knowledge of Bizview’s capabilities (such as built-in workflows and Excel add-in features) helped SMT unlock functionalities that the team might not have discovered on their own. Salma describes KOKAI’s support as “exceptional – they were with us every step of the way, and it was clear that our success was their top priority.”
In summary, the partnership with KOKAI gave SMT Africa both the technical know-how and the confidence to embark on this modernization journey. By combining a capable tool (Bizview) with KOKAI’s expert implementation, SMT Africa dramatically improved its budgeting and planning process. The organization is now far better equipped to plan for the future – with efficient workflows, reliable data, and a responsive partner to call on as their needs evolve.
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