How Freshworks created a one-stop finance hub for UPenn

Colleges and universities are formidable financial organizations that navigate a complex web of financial tasks and processes—from managing tuition payments and payroll to alumni donations and operational expenses. 

At the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), its finance division handles financial reporting, tax withholding, and banking operations; serves administrators, students, and faculty; and supports the Business Enterprise Network (BEN), a suite of web-based applications (ranging from travel-expense management to invoicing software) that enable university-wide financial functions.

Facing helpdesk operations that were disjointed and reliant on cumbersome email threads, there was no way to centralize financial requests such as applications for funding, payroll questions, or stipends. Kristy Owen, UPenn’s director of financial systems and training, wanted to deliver financial data to faculty, staff, and students when they needed it—without delays or red tape. 

Owen and her team turned to Freshservice for its expansive range of self-service features, automatic routing of approval requests, and comprehensive support catalog. With the launch of BEN Helps—the centralized support portal powered by Freshservice—UPenn created a single hub for users to quickly find or request help with any of the university’s financial applications.

With a new self-service portal with automated approval workflows, says Owen, “our administrators, faculty, and staff can get the information they need when they need it.”

The company

One of the U.S.’s oldest universities, the University of Pennsylvania is home to over 30 academic schools, departments, and programs. Its Division of Finance—responsible for the centralized finance functions of the school—provides world-class service and financial leadership to the entire college community.

The challenge

As part of providing mission-critical business and financial systems, UPenn’s Division of Finance needed to create a centralized support system for members of the university community.

The university’s original ticketing system was an on-premises installation over 15 years old. In moving away from that system, Owen and her team decided to invest in a modern platform that could serve a greater organizational goal (digital transformation) while delivering easier and more efficient user experiences. 

The primary challenge was designing a helpdesk to work cross-functionally with teams like accounts payable, procurement services, and the tax office. While each team services similar internal users, separate policies made operations frustrating. Users would send an email, copy multiple support addresses, and sometimes receive different answers from different teams.

The solution

The finance division sought to prevent financial requests from becoming scattered across multiple department websites, email addresses, and web forms. They wanted to develop a consolidated, intuitive platform for all end-user activities, complete with a self-service knowledge base, electronic forms, and efficient ticketing workflows.

“We were looking for more than just a helpdesk to assist us in responses,” says Owen. “We wanted an entire customer portal.”

Since most financial application users are administrative staff, delivering information with speed and clarity is crucial. Freshservice allowed UPenn to provide support for different financial systems—such as Oracle, SAP Concur, and MarkView—with an innovative combination of automation, self-service, and artificial intelligence.

By launching BEN Helps, UPenn created a personalized, user-friendly portal experience that encourages efficient, effective self-service. For users who need more hands-on support, workflow automations route support requests from over 35 unique forms to the right party, saving time and headaches.

Impact

The Division of Finance improved user experience using the BEN Helps portal to consolidate frequently accessed information in an organized, easily searchable format. The system responded to nearly 30,000 support request tickets in the first six months.

Finance leaders expect to use the platform to provide efficient service options to thousands of end users every academic year. Owen hopes to solidify the importance of turning to the BEN Helps portal whenever users require self-service, support knowledge, online forms, training, or updated user guides. 

“Our goal remains getting people to always go to the portal instead of emailing,” says Owen. “We're always pushing our agents to share solution articles instead of giving out manual answers, which require more time and resources.”