Why Australia-based Dovetail switched from Excel spreadsheets to Carta

Dovetail is an Australian SaaS company that provides customer research analysis tools to teams around the world. With employees across Australia and the Philippines, Dovetail helps global enterprises and fast-growing startups turn customer interaction into insights that drive action.

As Dovetail geared up for its Series A at the end of 2021, managing employee equity and investor reporting became a source of frustration. The process was, in the words of the finance team, “painful,” “error-prone,” and “manual.” Like many startups, Dovetail relied on spreadsheets, making it all too easy for small mistakes to snowball into larger issues down the line.

The company needed a change and Carta’s robust, centralized platform made all the difference.

When Yonas Tejoputranto joined Dovetail in 2023, he brought firsthand experience from another startup where the team used third-party software for equity management. While that provider offered some helpful features, it fell short of being an end-to-end solution, and the bulk of the process still relied on juggling manual spreadsheets—especially for tracking employee changes, vesting schedules, and financial reporting.

“This is the area where auditors always look,” explained Yonas, Dovetail’s head of finance. “The constant back and forth on adjustment and correction of the spreadsheets were impacting my P&L every month or quarter.”

Yonas and his team found that the accuracy of equity and expense reporting in Carta far surpassed its previous experience managing ESOP through spreadsheets with audits revealing discrepancies that manual methods had missed.

“We will definitely lean on Carta for our next round of funding,” he said.

Yonas said that he will also explore Carta’s scenario modelling tool that is already included in his plan with Carta. Carta’s comprehensive modelling tools help startups like Dovetail understand the impact of each funding round by showing potential post-money dilution, valuation, outstanding options and more in just a few clicks.

Another area where Carta stood out for Dovetail is its 409A valuation service, used for shares issued to U.S.-based employees. Yonas notes that the quality and depth of the valuations impressed his company’s FP&A manager.

What set the experience apart was the ability for Dovetail’s team to directly engage with Carta’s analysts over Zoom, allowing for constructive discussions around the methodology, assumptions, and outputs. This transparent and collaborative approach gave Yonas and his team confidence in their numbers. “It’s definitely a five-star service,” Yonas remarks.

Yonas mentioned that feedback from stakeholders such as investors and employees using Carta has been overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the platform’s powerful automation. Users are especially impressed by how the Carta platform streamlines workflows and keeps processes thoroughly documented and organized, making their experience smoother and more efficient than ever.

Support that speaks your language

For Dovetail, having access to Carta’s local APAC customer support team made a world of difference, especially during onboarding and key reporting cycles. With fast-growing operations spanning across Australia and the Philippines, timely support was critical.

“Having APAC-based support meant we always had someone available who understood our context and could jump in quickly to help,” Yonas said.

The result? A well-supported experience from onboarding through implementation, giving Dovetail’s team confidence in its equity management, audit readiness, and ongoing compliance. Carta’s APAC support offers unlimited help by phone, email, and in-app chat, no matter which company plan you’re on.