Review - Suzanne Johnson, Santa Clara Transfer Service Inc.

I’m Steve Johnson, owner of Santa Clara Transfer Service, in Castroville, CA. I’m Suzanne Johnson. The company I work for is Santa Clara Transfer Service Inc. and I am an accountant. I take care of payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable, et cetera.

(In 2019), we had a very big dilemma where our computer system was completely shutting down in the middle of the year. Because we’d previously done some research, we were able to contact Axon and they immediately stepped up to the plate for us and gave us all the information we needed to get on board within three days. We were up and running with a huge support team from Axon. A bad situation turned into a great one, and we have not looked back one bit. It also turned out that the following year was the pandemic, so we did ourselves a huge favor by doing it ahead of time. We are really happy that we went ahead and made the change. Our previous system was last updated in the year 2000, so it was definitely time to get into the new world so to speak.

Everything. It makes it simple to track things as far as payroll or accounts receivable. If we want to know exactly where we stand financially, we can hit the trial balance. You can hit the income and expense report, and everything is right there for you. For me as an accountant, with the fuel situation as it is, we are constantly charging enough to keep up with fuel, so we don’t become upside-down. I can provide that information to Steve, who directly works out the pricing. We’re sure that we are not in a deficit on that. Another feature I really like is the fact that you can make attachments to accounts payable. Say I’m doing the trial balance and I need to send something to my accountant, and he requires the backup, I can just go to payables and pull up the attachment that is exactly what he needs and send it off. I don’t have to keep files any longer. Not having to do all that filing anymore is a great timesaver. I can be at home on my laptop and decide I need to research something. I can just pull those attachments up and utilize them. To me, that has been really invaluable.

We haven’t had any bad feedback, which is a good thing because they obviously understand the statement that they get. They have a direct deposit slip on the front that gives general information, and they have details on the back with all their truck tags. They can pull their copies and make sure they have all the material that they need. If they have any questions, they can bring it into the office, but they haven’t, so obviously it’s working great.

Yes, we generally run one at the end of the month to see where we’re at and compare and contrast with previous months, previous quarters, and previous years. We do that a lot just to make sure of where we are at.

We’ve had a reduction in staff that far outweighed the cost of the software. We’ve reduced staff by two, and because the software makes things so simple, dispatch was able to pick up additional work. It has even allowed me to do more in my areas. Axon has significantly improved the quality of work that we get out on a daily basis. It’s pretty significant.

The monthly subscription fee lets us call and get immediate access. If the person on the phone doesn’t have expertise in a particular field, they get back to us, and that’s invaluable as far as I’m concerned. When I’ve talked about Axon with anybody else, I have said the number one thing is the support. You have questions and answers in the software that you can look at yourself, but nobody in Support ever makes you feel like “Oh, you should go refer to that and call me back.” They never, ever say that. They just say they’re more than happy to help. Support is number one in my book.

Our previous software was so old, I couldn’t really compare it at all. I can just say that being up and running at such a rapid pace was phenomenal, because I was the only one that was doing it. I’m the only one that really had access to all the data and information. The Axon team was very patient and set up times and schedules, and they just accommodated all of that, so I didn’t run into any major problems at all.

It’s laid out very well, and you learn more the more you use it. It takes a bit of time. When you want reports, you have to locate them, and decide which you’re going to use and which you’re not. If I have a question about it, I can just call and say I’m looking for this process, is that here? Somebody will walk me through it.

What I’ve told them, and what I would say again, is that the support system is number one. Number two is that it has all the components you need to run a business, and you can tailor it to some degree. We don’t use everything on there, but somebody else could use a lot of the other aspects. There is a lot of relevant information that can be used, or you can add it at a later date. I also feel it’s very user-friendly.

What I’ve told them, and what I would say again, is that the support system is number one. Number two is that it has all the components you need to run a business, and you can tailor it to some degree. We don’t use everything on there, but somebody else could use a lot of the other aspects. There is a lot of relevant information that can be used, or you can add it at a later date. I also feel it’s very user-friendly.