How did a MLB team save money on scouting expenses? By connecting leading Expense Management platform Concur with Microsoft Dynamics GP. Learn how much time they saved here. The Arizona Diamondbacks have seen many successes in their sixteen-year history in the MLB, winning five National Leagues West titles, one National League pennant, and the 2001 World Series. From the field to the finance department, these successes could not be achieved without a complete organization effort. Just as on the field, the Diamondbacks needed to find a piece from outside the organization—Wipfli/Brittenford ExpenseConnect—to ensure success on the team. Early on, the Diamondbacks chose Concur’s innovative travel and expense management solution to improve the reporting of 75 scouts, operations staff, and front office executives, and took advantage of Microsoft Dynamics GP to manage the finances of the organization. These two solutions, powerful and intuitive in their own respective industries, had one flaw—integration. Seeking a cost- and time-effective answer, the Finance department scoped out the project and handed it over to the IT team, who found Wipfli/Brittenford’s pre-built ExpenseConnect for GP solution. In less than two weeks, Wipfli/Brittenford was able to work with the Diamondbacks IT and Finance teams to configure and implement the integration through an interface directly installed into Dynamics GP.

1. ExpenseConnect for GP Client Profile
Customer: Arizona Diamondbacks
Website: www.arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Partner: Brittenford Systems
Customer Profile:
Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks stepped up to the plate in 1998. Since then, the franchise
has won five National League West titles, one National League Championship pennant, and the 2001 World
Series. Yet the organization couldn’t have had their on-field success without the hard work and dedication of
the players working behind the scenes—and that includes the finance and accounting department.
Project Description:
The Diamondbacks started using Concur to manage the travel expenses generated by their team scouts as well
as any operations staff and front office executives who found themselves on the road—about 75 active users
altogether. “Concur was our first step toward moving away from paper-based expense reporting,” says Chris James, the
Diamondbacks’ Director of Accounting. “But getting data into Microsoft Dynamics GP required hand-keying
multiple lines of data for each expense report. Our ultimate goal,” James explains, “was to create a completely automated
expense management workflow, including approvals, without having to stop at the end of Concur’s functionality.”
Despite a dedicated and capable IT staff, the organization lacked the developmental bandwidth to create a
custom solution for automating the integration between Concur and Dynamics GP. Plus, James’s team needed a
quick, efficient process implemented in time for the busy beginning of the baseball season. In search of a
cost- and time-effective answer, the Finance department scoped out the project and handed it over to the IT
team, who found Brittenford’s pre-built ExpenseConnect for GP solution.
Client Perspective:
Brittenford was engaged to handle the project. “They are a great partner with a great solution,” says James.
“From contact to launch, it was really quick—a week or two, tops.” Brittenford worked with the Diamondbacks’ team
to configure the integration solution through an interface installed directly into Dynamics GP. Working
together, the integration was configured to leverage Dynamics GP Web Services to pull expense reports
from Concur, and the data was mapped to meet specific business requirements without the need for
intermediate files. “The solution is so well integrated into GP software, it doesn’t require a big IT process,”
James says. In fact, when his team saw the results, their scope shifted and the project grew.
“As we saw power of it we started thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could create payables this way or
accrue a payment that way?’” recalls James. “Instead of simply using the expense modules and payables,
we were able to start working with checkbook/cash modules.” James found Brittenford’s knowledge of the
Dynamics GP environment and its interplay with their ExpenseConnect product helped his team make
the most of their solution. “They saw how we did things and seemed to understand what we were asking
for without us asking it,” he explains. “The solution is flexible and turnkey—it works for how we want to
account for things.”
EXPENSECONNECT CLIENT PROFILE – ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

2. James estimates the Diamondbacks finance team has saved up to 5 hours a week in data entry since
implementing ExpenseConnect. “It’s an invaluable 5 hours,” he asserts. Now, only one payables staff member
manages the streamlined expense process. “She runs everything on Concur’s website,” James explains,
“and once it’s report-ready, she clicks on the ExpenseConnect button that automates the entire process!”
And noting the intangible benefit of internal customer service, “Our staff is incurring expenses on behalf of
the company, but not feeling the pain of waiting for checks to arrive,” James says. “There’s never a hang-up. An employee
enters their expense information into Concur and they know when they are going to get their payment,” he continues.
“It’s made an impact on our G&A function, making us an efficient, responsive member of company.”
James adds, “Their product is designed well and runs well. Once implemented you don’t know it’s there. It’s one
of those things—especially in the process driven world like finance—that if you find a solution and no one knows
it’s there, that’s a big thing!” James says. “People are happy with how our expense reporting process works. And
knowing mechanics of our process, the finance staff appreciates Brittenford’s piece because it’s what brings us the
workflow value of Concur.”
Key Requirements:
• Completely automate expense management process
• Integrate Concur expense data into Dynamics GP
Key Challenges:
• Quick project turnaround
• Cost-effectiveness
Key Outcomes:
• Removed manual step in expense management process
• Increased productivity of accounting staff, saving 5 hours/week
• Enabled delivery of better internal customer service
About the Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in
the West Division of Major League Baseball’s National League. Since the team’s inception in 1998, the franchise
has won one World Series championship in 2001.
About Brittenford
Brittenford Systems is a nationally recognized consulting firm that specializes in delivering financial management
and business intelligence solutions as well as CIO Advisory Services to mid-market companies. Based in the
Washington, DC area, we help our clients leverage technology solutions to improve business processes and
productivity, reduce operational costs, and get timely financial information so they can run their businesses
more efficiently.
At Brittenford, we understand that managing financial information effectively is the backbone of a business.
With our extensive industry experience and unique approach, we help non-profit, project-based, and
international organizations implement and support Microsoft Dynamics GP, Dynamics SL, and cloud-based
Intacct and Host Analytics. For more information about Brittenford Systems, please visit www.brittenford.com
EXPENSECONNECT CLIENT PROFILE – ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS