If you were to ask Tony Kenon, CPA, CGMA Managing Director at Kenon Group Consultants, about the “Long Count,” you’d probably expect it to be a financial process or critical back-office task. Cue the abaci and green visor hat.
That would be a logical assumption, given Kenon’s 30+ year career in accounting and consulting. But, in fact, the “Long Count” is a Mayan calendar (one of many) used to date mythical and historical facts. So how does someone with a childhood dream of being an accountant and a lifelong fascination with the Mayan concept of time find himself founding a consultant firm that has become the go-to firm for renewable energy companies?
At age 23, Kenon started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). After several years of Big-4 experience, he left to launch his own firm—growing a strong audit business with two other partners that lasted more than 25 years. Then, in 2019, he broke out on his own to start Kenon Group Consultants which provides full-scale corporate infrastructure support for a client base of private equity groups, with strong representation from the growing renewable energy vertical.
Alternative energy sources are on the rise, with the renewable energy industry playing a critical role in the transition away from carbon-based fossil fuels towards cleaner energy sources. But, while renewable energy provides a solution to the ever-growing problem of climate change, the industry itself is challenging.
Says Kenon, “The work of renewable energy businesses is complex, and the niche is always changing, rapidly. When we advise clients on bidding opportunities, having access to accurate, on-demand data is critical to support fast and informed buying decisions. We couldn’t do this if we didn’t operate within a highly sophisticated technology ecosystem.”
From the time-tracking Mayan calendar of yore to today’s time-saving cloud-based tech solutions, Kenon understands the power of an efficient system. And he knows the impact that a strong technology ecosystem can have on his business, his team, and his clients.
At the top of the list of Kenon Group Consultants’ clients’ demands is “effectiveness and efficiency,” says Kenon.
“To be effective and efficient, it’s necessary to have sound internal controls in place. To provide a rich client experience, controls are critical to properly deliver a service like bill pay. This is why we use BILL.” — Tony Kenon, CPA, CGMA Managing Director at Kenon Group Consultants
Kenon and his team appreciate all the benefits of the end-to-end automated bill pay process provided by BILL. The shift to digital reduces paper which ties in nicely to Kenon Group’s work with the renewable energy industry. The elimination of manual processes saves the team countless hours. And the security of the BILL platform gives them confidence and earns their clients’ trust.
But it’s the integration capabilities of BILL that really got Kenon’s attention.
BILL’s integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Microsoft Dynamics) has paid off big for Kenon Group Consultants, and has been integral in fulfilling Kenon’s vision for a modern firm.
“BILL talks to Microsoft Dynamics so processes are way more efficient. Before the sync, we had to export data out of BILL to an Excel spreadsheet and then upload data back into Microsoft Dynamics. Today, sync between BILL and Microsoft Dynamics is automatic and saves us a ton of time. We’re also assured, absolutely, that data is parsed correctly, mitigating risk of error.”
Access to timely, reliable data is critical within the renewable energy industry. As Kenon notes, “When investment opportunities present themselves to our clients, they look to us to provide the data to help them make informed and quick decisions. This is an industry with a relatively small number of opportunities, so clients have to act fast while having a clear understanding of their financial situation. The seamless integration between BILL and Microsoft Dynamics allows us to turn data analysis around much more quickly.”
Kenon adds, “Of course, our clients also need to get numbers to stakeholders and investors. The integration between BILL and Microsoft Dynamics makes reporting much easier.”
Aksana Curtis, Operations Supervisor at Kenon Group, has first-hand experience of the value that BILL combined with Microsoft Dynamics offers clients—and how the sync makes her job easier. “Clients want to see live data in Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. I can sync data every day after processing bills to provide clients with immediate access to real-time information, instead of having to wait until month-end close,” Curtis says.
This system integration has also helped Kenon Group trim time from the close process. Kenon shared some impressive metrics:
“The key for us, and our clients, is time. Since integrating BILL with Microsoft Dynamics, we've been able to cut our close time down by two whole days. A typical close takes about 10 days. Eliminating two days equates to a 20% time savings overall. This is a big win when you consider the aggressive pace of the renewable energy industry.” — Tony Kenon, CPA, CGMA Managing Director at Kenon Group Consultants
The time savings have also freed Kenon and his staff to focus on higher-value advisory services, which includes advisory around bill pay.
“Bill pay is an essential component of a complete advisory services model. It’s certainly part of ours because it provides clients with a much-needed service,” said Kenon. “For those who wish to get into bill pay, BILL is a far superior solution than native bill pay capabilities you’ll find in any ERP. We know because we tested them.”
The Mayan calendar may be somewhat of a mystery, but the success of Kenon Group Consultants is not. Tony Kenon started Kenon Group Consultants because he had a clear vision: He wanted to operate a modern, technology-driven, advisory-based practice to best serve a niche market. Over the past two years, he’s turned this vision into reality by harnessing the power of top-of-the-line cloud solutions like BILL and Microsoft Dynamics.
Today, Kenon Group’s staff have access to an advanced technology ecosystem that helps them work at peak efficiency and clients have access to real-time data to support fast and informed financial decisions. Here’s to continued success to Kenon Group Consultants from now, and for the long count (2,880,000 days on the Mayan calendar, for those keeping track!).
