Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Civil Air Patrol on Mission for Sound Financial Management and Fund Accounting
Overview
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Government - National / Federal
Public and Nonprofit Sector
Customer Profile
The Civil Air Patrol is an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, made up of more than 64,000 volunteers. It is responsible for inland emergency operations, cadet training programs, and aerospace education. The CAP reports through the Air Force Office of Homeland Security and is headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, USA.
Business Situation
The CAP was unable to adequately track and manage its funding from multiple sources and provide reporting across different donor fiscal periods. The organization needed a solution with sophisticated fund management tracking capabilities in order to comply with the government’s stringent “single audit” requirements.
Solution
Microsoft® Business Solutions—Navision® teamed up with its certified Industry Solutions Vendor, Serenic software to provide a complete solution capable of managing the sophisticated fund tracking required and insights that allowed CAP to maximize the use of its funds.
Benefits
n Improved budget insight
n Ability to maximize expenditure of funding dollars
n Audit cost savings of $75,000 per year
n / "It works perfectly, seamlessly with [Microsoft] Navision. I would recommend it to anybody. It's some of the best software I've ever worked with. It's fast. It's reliable. It's very easy to use."
Keyosha Jones, Accounting System Administrator, CAP.
Ed Simnick, Tech Support Manager, Allison Payment Systems, LLC
The Civil Air Patrol (CAP), a volunteer-staffed auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, flies search and rescue missions along with other vital emergency and homeland security-related inland operations. The organization also provides a cadet training program and is involved with aerospace education in schools. CAP needed more sophisticated financial and accounting software to comply with federal government tracking and reporting regulations for non-profit organizations. They found the solution with Serenic Navigator, a Microsoft Industry solution based on Microsoft Business Solutions—Navision. With the improved insight into the budget, CAP is able to better expend its funds and has realized labor and audit savings as well.
Situation
Predating the U.S. Air Force, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was founded just prior to World War II in December of 1941, one week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It was formed by a group of over 150,000 citizens concerned about the defense of America's coastline. In addition to flying search and rescue missions, during the war, the CAP was even called upon to complete bombing missions on hostile foreign submarines.
Today, the CAP, largely operating in the background and unsung, stands as an organization of 64,000 dedicated volunteers who perform missions on behalf of our homeland. Their motto is: ‘Performing Missions for America.' Serving in an auxiliary capacity to the U.S. Air Force, CAP volunteer pilots participate in non-combat missions through cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force.
The Four Arms of the Civil Air Patrol
Today, the CAP has four arms:
Operations and Emergency Services–In cooperation with the U.S. Air Force and other agencies, the 64,000 members fly more than 90 percent of the inland U.S. search and rescue missions via a large fleet of single-engine airplanes. The organization supports disaster relief, transports time-sensitive medical materials, and assists the federal agencies in the war on drugs, among their many responsibilities.
Cadet Programs–The CAP has a multi-step leadership training program similar to the Air Force ROTC in which cadets aged 12-21 receive glider and powered orientation flight training as well as scholarships. Over 20,000 cadets are enrolled in the program nationwide. "The cadet program is outstanding," says Susan Easter, CAP's Chief Financial Officer. "A lot of kids go on to the Air Force Academy or into careers in aerospace."
Aerospace Education–The CAP holds 100 aerospace education workshops annually in kindergarten through college. Easter reports that the CAP has written an aerospace textbook that is being used in high schools and colleges across the country.
Homeland Security–Recently, when it was placed under the Air Force Homeland Security directorate, the CAP went back to its roots as protector of the U.S. CAP can put a manned, airborne platform over any major city or strategic resource in the country in less than two hours, safely and cost-effectively.
The Business Need
The Civil Air Patrol needed special functionality to manage the funding aspects of their nonprofit corporation. CAP receives both annual and multi-year funding from the Air Force in addition to their corporate funds. The organization desperately needed a software solution that would manage the complex structure of reporting for these various funding streams and also satisfy the federal financial budgetary and reporting requirements.
