Learn how Dynamics 365 Business Central support Super League Gaming’s IPO requirements

Customer
Super League Gaming

Industry
Gaming

Country
United States

July, 2022

Super League Gaming, a company that provides amateur e-sports competitions and experiences to millions of gamers, boldly decided to go public in 2019. To support reporting for public shareholders, Microsoft Gold Partner, Technology Management Concepts, recommended Dynamics 365 Business Central. With its help, Super League Gaming has embraced more effective reporting and a complete transition to the cloud.

How Super League Gaming leveled up its reporting with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Competitive video gaming has a storied history. Over time, video game tournaments became known as “e-sports,” and the gaming world evolved into new levels of sophistication. Today, casual gamers can hone their skills as part of an amateur league, with opportunities to attend tournaments across the country and around the world. One organization that supports community and amateur leagues is Super League Gaming. The company began in 2014, filling movie theatre seats during off-hours with avid Minecraft gamers, taking full advantage of the huge screens, ample seating, and popular speakers. However, rolling in a physical server to each theatre proved a burdensome and costly endeavor, and the company realized that moving to the cloud would be essential to growth.

The startup with bold plays

Since moving to the cloud in 2017, Super League Gaming has seen rapid growth, at a 13.3 percent year-over-year increase, and continues to expand its platform, community, and partnerships to offer more game play options. Known for its big, bold moves in the space, the company offered up public shares in early 2019, raising USD25 million on NASDAQ. After going public, the company recognized the need for more efficient reporting to ensure tighter controls and compliance. According to Chief Financial Officer Clayton Haynes, who started at Super League Gaming in 2018, “A lot of things were manual. There were a lot of things that had to be done offline just to be able to get them reflected in the accounting books and external financial reporting.”

“A lot of things were manual. There were a lot of things that had to be done offline just to get them reflected in the accounting books and external financial reporting.” – Clayton Haynes, CFO

Pressing ‘start’ on Business Central

Since public reports are now a necessity—in addition to regular reporting and accounting processes—Super League Gaming turned to Microsoft Gold Partner Technology Management Concepts (TMC) for digital transformation advice. One year earlier, TMC had helped the company transition to Office 365. “What I really appreciated with TMC was their absolute flexibility in working with us and providing only what we needed,” says Haynes. “They were also able to recognize areas where we couldn’t do it ourselves and offer the right level of support.” Based on the seamless integration capabilities of Office 365, TMC recommended Dynamics 365 Business Central. Onboarding from a manual process to Business Central, the team developed an appreciation for the software and the ways, it helped the company’s business. For example, the account-based organization holds events and experiences, and has corporate sponsors associated with those events. The ability to analyze data across several dimensions helped Super League to more accurately tag and report expenses. As a result, the company can identify which parts of the business and its activities are profitable, from live events to online streaming content and community. “I really like the ability to upload multiline journal entries—and not just upload them into the system—but apply multiple dimensions to each transaction, and the ability to do batch uploads that facilitate our monthly revenue reporting and analysis as well,” says Haynes. The company can also apply dimensions to its payroll, making that process more efficient.

“Once you accept the cloud and use the power of Excel—as it relates to the periodic reporting you want to do—I’ve come to appreciate it, and it’s something we use on a daily basis.” -Clayton Haynes, CFO

For Haynes and his team, part of the learning curve has been taking advantage of the cloud and Office 365 integrations within Business Central. However, the company now recognizes the flexibility the cloud-based system offers. TMC works with the Super League team to make sure that they use relevant features of Office 365 and Business Central efficiently, and the company is now fully functioning in the cloud. “Once you accept the cloud and use the power of Excel as it relates to the periodic reporting you want to do—I’ve come to appreciate it, and it’s something we use on a daily basis,” concludes Haynes.

About Technology Management Concepts

Technology Management Concepts (TMC) was founded in 1984 and has over 300 current Microsoft Dynamics ERP clients. We have completed over 1500 ERP implementations and our team has well over 500 years of combined consulting expertise. TMC has been a Gold Certified Microsoft partner for over 17 years and in 2017, we were nominated for the 2nd time to the famed INC 5000 Fastest Growing Businesses. In addition, TMC has been a Microsoft President’s Club member and has been included in Bob Scott’s & Accounting Today’s Top 100 VAR Awards for over 10 years running.