Customer Story:
George Green School

A big believer in the idea that systems should work for you - and not the other way round, David Roome, Head of Finance and Operations at George Green’s School, uses the Access Finance and Budgeting software on a daily basis.

David Roome, Head of Finance and Operations Here, David explains how the software has helped streamline workflows, and allowed his team to take a more strategic and forward thinking approach.

When I first joined George Green’s School I immediately noticed that staff were getting bogged down in over-complicated and time-consuming processes caused by the inherent system and I knew something had to change.

We went live with the Access Finance and Budgeting software in October 2019, and...

...it really has transformed the day-to-day running of the finance department.

We’re approaching the end of our first full financial year using both Access systems and the difference they’ve made is huge. Previously, we struggled to integrate our budgeting with our finance system, meaning the team would spend hours filling out excel sheets to then upload onto the system. Now, with both systems up and running, the system does much of the work for us - saving hours of time.

Before implementing the Access software, our workflows involved far too many steps, increasing the propensity for mistakes and oversights. Now, we can work far more efficiently as the system is customisable to our own requirements. This was one of the factors that first attracted us to the Access software, and 18 months later, I still believe we made the right choice.

Many of the processes I inherited were manual and time-consuming, reducing the capacity to carry out meaningful analysis, forecasting, and scenario planning. Now, I can prepare a significant amount of my longer-term budget within minutes, I am able to undertake detailed forecasting and present to the senior leadership team without having to spend hours preparing graphs or importing and exporting data. Real-time salary calculations and the long-term impact on budgets can be processed live in meetings, adding much needed agility for people planning.

As our SLT and budget holding staff have all been given training on the system, my team now feels more empowered to direct staff to find the information they’re looking for - rather than relying on us.

The system is particularly user friendly for non-finance staff too.

If for example, someone wants to know a specific account code they can access this information in a matter of seconds, compared to other systems I’ve used where this might have taken much longer. Teachers can even keep track of their spend versus budget from the beach during the summer holidays, should they wish!

By removing time-consuming processes, the Access software has provided us with the time to focus on important analysis - hopefully identifying any issues or worrying trends before they become problematic, something that I feel will serve to benefit teachers and students long into the future.