Go Geothermal reduces expense processing time by 97%, saving weeks of work annually

The company

Go Geothermal is the UK’s largest independent supplier of premium renewable energy heating solutions, including ground and air source heat pumps. With the exclusive UK distribution rights for CTC AB Group’s Swedish-manufactured products, Go Geothermal is renowned amongst businesses and homeowners alike for innovative, efficient, high quality heating systems and components.

The challenge

Expense management at Go Geothermal was once a daunting and inefficient process. Its employees relied on outdated spreadsheets to manually track their expenses while retaining paper receipts. Monthly expense reporting also required hours of administrative work, creating bottlenecks for both the employees submitting the expense reports and the finance team who was reviewing them.

Tim Williams, Executive Director at Go Geothermal, described the situation as a “massive bugbear,” with expense management consuming nearly four hours per month for a typical employee. The lack of real-time visibility into spending trends also limited the company’s ability to manage its budgets effectively.

"We were using a really antiquated spreadsheet. It was very manual, and expenses were a massive bugbear in the business."

Tim Williams, Executive Director, Go Geothermal

The solution

In a wider bid to improve its internal software and sales technology, Go Geothermal partnered with Ascent Business Solutions—a Zoho Premium partner—and was introduced to the Zoho suite of products. Tim soon discovered the Expense application, which was to become his “favourite solution of Zoho”. Streamlining expense management and enhancing operational efficiency, Tim considers the application to have brought “an undeniable tangible benefit” to Go Geothermal.

Modernising its expense management processes, the platform allowed Go Geothermal’s employees to auto-scan receipts, associate them with specific trips or monthly reports, and submit their expenses in just minutes. The built-in approval workflows also streamlined operations for the finance team, ensuring all expenses were within budget and properly documented. Integration with the company’s corporate credit accounts further simplified reconciliation, and real-time insights illuminated spending trends, providing better visibility and control over expenses.

"The time saved across the business doing expenses translates to several weeks per year. Expense sounded too good to be true, but it’s actually as good as it promised to be."

Tim Williams, Executive Director, Go Geothermal

The result

With Zoho Expense, Go Geothermal has transformed its expense management process, achieving:

• A 97% reduction in expense processing time, cutting the process down from four hours to just seven minutes per month for an employee
• Complete visibility of spending trends, allowing for more informed decision-making
• Faster and more accurate audits, with seamless digital workflows eliminating manual processes

Overall, Tim enjoys Zoho Expense’s ease-of-use and simplicity, as well as its intuitive design. Expense has given him renewed confidence in the accuracy of the company’s financial reporting.

"I was hidden from what we spent on expenses before, but now I can see everything. It’s also advantageous during auditing time—much quicker and easier."

Tim Williams, Executive Director, Go Geothermal

By digitising its expense processes, Go Geothermal has not only saved significant time but also built a foundation for better financial control and accountability across the business.