Honeycomb is an event-driven observability platform for debugging systems, application code, and databases. Honeycomb ingests structured data and performs real-time query aggregation to support speedy analytics over ultra-rich datasets without indexes or schemas to maintain, and a fast, interactive interface.

Founded in 2016, Honeycomb has experienced significant growth over the past few years. Managing all FP&A tasks in Google Sheets became increasingly difficult and time-consuming as the organization grew. The team needed a solution that allowed them to automate manual tasks, provide better security settings and collaboration tools, and would be overall easier to maintain. They also wanted a scalable solution that could grow with them. After exploring several modern FP&A solutions, they chose to partner with Vareto. 

“We needed a solution robust enough to meet all our needs but easy enough to manage for our small team. When we spoke to the team at Vareto, it just felt like we were going to have a really great partnership. And it is. We work closely with the team, and all of our feedback is heard. We’re very happy we chose Vareto.” — Brittany Riley, FP&A Manager, Honeycomb

Less maintenance, more strategy

Before Vareto, the Honeycomb team managed all of their FP&A work in Google Sheets. This meant they spent significant time manually pulling data from various systems, formatting sheets, updating formulas, and general sheet maintenance. When it came time to meet with departmental leaders, the FP&A team found they didn’t have enough time to thoroughly dig into the data to provide insight. 

With Vareto, all the data from various systems, including the ERP, HRIS, and more, are pulled in automatically and kept up to date in real time, allowing Vareto to act as a single source of truth across the business. By removing the need for ongoing maintenance and automating manual recurring tasks, Vareto gives the team the bandwidth they need to dig in. Through this process, they’ve been able to find areas of cost savings and be more collaborative business partners. 

“When we were spending all our time exporting data out of multiple places, running pivot tables, updating formulas, and maintaining sheets, we didn’t have time to look for insightful data to support the broader team. In the short time we’ve been using Vareto, I’m able to dive so much deeper into the numbers to find out what’s really going on. I’m able to add value rather than just provide maintenance.” — Brittany Riley, FP&A Manager, Honeycomb

Because of Vareto’s real-time integrations, the FP&A team at Honeycomb can be more in-sync with the timing of other departments. For example, when using a tool like Google Sheets, the FP&A team would have to wait for Accounting to close the books, transfer all the data into Sheets, and then begin their own processes. Now, because the data is live, the FP&A team can see their closing entries. If something looks off, they can communicate in real time. By the time Accounting is done closing the books, the FP&A team can quickly wrap up their processes as well, saving time and providing the opportunity to provide more value to the organization.

Enhanced security, increased agility, better collaboration

The finance team at Honeycomb wants to empower leaders across the organization to own their budgets. However, when utilizing Google Sheets, there was no way to ensure that data was only accessible to the appropriate individuals. At any point in time, someone had the ability to make a copy of the sheet, unhide tabs or other data, and share that information with others. The team needed a more secure way to share that information. With Vareto, each user can be assigned individual user permissions, meaning they only have access to the data assigned to them by the finance team. With this security, Honeycomb’s FP&A team can provide individualized access to those who need it, and department leaders can dig into their own metrics in their own custom dashboards. 

When leaders have access to the data they need, they can make decisions for their departments faster. Regular budget vs. variance analysis meetings between finance and department leaders can be more productive, digging into specific questions or insights rather than simply relaying high-level information.

Vareto also provides robust collaboration features to teams. Department leaders can leave comments or questions directly in the platform, annotating specific items they want to call out and tagging the appropriate team members.

“Vareto helps us be more agile. Not just my team but everyone using it, including our business partners, has better access to data and quicker answers. We’re faster and more accurate.” — Brittany Riley, FP&A Manager, Honeycomb

Vareto equips Honeycomb's finance team with the tools to operate more effectively and strategically, transforming the way they provide value and insights to their business partners. Through improved collaboration using Vareto, the team has fostered a more agile and data-driven culture across the organization. 

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