How Julia Bright, Group Head of Finance at Quantum Brilliance, elevates her NetSuite experience with ApprovalMax

Learn how Quantum Brilliance's Group Head of Finance, Julia Bright, used ApprovalMax with NetSuite to streamline workflows, saving time, cutting costs and preparing the business for scalable growth.

7 min read •

18 September, 2025

Managing a fast-growing startup comes with its fair share of challenges, especially when you're a financial controller tasked with budget compliance, tracking expenses and managing approvals across multiple departments and countries. Julia Bright,Group Head of Finance at Quantum Brilliance, understands this all too well.

When Quantum Brilliance, a cutting-edge quantum computing startup, moved from Xero to NetSuite, Bright faced a number of operational bottlenecks in finance. But with ApprovalMax, she has completely changed how her team manages approvals – for the better.

The problem: Manual processes and team challenges

Quantum Brilliance combines software, manufacturing, and research and development in quantum computing, making it a uniquely complex business structure. Operating across two countries in different time zones, Julia needed to ensure her team could keep up with growth, even as the headcount doubled from 40 to 90 employees in a short time.

To manage this growth, Quantum Brilliance moved from Xero to NetSuite, an ERP system designed to handle complex accounting challenges. But, as Julia explained, the team needed a way to bridge the gap between NetSuite and the complex approval processes needed for a dispersed business of this size.

Operational bottlenecks

1. Clunky approval processes: Since approval workflows needed a high level of customisation that was hard to maintain, approval trails often found their way into slow, manual email threads.

2. Visibility gaps: Decision makers struggled to track and oversee the process effectively in real-time.

3. Cross-border challenges: With managers and team members spread across Australia and Germany, it was critical to make sure invoices and purchase orders flowed seamlessly without geographical delays.

4. Team resistance: Non-finance employees found the process so difficult that approvals became bottlenecked, delaying crucial payments and procurement activities.

The solution

Wanting a better way to manage this, Julia searched for a tool to simplify approval workflows and landed on ApprovalMax. Her experience with ApprovalMax from previous roles and its NetSuite integration made it a clear choice.

Quantum Brilliance used ApprovalMax to:

1. Streamline approval workflows

With ApprovalMax, the business replaced manual approval processes with robust, highly customisable workflow. With this, Quantum Brilliance mapped its key approval requirements, like expense categories, project-specific budgets and capex reporting, into automated workflows.

“ApprovalMax was ideal because it allows us to incorporate all our custom NetSuite fields into approvals. Whether it’s projects, expenses, which were impossible to handle in NetSuite alone, we created approval flows that suited us perfectly,” said Julia.

2. Improve usability across teams

ApprovalMax's clean, intuitive interface was easy for both finance and non-finance team members to adopt. With minimal training, employees adapted to the new processes and teams took ownership of their responsibilities.

“The learning curve was short. Employees picked it up within a week because it’s so user-friendly,” shared Julia.

3. Support cross-border collaboration

ApprovalMax got rid of time zone-associated delays, automating processes like vendor purchase orders.

“For example, our requestors in Germany can submit a request which is approved in Australia and automatically goes to Japan, all within their working hours,” Julia explained.

4. Save on licenses and consultancy costs

By giving non-finance team members access to ApprovalMax instead of adding extra NetSuite licenses just for approvals, Quantum Brilliance saved over $3,000 per month.

5. Simplify audit preparation

ApprovalMax’s audit trails and reporting tools document the path of every purchase order and invoice. This was a welcome change for compliance audits, creating confidence at every level.

“As a publicly listed company, audit trails are a must-have for us. ApprovalMax provided both transparency and peace of mind,” Julia said.

Results that speak for themselves

The move to ApprovalMax took the stress out of Quantum Brilliance’s finance operations. It saved time, reduced operational friction and freed up employees to focus on value-driven tasks, including deeper cash flow analysis and budget forecasting.

Some key outcomes achieved by Julia and her team include:

Time savings: Using ApprovalMax saved hours of back-and-forth emails on approvals, allowing employees to focus on strategic financial planning.

Cost efficiency: Quantum Brilliance has reassigned funds saved on software licenses to higher-impact areas.

Happier employees: The team got up-and-running with ApprovalMax in almost no time at all. This high adoption meant employees took ownership of processes like setting approval delegates and monitoring purchase budgets.

Streamlined growth: ApprovalMax builds scalable workflows that grow alongside the company, providing Julia with confidence in their ability to easily manage future growth.

“Automation is critical for growth. Thanks to ApprovalMax, I feel confident we can scale without worrying about increasing administrative workloads,” Julia said.

For finance leaders who are hesitant to automate, Julia offers this advice:
“Automation isn’t optional anymore. It doesn’t just save time; it empowers your team and helps your organisation grow without being overwhelmed. Tools like ApprovalMax simplify complex systems like NetSuite, ensuring growth doesn’t translate to chaos.”

Facing similar challenges? It’s time to give your finance team the tools they need to work smarter, not harder.