Automation and FP&A: Supercharging a Travel Company’s Growth

Most people think automation is just about saving time, but it’s much more. It can totally flip the script for a business. In the first quarter of 2023, we collaborated with the founder of a fantastic travel company based in California. The brand is known for curating unforgettable travel experiences for women, but behind all those wanderlust trips, its profitability was stuck in the slow lane.

With $5M in annual revenue and a growing client base, the client struggled with outdated processes even after hiring additional in-house resources. Here’s how we turned things around:

1. No More Guesswork: Trip-Level Profitability at Fingertips

She had no clarity on which trips were profitable and which weren’t. Revenue came in from customer installments over six months, while vendor payments were released a year later. That made it hard to see where the cash was coming from—or where it was leaking.

We brought in Zoho One to increase the capabilities of Zoho Books and Zoho CRM to identify trip revenue and costs. The integration helped us build a real-time FP&A dashboard to give the founder crystal-clear insights into each trip’s profitability, resource allocation, and costs. For the first time, she had all the numbers in one place—and the results were amazing. With the new level of clarity, the company saw a 15% increase in profits. Now, she could make decisions based on data, not whims, and optimize resources in low-yield trips.

2. Automation of Invoice Reconciliation: From Hours to Minutes

This client managed over 10,000 invoices annually. Think about that for a second—without a solid reconciliation system, they were missing payments and leaving money on the table. The old way of doing things meant at least 3-4 invoices got delayed or missed every month.

We automated the entire reconciliation tracking process through Zoho Analytics, transforming what used to take hours of manual checking into a 5-minute task. With automated tracking and reporting, they uncovered previously unrealized revenue, leading to a 10% increase in overall profit. Not only did they recover lost income, but they saw overall operational efficiency improve by 33%.

3. Real-Time Cash Flow Insights: Keeping the Business in the Green

Considering the 12-month gap between payments received and vendor payments for each trip, the company struggled with managing its cash inflows and outflows properly.

We integrated Zoho Books and G-Sheets to create a real-time cash flow report. Now, the client can see the whole picture: revenue earned, vendor payments, and even marketing and petty expenses—all in real time. With this new level of visibility, the cash flow position improved in the first six months itself.

4. Data Integration Done Right: A Unified View

Fragmented data was also a hard pill to swallow. The financials were scattered—financial data maintained in QBO, Ops data in Zoho Invoice, Zoho CRM, Zoho Forms, and spreadsheets—making it hard to get an accurate overview. We brought all their data sources together under Zoho Analytics, giving them a unified platform to manage everything.

With all their financial and ops data in one place, we built KPIs to help the client make strategic decisions faster and more confidently.

ALSO READ: Benefits of Business Process Automation

The Game-Changer: Automation & FP&A

Here’s the real lesson for anyone in a similar position: automation isn’t about reducing manual work anymore—it’s about adding more % to the profitability. By fully automating processes like invoicing and reconciliation and building a custom FP&A dashboard for profit visibility, we gave the team the right tools to scale without extra headcount or complexity. (A penny saved is a penny earned!)

For any CFOs, founders, or finance leaders reading this: If you’re not leveraging automation and FP&A together, you’re only making it harder for yourself, your team, your customers, and your business to succeed.