When the Software is the Problem
In over three years at Young Living, Jeff has seen the company change rapidly – different people, different markets, and more complexity. But as the business scaled, their FP&A software didn’t. Their legacy software, which was meant to help the team, became a daily obstacle.
We inherited software that couldn’t do what we needed, even with the help of certified professional consultants.
Jeff HuntDirector of FP&A
The platform required paid consultants for essential functions and wasn’t agile enough to keep up with the company’s changing needs and requirements. It was clunky, error-prone, and couldn’t produce a balance sheet that balanced.
Jeff knew something had to change.
Enter Datarails
“We implemented Datarails in under two months, and were fully functional within three.”
Datarails checked every box: fast onboarding, seamless integrations, fewer errors, major time savings, and zero reliance on paid consultants, unlike most other FP&A solutions in the market. Jeff built and managed all the processes from the beginning, including templates, workflows, and reporting.
Datarails is the right fit for his global team, supporting 16 finance managers and 62 budget owners worldwide, all working in one centralized system.
We do financial statements in our 18 markets with a push of a button at the end of the quarter.
Working across countries, currencies and time zones can get messy. Datarails brings order. Whenever there’s a question, Jeff uses Drill Down – a tool that lets users dive deeper into data by breaking it down with filters and dimensions – to quickly trace the source.
“With just a few clicks, I can drill down into the details and find out what the issue is.”
Jeff’s Top Three Features
Automated Version Control
“This is a killer feature – there’s never anything to worry about.”
Datarails automatically saves every version of a file, so teams can track changes, see who made them, and roll back when needed. For Jeff, it’s all about peace of mind: any mistake can be immediately fixed, nothing gets lost, and data is always recoverable – no stress.
Staying in Excel
Jeff’s team still works in Excel, but now with structure. He built templates that eliminate file loss, reduce manual work, and ensure consistency. The result: the familiarity they want, with the control they need. The best of both worlds.
“Our budget owners really like working in Excel and with Datarails they stay in the tool they prefer, but now it’s much more organized and easier to manage.”
Flexibility and Ownership
From the start, Jeff prioritized autonomy. With Datarails, he’s not locked into a rigid system. He can adapt models and templates, or build new ones based on his team’s evolving needs.
“If I need to make adjustments, I’m not stuck. I can create another sheet or model and have it do exactly what I want.”
The Proof is in the Numbers
The efficiency gains speak for themselves.
Before Datarails, month-end close took a team of eight people up to seven days to complete.
Now it takes less than a day, and it’s just me and my analyst. It’s a 500% productivity gain.
The time savings extended beyond Jeff to other areas of the CFO’s Office. Young Living’s domestic controller now saves 10-12 hours per month on reporting.
It’s just a click and it’s done, so we can spend our time analyzing data instead of working on it.
Jeff HuntDirector of FP&A
Scaling, Smarter
Jeff is already looking to take Datarails even further – from building more advanced dashboards to giving his more sophisticated markets greater ownership within the platform. He’s focused on continuing to leverage Datarails to drive value, gain deeper insight, and support Young Living’s growth worldwide.