If a nonprofit organization receives over $500,000 in federal funding annually, they are subject to a compliance audit, known as a single audit, as mandated by the "Single Audit Act." CAP falls under this Act. The requirements of the OMB are stringent concerning funding tracking mechanisms. CAP's funding crosses fiscal periods. They needed the ability to print a report of all funding from one point in time to another across the multiple funding sources. They needed the flexibility to report on 52 different "wings" (state level CAP organizations) without having to set up a complex chart of accounts with 52 times the number of expense items in the chart of accounts.
Solution
Microsoft Navision and Serenic Team Up
After a review of fund accounting software, CAP selected Serenic Navigator, a/k/a Fund Accounting for Microsoft® Business Solutions—Navision®. Serenic is a fully integrated financial management solution for not-for-profit organizations and government, powered by Microsoft Navision.
Microsoft reselling partner eSoftware Professionals assisted CAP with their move to Microsoft Business Solutions–Navision which, integrated with Serenic Navigator, provides a seamless solution and tremendous flexibility in tracking complex systems.
The solution allows CAP to determine where they stand in their budget at all times. It gives their program managers the tools they need to manage their programs and maximize their funding income.
The Implementation
In July of 2002, Keyosha Jones, Accounting System Administrator, began preparation for the implementation. Jones trained for two weeks with reselling partner eSoftware Professionals, who managed the implementation of the integrated solution. Jones began to analyze CAP's processes and make necessary changes, such as setting up a new, unified chart of accounts and reorganizing their departmental structure.
In two months, CAP was ready to implement their new solution. They ran the old and new systems in parallel for two weeks, although Jones reports there was really no need. "We just didn't have any problems. It was running so smoothly, it just seemed like a waste of time to run parallel," Jones says.
The Results
Between invoices and purchase orders, CAP processes approximately 1,000 Microsoft Navision transactions per month. Easter comments on her experiences with the integrated solution. "The software is just superb. They [Serenic and eSoftware Professionals] know the product. It's nice to deal with people who understand nonprofits," Easter says.
Jones gives her viewpoint on the impact of the solution to the organization. "Overall, working with the [solution] has been a plus for our organization. All operations flow smoothly. The support has been tremendous."
Benefits
Improved Insight into the Budget
Easter greatly appreciates always knowing where they are on funding in relationship to the budget. Easter says of the Serenic aspects of the solution, "It works perfectly, seamlessly with [Microsoft] Navision. I would recommend it to anybody. It's some of the best software I've ever worked with. It's fast. It's reliable. It's very easy to use." The improved budget insights ensure that CAP is able to maximize the expenditure of their funds.
Audit Cost Savings
CAP is saving an estimated $75,000 to $100,000 annually on audit costs. Although they had not experienced a single audit with their new software solution as of the writing of this document, they estimate that the time required to audit will be at least cut in half compared with audits prior to the implementation.
Quicker Year-end Close
Year-end close is easier and quicker. Easter estimates that they save approximately 40 person-hours annually in year-end closing activities.
Labor Savings
CAP has eliminated five FTEs in finance and accounting since implementation of their Microsoft Navision solution, for a savings of approximately $375,000 annually.
Improved Reporting Information
Easter reports that they can now get exactly the reports they need, which helps them better manage their budget funds. Because the reporting is Web-based, even when staff are out of town, they can get access to needed budget status information.
Improved Processes
Because of the work done to redefine processes, coupled with the new functionality of the solution, processes are much improved. Daily processing goes more smoothly, and budgeting is easier. They can now maximize their funding because of improved budget tracking ability afforded by the solution.
Microsoft Business Solutions
Microsoft Business Solutions offer integrated business applications and services that allow small and midsize organizations and divisions of large enterprises to connect employees, customers, and suppliers for improved efficiency. The financial management, customer relationship management, supply chain management, and analytics applications work with other Microsoft software, including the Microsoft Office System and the Windows operating system, to streamline processes across an entire organization. This gives businesses insight to respond rapidly, plan strategically, and execute quickly. Microsoft Business Solutions are delivered through a worldwide network of channel partners that provide specialized services and local support tailored to a company’s needs.
For more information about Microsoft Business Solutions, go to:
www.microsoft.com/businesssolutions