Lucasys is an innovative technology company focused on creating modern systems for regulated utility companies to automate legacy processes, including deferred tax calculations, tax basis balance sheet management, and more.
Company type: Startup
Company size: 10 - 30 people
Developed 3 products solving multiple problems for target customer
Sprint-based development kept timelines in check
Iterative development based on customer feedback
Custom-built React and Python webapps
Products deployed on AWS
Included solution design briefs and mockups
Weekly task reporting via Jira
Engagement: 18 - 36 months
Budget: $100k+
Lucasys, a technology startup specializing in tax accounting for regulated utilities, faced challenges in translating their deep industry expertise into effective software products. Despite their team's extensive knowledge in taxes and accounting, they lacked the necessary bandwidth in product management, design, and development to create a comprehensive suite of software solutions. This gap hindered their ability to fully capitalize on their domain expertise and meet the complex needs of their utility clients.
Porter Software (PS) offered Lucasys a comprehensive partnership that went beyond mere software development. We provided a holistic approach, combining product management, design, and development expertise. This allowed Lucasys to leverage their industry knowledge while benefiting from our technical prowess. By choosing PS, Lucasys gained access to a team capable of turning their vision into reality, creating products that truly addressed their customers' pain points.
What set PS apart was our ability to deeply understand and interpret Lucasys' needs. Rather than simply executing given requirements, we delved into the underlying challenges, working iteratively with the Lucasys team to uncover and address core issues. This approach led to the creation of products that better met user needs and avoided significant rework. Our collaborative methodology, combined with our technical expertise in ReactJS, Python, and AWS deployments, enabled Lucasys to develop multiple products more efficiently and cost-effectively than if they had attempted to build in-house or engage multiple vendors.
The partnership between Porter Software and Lucasys demonstrates the power of combining domain expertise with technical proficiency. Over nearly three years, we successfully developed three distinct software products that automated complex processes and significantly improved efficiency for regulated utilities. By choosing PS, Lucasys was able to rapidly transform their industry knowledge into tangible, market-ready software solutions, positioning themselves as innovative leaders in the utility tax accounting space.
Opportunity: Lucasys identified a critical need for a deferred tax calculator in the regulated utility sector. Utilities struggled with managing and tracking deferred tax liabilities across multiple jurisdictions, especially when dealing with changing tax rates over time. This process was often manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors.
Solution: Porter Software collaborated with Lucasys to develop a sophisticated deferred tax calculator. This product automates the complex calculations involved in managing deferred tax liabilities, taking into account multiple jurisdictions and varying tax rates. The solution significantly reduces the time and effort required for these calculations, minimizes errors, and provides utilities with a more accurate and up-to-date view of their tax liabilities.
Opportunity: Regulated utility companies rely heavily on tax basis balance sheets as a primary control for their taxes and accounting. However, creating these balance sheets traditionally involved weeks of work by a team using spreadsheets, making it a labor-intensive and error-prone process.
Solution: PS worked with Lucasys to create an automated tax basis balance sheet tool. This product streamlines the entire process, reducing what once took months down to a fraction of the time. By automating this critical function, we not only saved utilities significant time and resources but also improved the accuracy and reliability of their financial controls. This solution showcases how technology can transform even the most complex and specialized accounting processes.
Opportunity: Lucasys recognized that regulated utilities faced challenges in managing and integrating data from their large ERP systems, particularly for tax and accounting purposes. The existing processes were often inefficient and didn't cater to the specific needs of utility companies.
Solution: To address this, Porter Software developed a custom data management and ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool specifically designed for the large ERP systems used by regulated utilities. This solution streamlines the process of extracting relevant financial data, transforming it to meet specific tax and accounting requirements, and loading it into the appropriate systems. By tailoring the tool to the unique needs of utility companies, we significantly improved data accuracy and processing efficiency, enabling Lucasys' clients to make more informed financial decisions.
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=icon}
