On-Farm Accounting Delivering Visibility, Not Looking in the Rear View Mirror
The team at Traction Ag is working to provide via its cloud-based farm accounting application a system that captures all the financial and field information farmers need to record and manage. As of earlier this winter, Dustin Sapp has joined as its new CEO bringing 25 years of experience in traditional software as a service business.
“Traction Ag is rooted in fundamentally helping growers with their financial and operational health,” Sapp says.
He adds their accounting software is always under development to provide new insights into how the business is performing.
“Historically, accounting has been a rearview mirror look at a business,” he says. “Our goal is provide the foundational system that empowers growers to make quick decisions about their operations–it’s about real-time visibility.”
As the new leader of the company he says his focus is three fold: partnerships, integrations and thoughtful innovation.
Traction Ag boasts itself as the first cloud-based accounting system built specifically for agriculture—setting itself apart from other off the shelf accounting systems.
“We start with accounting—not historical financial health, and not just what you need to file taxes—to understand numbers and how to help make decisions for field level prosperity as well as make changes over time,” he says.
To date, Traction Ag has integrations with Climate FieldView and the John Deere Operations Center. Sapp says these integrations are key in helping users automatically and easily maintain inventory balances for crops and inputs, tracks costs of production and field level profitability.
“It’s important for us to realize this isn’t like a traditional software business,” Sapp says. “The business cycle and product adoption approach are different. And I’ve never been part of a business that cares as much about their customers.”
From their observations most farmers switch accounting systems in the fall or spring. Sapp says the current farm economy is ripe for farmers elevating how they are using financial resources to maximize their business.
“What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done. When you are in a posture of prosperity, it’s easy to not pay attention to the details. You can choose to spend where you normally wouldn’t. And when things are tighter, you pay more attention,” he says.
Related Articles:
