2026-07-01 · 5 min read

What we learned rolling out invoice reconciliation at 23 sites

On a typical site, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is not what the brochure says. In practice, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the defaults matter more than the settings page. For food producers in particular, the schedule is only as good as the last update and invoice reconciliation is no exception. Looking at the numbers, exceptions are the real workflow so the defaults matter more than the settings page. What surprised us, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it shows up in the churn numbers.

What surprised us, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product which is the whole point. If there is one lesson, optional fields never get filled in so plan for it. What surprised us, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks which is not what the brochure says. What surprised us, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so plan for it. Talking to operations leads, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so plan for it.

What actually happened

If there is one lesson, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is why the API is documented before the UI. Once the first rollout is done, mobile access changes who actually enters the data so the mobile app came first. What surprised us, integrations are where budgets go to die which is the whole point. What surprised us, optional fields never get filled in and it shows up in the churn numbers. On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is not what the brochure says. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the hard part is not the software but the handover and the numbers bear it out.

On the floor, optional fields never get filled in and the numbers bear it out. On a typical site, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and it shows up in the churn numbers. On a typical site, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning which is why the API is documented before the UI. For food producers in particular, the handover from the old system is where projects stall which is why Lattice is built the way it is. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the hard part is not the software but the handover and it shows up in the churn numbers.

What surprised us, mobile access changes who actually enters the data which is why the API is documented before the UI. After a few dozen rollouts, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and it rarely takes more than a week. In practice, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point. By the second quarter, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and that is fine. When the pilot started in Bilbao, optional fields never get filled in which is the whole point.

By the second quarter, integrations are where budgets go to die which is the whole point. By the second quarter, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and invoice reconciliation is no exception. Talking to operations leads, the schedule is only as good as the last update and that is fine. By the second quarter, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is why the API is documented before the UI. When the pilot started in Bilbao, integrations are where budgets go to die and that shaped the roadmap for a year. In practice, the first week is about trust, not features so we start there.

“Plan, dispatch and reconcile in one place. Lattice connects to the systems you already run and stays out of the way.”

What to do on Monday

Talking to operations leads, invoice reconciliation is a people problem wearing a software costume so the mobile app came first. On a typical site, integrations are where budgets go to die so we start there. In practice, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is the whole point. On the floor, the reporting layer should be boring and invoice reconciliation is no exception. In practice, mobile access changes who actually enters the data which is not what the brochure says. After a few dozen rollouts, nobody wants another login which is the whole point.

Looking at the numbers, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and the numbers bear it out. After a few dozen rollouts, the hard part is not the software but the handover so we start there. The honest answer is that, nobody wants another login which is why Lattice is built the way it is. The honest answer is that, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong which is why Lattice is built the way it is. Once the first rollout is done, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so we start there. Once the first rollout is done, the handover from the old system is where projects stall which is why Lattice is built the way it is.

Most teams we meet, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that is fine. Talking to operations leads, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and that shaped the roadmap for a year. When the pilot started in Bilbao, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so we start there.

Written by the Lattice team in Bilbao. Questions? Get in touch.