10 Countries and One Bezala – How Nortal Streamlined Its Processes with One Application

Nortal is an international corporation employing 2,000 people, providing IT consulting and project delivery services across 15 countries and 26 locations in Europe, North America, and GCC countries. Over the past two decades, Nortal has executed more than 100 digital transformation projects for various sectors, including the public sector, healthcare, and leading global companies.

In Finland, Nortal has undertaken significant projects, such as the tax administration system reform in collaboration with the American software company FAST Enterprises. This reform replaced approximately 70 aging IT systems related to taxation with a single ready-made software solution. Additionally, Nortal has developed a facility management solution for hospitals to manage appointments and outpatient visits, as well as an AI-based solution for the industry that identifies surface defects in stainless steel.

Nortal adopted Bezala in 2023. We interviewed Jonna Kähkönen, Development Manager of Nortal's Finance Systems team, about the need for a new receipt and travel expense system and how the implementation has progressed over the past year.

Kähkönen has been with the company since 1997, starting at CCC Corporation Oy, which merged with an Estonian IT operator to form Nortal in 2011.

Agility in System Selection

Just over a year ago, Nortal managed its receipt and travel expense processes independently in each country. When the need for a more agile solution arose in one of Nortal's operational countries, they decided to explore options for a solution that could be implemented more broadly across the corporation.

At its best, a well-planned software implementation could clarify processes across the entire corporation. However, it was not obvious that there would even be software available that could be used in so many countries.

In the market research, Bezala was discovered through a Google search, and the choice began to lean toward Bezala after the first meeting. Key differentiators included the ability to integrate existing corporate cards already used by Nortal. The smaller size of Bezala, which provided agility, was also seen as an advantage.

"We saw it as a positive that the company is constantly growing and developing the software. When we communicated our needs, Bezala was ready to develop important features for us."

Kähkönen also acknowledges that not all requests from a single company can be fulfilled.

"Bezala was willing to prioritize our most important requests, and we can revisit the others if similar needs arise from others."

Currently, the Bezala team consists of 24 members, with over half working in various software development roles. The system is continuously being enhanced in terms of usability, financial automation, and integrations.

Flexibility in Implementation

Nortal emphasized the importance of accommodating travel expenses according to local customs and regulations. In many countries, local tax authorities define the extent of tax-free reimbursements. Bezala's international per diem and mileage calculators automate the reimbursement calculations significantly at the corporate level. Data is sent to accounting and payment once a week, ensuring reimbursements reach accounts within a week.

Currently, Nortal uses Bezala in 10 out of 15 countries, with plans to gradually implement the system in all operational countries.

In each country, the method of reimbursing expenses varies, and there may also be other country-specific differences in financial matters. Kähkönen appreciates that they can direct expenses for approval to project managers in some countries, to supervisors in others, and that in some countries smaller expenses can be approved by the finance team.

"When the configurations are set correctly at once, expenses are automatically directed for approval to the right person."

Some of the approval-related configurations come from local laws. Kähkönen finds it beneficial that Bezala offers a variety of functionalities and flexibility to define settings that support each country's regulations and processes.

User Guidance and Accessibility

Bezala can be accessed via both a web browser and a mobile application. Kähkönen mentions that employees primarily use the mobile app for adding expenses.

"The mobile app is the primary tool. When you open the app, it guides the user forward, making it nearly impossible to make mistakes. There has been no need for specific training for the staff."

She recommends Bezala to other IT companies due to its user-friendliness. The chaos of receipt management related to software costs can be alleviated with Bezala through various accounting and email rules.

She also finds the pricing to be clear and fair, with monthly invoices only for users who have utilized Bezala in the previous month.

When asked to summarize the advantages of Bezala, Kähkönen highlights better tracking, faster payments, and the standardization of corporate processes. She concludes with a positive note:

"I consider it a good sign that there have been no complaints from end-users so far."

This, if anything, is a testament to a successful system selection.