From Excel-based benchmarking to a multi-tenant benefits platform
Orchard Benefits used to run every employee-benefits comparison inside spreadsheets. We replaced that workflow with a custom B2B SaaS, first as an internal tool, then scaled into a multi-tenant, white-label platform their consultants can resell to clients.
The Problem
Orchard Benefits helps companies compare their benefits packages against industry benchmarks. Every one of those comparisons was being built in Excel, by hand, every time. Each engagement started from a blank spreadsheet and ended with a one-off deck. No shared system, no history, no reuse between projects.
Because the analysis lived in spreadsheets, there was no historical data storage. Last year's benchmark for a client couldn't be reused, queried, or compared against this year. Every conversation about "how have we changed" had to be reconstructed from old files, assuming they could even be found.
The bigger cost was growth. The workflow depended on one person knowing where each formula lived. It wasn't presentable enough to put in front of clients without polish, and it couldn't scale as the consultancy took on more accounts. Every new client made the spreadsheet problem worse, not better.
Our Approach
We treated this as two products in one engagement: prove the data model with a single-user tool, then re-architect it into something the consultancy could resell. That sequencing kept risk low while building toward a real SaaS.
Phase the rollout to de-risk the build
Phase 1 was a focused single-user internal tool: get the benchmarking logic and data model right before adding the complexity of multi-tenancy. Phase 2 re-architected the platform once the workflow was proven in real client work.
Bake historical data storage in from day one
Every comparison gets stored, versioned, and made queryable from the start. That turned one-off Excel snapshots into a longitudinal dataset Orchard can use to show clients how their benefits packages have changed over time.
Role-based access plus white-label, so it can be resold
We built role-based access control and white-label theming so the consultancy isn't just a user of the platform. They can deploy branded versions to their own clients, with the right people seeing the right data.
Move infrastructure to Canada before scaling
Benefits data is sensitive. Before opening the platform up to multi-tenant use, we moved the hosting stack to a Canada region so data-residency and compliance requirements were settled before they could become a sales blocker.
What we built
A custom B2B SaaS that turns a manual Excel workflow into a repeatable, branded, multi-tenant product. Three things do the heavy lifting.
Benefits benchmarking engine with stored history
The core of the platform: compare a client's benefits package against industry data, run sensitivity views, and store every snapshot so the next review can pick up where the last one left off. CSV import lets Orchard load external datasets without re-keying anything from spreadsheets.
Multi-tenant super admin controls
A super-admin role gives the Orchard team visibility and edit access across every customer account on the platform. Standard roles see only their own data. That single change is what turned an internal tool into a real multi-tenant SaaS the consultancy can operate at scale.
White-label reporting on Canada-hosted infrastructure
White-label theming lets Orchard's consultants present the platform under their own brand for end clients. The whole stack runs in a Canada region, so data residency questions are answered before they're asked. That matters for HR data and for selling into regulated buyers.
The Outcome
Benchmarks went from one-off spreadsheets to a repeatable workflow consultants can run quickly and present to clients without extra cleanup.
The platform now supports many customer accounts with role-based access and brandable reporting. The consultancy can package it as a product they sell on, not just a tool they use internally.
Roughly two to three months from internal tool to multi-tenant SaaS. Historical data is captured by default, so every new comparison gets richer over time instead of starting from zero.
Orchard Benefits was subsequently acquired.
Why this matters for you
If your business runs on client-facing analysis built in Excel, you already know the ceiling: it doesn't scale, it doesn't compound, and it doesn't look like a product you can charge for. The Orchard build is a template for getting out of that ceiling without betting the company on a giant rebuild.
- HR consultants and benefits brokers buried in spreadsheet-driven benchmarking work
- Any professional services firm whose client deliverable is an Excel file that should be a product the client logs into
- Operators sitting on a useful internal tool who want to white-label it and sell it on to their own clients
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Paulius Medekšas
Business Development Manager
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