Choosing a New Finance System? Issues Arising from SORP

Iain Pritchard - Adapta consulting

About Adapta Consulting

Adapta is:

• A specialist information systems consultancy• We only work with membership organisations, charities, associations,

trusts and others in the NfP sector• We are completely supplier-independent• Our consultants have held senior positions in a broad range of

different organisations• Our advice and guidance is based on practical experience gained over

many years.

The agenda for this session

• Welcome

• Accounting systems for charities

• Choosing the right package

• SORP and other configuration challenges

• Discussion

• Close

The state of the charity market

What’s Different About Charities?

• Analysis and Reporting• eg. SORP, funder reports, possibly unusual VAT

position• Specialist income areas

• eg. Rent-accounting, Gift-Aid, fundraising• Other third-party links

• eg. To/from web site• Resources

• Accounting package requirements disproportionate to size/resources of organisation

What Do Charities Need (disproportionately)?

• Analysis and Reporting• Flexible nominal analysis coding (at least 3-way analysis)• Ability to design/change reports easily• Reports with “drill-down” for managers

• Integration• To fundraising, CRM, specialist software, website

• Automation• “Self service” web expenses/approval• Online purchase ordering• Image storage/linking (e.g. photo of rail ticket/scanned invoice)• Journals - automatic

Drivers for change

• Poor management information/reporting• Lack of automation/integration• Finance staff bogged down with inefficient

processes• Duplication of effort• Reliance spreadsheets to manipulate data

Possible business benefits of better accounting system

• Resource/cost reduction – time saved through new system, reducing the need to recruit additional staff to cope with business expansion, or reallocating to other tasks

• Better business information• More flexible workforce• Happier staff?

The main players(traditional systems)

“Cloud systems

• Sometimes known as “Software as a Service” (SaaS)

• Accessible using only a browser (plus possibly a mobile app)

• Data and application hosted by third party on their own systems

• Typically paid for on a “per user per month” basis

Potential benefits of cloud software

• Don’t need onsite servers• Smaller organisations with no IT staff• Lower initial costs• Quicker deployment• Easy to scale up/down• Increased resilience• Business continuity/disaster recovery• Upgrades are easier• Work from anywhere• Greater security

Cloud software - possible pitfalls

• Wholly dependent on good Internet connection• Service level guarantees?• Security/firewall issues• Integration with devices and between vendors• Data Protection legislation (is the data held in EU?)• Transactions volumes/speed/latency• Fewer systems to choose from• Usually priced on a “named user” basis• Data transfer

Cloud software – other issues

• Contracts:– Don’t forget implementation costs– Contract length– Service level guarantee/compensation– Backup and restore schedule/responsibilities– Ongoing support– Ongoing costs

Some cloud offerings

Choosing the right package

Choosing the right package

A linear approach…Bus. Case Req’ts

ITT Select

Impl.Spec’ Contract

Sign off Spec’

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Processes, people and technology

Roles and people

IT systems and software

How things get doneprocesses and workflows

Adaptive approach

Business case and key processes

Prototyping Specification and contract

Expressions of interest and initial presentations

Requirements document

Short listLong list Selection

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Configuration challenges

Some discussion…

For more information, contact us at:

2 Old College Court, 29 Priory Street, Ware, Hertfordshire, SG12 0DE

020 7250 4788help@adaptaconsulting.co.ukwww.adaptaconsulting.co.uk

Thank you for taking part