Customer Solution Case Study
/ / House With No Steps Consolidates Accounting and Improves Reporting
Overview
Country or Region: Australia
Industry: Nonprofit
Customer Profile
House With No Steps (HWNS) is a project of the Wheelchair and Disabled Association of Australia. Founded in 1962, the group provides quality support services for people with disabilities.
Business Situation
Diverse operations and geographical separation made consolidated accounting and reporting difficult. The company needed to consolidate so they would be able to provide the required reports.
Solution
With the help of Microsoft reselling partner, Professional Advantage, HWNS implemented Microsoft® Business Solutions–Great Plains® including the Financial Management and Customization Tools modules.
Benefits
n Consolidated accounting
n Improved reporting
n Employee opportunities
n Manage future growth / "We needed the ability to handle multiple accounts while maintaining transparency for reporting. Microsoft Great Plains gave that to us."
Wayne Sankey, CFO, House With No Steps
House With No Steps (HWNS) is a project of The Wheelchair and Disabled Association of Australia. This group was established in 1962 to provide quality support services for people with disabilities. HWNS provides residential support services, employment services, training, and community activities at six regional centers throughout the country. They operate several diverse businesses in New South Wales and Queensland which provide employment opportunities for 450 people. Diverse operations and geographical separation provided accounting consolidation challenges for the company. They implemented Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains (now part of Microsoft DynamicsTM) with the assistance of Microsoft reselling partner, Professional Advantage. This software provides consolidated accounting and improved reporting for the company. It enables them to meet the reporting demands of the state and federal government.
Situation
House With No Steps (HWNS) is a project of The Wheelchair and Disabled Association of Australia. This group was established in 1962 to provide quality support services for people with disabilities. Over the past 40 years HWNS has developed into an organization with diversified projects in New South Wales and Queensland. HWNS currently employs over 450 supported employees, and provide services to more than 1,400 people with disabilities.
HWNS is one of Australia's leading organizations in the rehabilitation field. Committed to making the most of people's abilities, HWNS encourages family involvement. It provides information, advice, and a sense of security to caregivers by giving them the knowledge that their loved ones are in good hands.
HWNS currently operates six regional centers – Sydney, Southern, Lachlan Valley, Hunter Valley, Summerland and Queensland. Within these regional centers, HWNS provides residential support services (including group homes), employment services, training and community activities.
HWNS also owns and operates a variety of diverse commercial businesses that provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities. They include Aussie Biscuits, macadamia and avocado farms, fruit packing, lawn and garden care services, and The Prize Basket.
The diversity of HWNS's operations and their geographical separation presents unique challenges for consolidating accounting within a short timeframe. This is made even more important given the requirement for HWNS to account for the funding they receive from the state and federal governments.
Without accurate and timely justification, these government grants could be withdrawn. Without these grants, HWNS would have to significantly reduce the support and services it currently provides to people with disabilities.
In the past two years, the economic environment has severely impacted the amount of funding HWNS can raise through its bi-annual Art Union.
Yet, the number of people with disabilities who require lifetime care and support has increased from 500 to 1,400 (almost tripled in the past four years). HWNS must find more efficient ways to fund services and support measures that will enhance the lives of their clients.
It was with this in mind that in early 2002, HWNS looked at upgrading its financial management technology to better manage its resources.
Solution
HWNS began the search process by looking at three of the leading financial management packages on the market, including Microsoft® Business Solutions–Great Plains. Shirley White, Chief Executive Officer and Wayne Sankey, Chief Financial Officer, coordinated the selection process.
"We chose Microsoft Great Plains because it did everything we needed. We were very familiar with Microsoft and we knew that Microsoft Great Plains would have longevity, especially with the ability to add additional modules," says White.
"Having Professional Advantage as a partner was also a big plus since they are Microsoft's largest partner in Australia," says White. "They have one of the best implementation track records and offered the best on-going service and support package."
The Microsoft Great Plains® implementation began in April 2002 and was completed on time and on budget for a simultaneous "go live" date of July 1 in all six regions.
The implementation involved setting up the Financial Management modules and Consolidations at the HWNS's Belrose headquarters and the other five regional centers.
"I have been involved in quite a few IT implementations over the years and I can honestly say that the implementation at HWNS was the best one I've seen given the timeframe involved," says Sankey.
Benefits
Consolidated Accounting
Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains provided HWNS with the ability to consolidate the accounting for each of their six regions while still maintaining autonomy for each area. Not being able to do so had been a big limitation for HWNS in the past. Following implementation, all six regional reports were presented in a standard format. According to Sankey, different formats had tended to skew the data presented previously. "We needed the ability to handle multiple bank accounts while maintaining full transparency for reporting," says Sankey. "Microsoft Great Plains gave that to us."
Improved Reporting
Being able to manage consolidations from the centralized database has meant a much faster reporting timeframe for HWNS. It has also provided them with the ability to report on more than just financial data; they can now report client data, employee numbers, and other information, as well.
In addition to reports for company needs, HWNS can now easily accommodate the different reporting standards for state and federal government entities. Monthly reporting time has been reduced by 22 percent since implementation of Microsoft Great Plains. Sankey expects even further reductions in the future.
Employee Opportunities
Providing opportunities for supported employees to use Microsoft Business Solutions gives them skills that they can use in the job market. "This will improve their chance of getting a job in the open community," says White.
Manage Future Growth
Following implementation, HWNS has been able to more effectively manage operating costs and enhance the services they provide. They now have much greater accuracy in their business planning and will be able to manage future growth easily.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship
and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:
www.microsoft.com/dynamics