ERP Implementation Delivers Strong ROI Through Effective Methodology

Seasons Hospice was drowning in Excel spreadsheets. Manual accounting processes demanded more staff for every 50 new patients, crushing profit margins. Month-end close took 16 days. After implementing Infor Lawson with GForce's five-phase methodology, Seasons cut close time in half, reduced headcount by 25%, and gave leadership real-time dashboards. The result: improved margins and scalable infrastructure for the next decade.

Client Profile

Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care is a national provider of high-quality hospice and palliative services dedicated to meeting the needs of the people and communities they serve. Guided by the mission “Honoring Life ~ Offering Hope,” the organization eases pain and provides physical and emotional comfort and support for patients, families, and friends.

Results at a Glance

  • Shortened monthly close from 16 days to 8 days
  • 25% reduction in supporting headcount through automation
  • Increased profit margin
  • Enhanced business intelligence, visibility, and financial reporting

Vision

The Vision phase focused on gaining visibility into decision-making business analytics. GForce analyzed core accounting processes and confirmed the appropriateness of the ERP selection, then reviewed critical success factors and project goals to set clear expectations.

Business objectives included:

  • Reduce the number of manual processes
  • Provide greater business visibility
  • Deliver enhanced customer service

Business Problem

Rapid growth exposed limitations in Seasons’ legacy processes. Accounting and reporting were highly manual, driven by spreadsheets, and required additional staff as volumes increased—compressing margins. Leadership also needed a single source of truth to analyze data and derive new KPIs for strategic planning.

To meet demand and position for the next decade, Seasons selected Infor Lawson 9.0.1 for a scalable, robust, and flexible ERP platform. The organization sought best-practice guidance to fully realize the software’s capabilities.

GForce Solution

Seasons chose GForce Technology Consulting for deep Infor Lawson expertise, flexibility, and scalable delivery. GForce applied its proprietary methodology—providing focus, direction, and a backbone for success—structured into five phases:

  • Vision — confirm business drivers, success criteria, and analytics needs
  • Definition — define scope, form the right project team, and develop the plan
  • Construction — automate processes, add reporting, build interfaces, and establish controls
  • Deployment — transition to production for 50 functional users and enable management reporting
  • Support — managed services to sustain the environment and extend value

Definition

With strategic objectives established, GForce defined the scope, assembled the project team, and built a detailed plan.

“GForce clearly defined the project’s goals and objectives. They had a very practical application of how the technology should be applied, while balancing best practices with our specific situation.”
— David Donenberg, CFO, Seasons Hospice

Construction

GForce created automated processes, added new reporting features, developed custom interfaces from the patient billing system, and established controls to ensure data integrity. This phase included formal System Testing and User Acceptance Testing to resolve gaps and validate end-to-end operations.

Deployment

After successful testing and validation, GForce deployed the solution to 50 functional users and enabled leadership to extend management reporting to operations.

Support

Through a managed services agreement, Seasons could manage the complexities of the new ERP without immediately scaling in-house support. Cost savings from automation allowed reinvestment in business development, improving customer service as the company continued to grow. Upon project completion, Seasons extended the agreement and engaged GForce to assess additional IT gaps.

“Over time, we will become more self-sufficient on the features and functionality of the system, but having GForce as a guide for quick problems where we are resource constrained has been critical for us.”
— David Donenberg, CFO, Seasons Hospice

Benefits Delivered

The new Infor Lawson solution streamlined business processes and delivered immediate ROI. Automated processes reduced the time to close from 16 to 8 days (with continued improvement targets), and cash reconciliations moved to weekly instead of one month after close.

By reducing manual effort, Seasons paused clerical hiring (previously adding one clerical resource per 50-patient growth), helping to improve overall margins. With GForce’s guidance, leadership gained enhanced visibility via reporting, dashboards, and analytics, creating a reliable single source of truth for faster, evidence-based decisions.