Twin Valley is a telecommunications provider serving customers across Kansas. Alongside its sister company, ISG, a nationwide managed services and hardware reseller, both organizations operate under the same holding company and require consolidated financial reporting. Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting, oversees reporting, budgeting, and consolidation for Twin Valley, supporting a complex finance operation where accuracy and control are non-negotiable.
Rigid Tools in a Dynamic Business
Before deciding they needed an FP&A solution, Twin Valley relied on manual spreadsheets for budgeting, reporting, and consolidation. Version control was a constant struggle. Files were copied between workbooks, updates took hours, and errors were difficult to trace.
“We just did manual spreadsheets. It was terrible.”
To add structure, the team implemented Vena Solutions. But instead of simplifying work for Twin Valley’s finance team, it introduced new limitations. They describe the Vena platform as rigid, difficult to modify, and heavily dependent on consultants who lacked accounting backgrounds.
“Vena wasn’t very easy to use. We couldn’t change the spreadsheets the way we needed to, and even after almost a year, we didn’t really know how to use it.”
The challenge became more acute when Twin Valley and ISG needed to consolidate their financials. The two businesses operate on different systems, and Vena struggled to support that structure in a way that left the team feeling confident. Quarterly consolidation felt fragile and high-risk.
“We tried to merge both companies into Vena, and it just wasn’t working.”
Even basic data validation was difficult. Vena’s rigidity and heavy professional services approach did not allow the Twin Valley team to easily export mapped data to review or troubleshoot issues, making audits and error resolution harder than they should have been. At that point, Darcie knew it was time for a change as the business required an FP&A solution that matched their company’s need for flexibility, speed, and scale.
Why Twin Valley Chose Datarails
After canceling Vena, Darcie began searching for a solution that the accounting team could fully own. The original goal was to support Twin Valley alone, but Datarails quickly proved it could support both Twin Valley and ISG, without forcing the team to change how they worked.
What stood out immediately with Datarails, compared to the rigidity of Vena, was flexibility. Datarails worked the way accountants work, with Excel at the center and automation behind the scenes. Implementation was fast and led by a team at Datarails with accounting expertise that was always on hand and part of the package, compared to the additional costs and paid professional services approach of Vena customer services.
“Datarails was night and day compared to our Vena experience. Maria, our customer success manager, has a background in finance. She understood how our company works and showed us how to build things ourselves, not just how to look at them.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting
For the first time, the team could import data, map it, and export it back into Excel to validate accuracy. Errors were easier to identify, and adjustments no longer required outside help. Accounting owned the models end-to-end.
Datarails also proved flexible enough to support both companies despite their different systems. Consolidated reporting moved into Datarails and is now handled quarterly without the stress and risk that existed before.
“Vena was so rigid. With Datarails, once you know the formulas, you can do anything.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting
Faster Closes, Fewer Errors, Real Control
The impact was immediate. During budgeting, Darcie began using Datarails to eliminate redundant updates across linked files, replacing fragile manual steps with controlled automation.
“Before, if I changed one file, I had to go fix another three manually. Now everything just recalculates on its own. I don’t even have to touch it.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting
That control translated directly into speed and accuracy. Reports that once took hours of manual work now take minutes. Manual copy-and-paste workflows have largely disappeared, driving error rates close to zero.
“One report used to take us about three hours. Now it takes five minutes, and the manual input errors are basically gone.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting
Datarails also stabilized consolidation across Twin Valley and ISG. Despite operating on different systems, both entities now roll up cleanly inside a single reporting environment that the accounting team controls.
“We’re on two completely different platforms, but now everything comes together in one place.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting
And the impact keeps building. Darcie is automating complex workflows like compensation reporting, cutting a process that took roughly 15 hours each month down to about 30 minutes.
“That alone is going to save me an incredible amount of time every month. It also means I won’t be working until 10 o’clock at night anymore.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting
Looking Ahead
As Twin Valley continues to grow, Datarails is allowing the company to scale compared to the restraints of Vena. With core reporting and consolidation under control, Darcie and her team are expanding their use of Datarails across budgeting, reporting, and operational dashboards.
“What I love is that once you understand the system, your mind just starts going. You see all the things you can automate and everything you can improve.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting
For Twin Valley, Datarails hasn’t just replaced spreadsheets or Vena. It has shifted ownership back to accounting, giving them confidence in the numbers and the freedom to build without waiting on outside help.
“Datarails makes our lives easier. It gives us control over our data in a way we didn’t have before.”
Darcie Nguyen, Director of Accounting